A typology of communication dimensions that are used by academic chairpersons during the early stages of the socialization process to define their new roles is described. Over a 10-month academic year, intensive interviews were conducted with four new chairpersons of different departments on three university campuses. Four functions of communication (informative, integrative, regulative, and innovative)guided data gathering and analysis. The typology of critical communication dimensions that emerged from the research expands the understanding of the linkage between communication and organizational role socialization.
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