Communication audits serve well as educational tools for both student auditors
and employees of organizations. To use audits, teachers need to gain access to
organizations, especially through internal audit departments; negotiate the
exchange of essentially free audit findings for a learning experience and research
data; and secure commitment from top management, other organizational mem
bers, and student auditors. To administer the audit itself, teachers should start
with a pilot audit followed by full assessment, conduct a two-phase process of data
collection and analysis that includes questionnaires and interviews, and report
findings in a timely and effective manner. The promises of the approach outweigh
its inevitable perils.
Badaracco, C. (1988). The politics of communication audits. Public Relations Quarterly, 33(3), 27-31.
2.
Barnett, G.A., Hamlin, D.A., & Danowski, J.A. (1982). The use of fractionation scales for communication audits. In M. Burgoon (Ed.), Communication yearbook 5 (pp. 455-471). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
3.
Conaway, R.N. (1994). The communication audit as a class project. Bulletin of the Association for Business Communication, 57(2), 39-43.
4.
Conrad, C. (1985). Strategic organizational communication: Cultures, situations, and adaptation. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
5.
DeWine, S., & James, A.C. (1988). Examining the communication audit: Assessment and modification. Management Communication Quarterly, 2, 144-169.
6.
DeWine, S., James, A.C., & Walance, W. (1985, May). Validation of organizational communication audit instruments . Paper presented at the International Communication Association Convention, Honolulu, HI.
Downs, C.W., Clampitt, P.G., & Laird, A. (1981, May). Critique of ICA Audit. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Convention , Minneapolis, MN.
9.
Ellis, D., Barker, R., Potter, S., & Pridgeon, C. (1993). Information audits, communication audits, and information mapping: A review and survey, International Journal of Information Management, 13, 134-151.
10.
Goldhaber, G.M., & Rogers, D.P. (1979). Auditing organizational communication systems: The ICA communication audit. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt .
11.
Greenbaum, H.H. (1986, May). The measurement of organization-wide communication: A comparison of three recognized instruments. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Convention , Chicago, IL.
12.
Greenbaum, H.H., Hellweg, S.A., & Falcione, R.L. (1988). Organizational communication evaluation: An overview, 1950-1981. In G. M. Goldhaber & G. A. Barnett (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication (pp. 275-317). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
13.
Grunig, J.E. (1985, May). A structural reconceptualization of the organizational communication audit, with application to a state department of education. Paper presented to the International Communication Association Convention, Honolulu, HI.
14.
Hamilton, S. (1987). A communication audit handbook: Helping organizations communicate. New York: Longman.
15.
Flusband, R.L., & Helmer, J.E. ( 1984, November). Building a context of experience: Communication audits to teach communication concepts. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Chicago, IL.
Kopec, J.A. (1982). The communication audit. Public Relations Journal, 38(5), 24-27.
18.
Lomax, L. (1986). How to survive the risky communication audit. Public Relations Journal, 42(11), 51-52.
19.
Miller, K.I., Scott, C.R., Stage, C., & Birkholt, M.J. (1995). Communication and coordination in an interorganizational system: Service provision for the urban homeless . Communication Research, 22, 679-699.
20.
Mumby, D.K., & Stohl, C. (1996). Disciplining organizational communication studies . Management Communication Quarterly, 10, 50-72.
21.
O'Reilly, Iii, C.A. (1980). Individuals and information overload in organizations: Is more necessarily better? Academy of Management Journal , 23, 684-696.
22.
Putnam, L.L., & Ford, L. (1990). Teaching organizational communication. In J. A. Daly, G. W. Friedrich, & A. L. Vangelisti (Eds.), Teaching communication: Theory, research and methods (pp. 115-128). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
23.
Putnam, L. L., & Pacanowsky, M. E. (Eds.). Communication and organizations: An interpretive approach. Beverly Hills: Sage.
24.
Roberts, K.H., & O'Reilly, Iii, C.A. (1974). Measuring organizational communication. Journal of Applied Psychology, 59, 321-326.
25.
Roberts, K.H., & O'Reilly, Iii, C.A.( 1979). Some correlations of communication roles in organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 22, 42-57.
26.
Shaffer, J. (1993). The maxi-communication audit: A precision instrument for change. Communication World, 10, 20-23.
27.
Shelby, A.N., & Reinsch, Jr., N.L. (1996). The communication audit: A framework for teaching management communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 59(2), 95-108.
28.
Sincoff, M.Z., & Goyer, R.S. (1976, October). Critique of the communication audit from the academic researcher's perspective. Paper presented at the Kent State University Conference on Communication in Business and Industry , Kent, OH.
29.
Sincoff, M.Z., Williams, D.A., & Rohm, Jr., C.E.T. (1976, April). Steps in performing a communication audit. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Portland, OR.
30.
Walker, A. (1988). Anatomy of the communication audit. Communication World, 5(9), 19-22.
31.
Zom, T.E. (1989). The professor as entrepreneur: The challenges of teaching the organizational assessment class. Bulletin of the Association for Business Communication, 52(3), 16-21.
