The Role of Communication in Positive Organizational Scholarship

This chapter offers a position on organizational communication as a positive force by drawing together the literature on organizational communication, social interaction, and communication technology as they apply to organizations. We organize these ideas around two themes. First is integrative communication, which includes the subsets of inclusiveness, respectfulness, and supportiveness. Second is constructive interaction, which includes the subsets of solution focus, a future orientation, and collaborative interaction. These topics are elaborated as we offer orientations and practices that show evidence of their use. We conclude with an example of positive communication from the medical community and offer a glimmer of hope for the future based on current practice.