Communication text gets update

A classic communication text first published nearly four decades ago is getting a 21st century update with the help of a management professor.

MSU's Carol Lehman and co-author Debbie DuFrene of Stephen F. Austin University have streamlined, updated and added new materials to Himstreet and Baty's "Business Communication," a widely used college textbook now in its 12th edition.

DuFrene, a business communication professor, is a new author on an effort Lehman first joined in 1990. Published by South-Western College Publishing, the 600-page text is considered a standard in the field.

"This edition uses an exciting new approach," Lehman said. While it contains many of the elements that made it a classic, for the first time the book is structured around a strategic model of communication, she explained.

"We concentrate on four environmental forces that include diversity challenges, changing technology, legal/ethics constraints, and team environment," she said. The model is introduced in the first chapter, integrated within the content of each chapter, and highlighted in special feature boxes throughout the text.

"This new organization is logical, because it patterns the way communication actually occurs in the contemporary workplace," Lehman said.

Real-world examples featuring companies such as Southwest Airlines, Steak and Ale, MTV, and The Gap illustrate communication principles in action. Nine communication mentors from the companies offer personal examples throughout text.

"Business Communication" is among textbooks the publisher has selected for a web-based educational service it calls World Class Learning Course. "It offers teachers the flexibility of distributing course-related items to students using one central location on the World Wide Web," Lehman explained.

A Bay Springs native, Lehman is a graduate of Jones County Junior College and the University of Southern Mississippi. She holds a doctorate from the University of Arkansas.