Contact: Phil Hearn
Debbie D. DuFrene (left) and Carol Lehman
The new 14th edition of a Mississippi State professor's classic business communication textbook gives increased emphasis to electronic technologies.
"Business Communication," co-authored by Carol Lehman, also devotes special attention to the spoken word as an essential tool for people seeking success in the modern workplace.
"While paper documents will remain a viable medium for specific messages, today's students also must learn to speak, write and research proficiently while using a wide array of communication technologies, including those geared for Web delivery," Lehman said.
Lehman joined the author team of this well-known text in 1990 with the release of the 10th edition. Debbie D. DuFrene of Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, became her writing partner with the 12th edition in 1999.
Published by South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning, the book has been used by more than one million students since its initial publication more than 40 years ago.
"The 14th edition, now released for use this summer, places an increased emphasis on electronic and spoken communication as the predominant channels of communication in today's workplace, as well as continued emphasis on technology," said Lehman, an MSU professor of management and information systems for nearly 20 years.
"We are convinced today's net-savvy students will find the cutting-edge technology and engaging exploration focus in touch with the way they want to learn," added DuFrene. She cited the book's illustrated preface and said a "wide array of electronic supplements" helps students analyze the success strategies of real-world organizations.
The new edition utilizes the Strategic Forces Model approach to business communication by integrating the coverage of legal and ethical issues, diversity, teams, and technology. The goal is to help students better understand that communication is a complex process influenced by numerous prevailing forces.
A handbook, "Building High Performance Teams," accompanies the text to guide students through critical team-development processes that will help prepare them for effective communication.
Lehman, a Bay Springs native, said the book's expanded technology emphasis includes a new "Electronic Café," a one-stop area at the end of each chapter that allows students to engage in relevant exploration of course-related topics and sharpen information literacy skills through four technology media:
--InfoTrac College Edition, an electronic resource that leads to relevant scholarly articles that expose readers to academically based, reliable databases for future research assignments;
--WebTutor Advantage, a robust electronic package for WebCT and Blackboard that helps increase proficiency in specific technologies, as well as an understanding of their business applications;
--Text Support Site, another electronic resource providing additional information on each chapter's café theme and a related, Web-based activity; and
--Professional Power Pak, an "edgy student CD" geared toward career development and success in the course, including streaming video cases based on real business, narrated PowerPoint slides and Web links to useful resource information.
Despite the focus on technology, Lehman said the latest edition does not "sacrifice the valuable theoretical foundation needed for students to learn to solve complex issues and logically communicate concise solutions that are technically correct."
She said sound writing principles and critical thinking are stressed in the book, which also features three business cases per chapter to guide students in the exploration and analysis of timely business issues.
"A new, easy-to-read menu bar clearly groups end-of-chapter applications in five critical communication areas: read, think, write, speak, collaborate," she added.
Lehman received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a doctorate from the University of Arkansas.
DuFrene, a professor of business communication and information technology with more than 18 years of teaching experience, is a Louisiana native. She earned a doctorate from the University of Houston, University Park.