Philip Salem
Texas State University, Communication Studies, Faculty Member
- Organizational Communication, Information Communication Technology, Complexity Theory, Network Analysis, Interpersonal Communication, Complexity Science and Design, and 19 moreComplex Systems Science, Communication, Communication Management, Systems Theory, Institutional Theory, Agent Based Simulation, Innovation statistics, Corporate Communication, Systems Science, Complex adaptive systems (Instructional Technology), Higher Education, Linguistics, Technology, Social Psychology, Communication Studies, Information Systems, Complexity, Communication Theory, and Self and Identityedit
- Philip Salem has been teaching, researching, and serving at Texas State University since 1974. Over that time he has ... morePhilip Salem has been teaching, researching, and serving at Texas State University since 1974. Over that time he has built a distinguished career around the world. His teaching, scholarship, service, and consulting have included activities in Acapulco, Amsterdam, Athens, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Caracas, Dublin, Florence, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, London, Milan, Montreal, Moscow, Paris, Riva Del Garda, Rome, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Turin, Twente, Vancouver, Venice, and Vienna. He hopes to make a difference.
Teaching
Dr. Salem was employed with the explicit assignment to develop a graduate organizational communication curriculum. The primary assignment in COMM 5319 Organizational Communication has been some form of communication assessment. Students analyzed practical problems and submitted reports to organizational clients ranging from large corporations to government agencies to small schools. Dr. Salem has now directed over 500 graduate communication assessments. Over 80% of the clients used the reports as part of a systematic assessment and review procedure, and nearly 75% of the clients adopted recommendations from the reports. The graduate organizational communication curriculum now includes six additional classes. He taught one of the first graduate classes in the nation about communication and technology in the early 1980s. His students have served in the corporate headquarters of organizations, and many have gone on to doctoral degrees, won awards at their doctoral universities, and now teach and research at universities around the country. He was the department’s Director of Graduate Studies for 20 years. He was the first person in his department and college nominated for the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Scholarship
He has distinguished his scholarship in three areas. The first theme is applied communication research. One of the first conventions he attended was an International Communication Association convention that featured training in conducting organizational communication audits. Audits are comprehensive assessments of communication comparing results to communication norms. He has developed a reputation for measurement and assessment and was able to use that reputation to explore a variety of theoretical constructs. He has worked on several grants as an evaluation consultant and developed ideas related to uncertainty, information, and organizational change, and he applied these ideas to health and education organizations. The second theme concerns communication and technology. Beginning in the late 1970s, he and Robert Gratz developed research about contemporary technology and human communication. His current work investigates the development of communication technology social networks and their influence on innovativeness, civic engagement, social support, and loneliness. The third and final theme involves working to develop a theory of communication as complex emergent social phenomenon. He wrote The Complexity of Human Communication, in 2009, and the second edition was published in 2013. He received the “Outstanding Member Award for Contributions to the Discipline and the Association,” from the Organizational Communication Division of the International Communication Association, Awarded for only the third time. He was one of nine scholars invited to be part of the panel celebrating the golden (50th) anniversary of the field of organizational communication, presented at the National Communication Association Conference. He was a Fulbright Specialist through 2012. He has directed two international research conferences, and he was the first person in his department to obtain external funding for research. He was the first person in his department and college nominated for the President’s Award for Excellence in Research.
Service
Dr. Salem has used his talents and expertise to serve Texas State University – San Marcos, the local community, his discipline, and the international community of scholars and communication practitioners. He has served his department, college, and university by contributing to governance and assisting the institutional mission. He served his external constituents by contributing to a more profound understanding and appreciation of human communication, and assisting others to develop their own skills, communication interventions, teaching, and research. He was the first person in his department and college nominated for the Muir Mentoring Award.edit
Research Interests:
Organizational researchers and practitioners have been interested in organizational change for some time. Historically, they have directed most of their efforts at improving the efficiency of planned top-down change. These efforts were... more
Organizational researchers and practitioners have been interested in organizational change for some time. Historically, they have directed most of their efforts at improving the efficiency of planned top-down change. These efforts were strategic attempts at altering parameters leading to transformational change. Most efforts failed to meet their intended purposes. Transformational organizational change has not been likely. The legitimate systems have been robust. There has been little systematic investigation of the communication occurring during these efforts. The purpose of this essay is to describe results of a mixed methods research project answering two research questions. (a) How do organizational members communicate during a time of turbulence? (b) What features of this communication suggest the potential for or resistance to transformative change? Comparing the results at the beginning of the period to other periods, gives insight into how social actors communicate and enact...
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Describes how people in the United States have sorted themselves into homogenized communities and how these lifestyle choices also lead to constructing self reinforcing media choices. At best this leads to an individualistic view of the... more
Describes how people in the United States have sorted themselves into homogenized communities and how these lifestyle choices also lead to constructing self reinforcing media choices. At best this leads to an individualistic view of the world but also contributes to a polarized understanding of the social world "making it increasingly difficult to identify our common interests and promote the general welfare." (adapted from the introduction)
Palmieri, PA, Peterson, LT, & Bedoya Corazzo, L.(2011). Technological iatrogenesis: The manifestation of inadequate organizational planning and the integration of health information technology. In JA Wolfe, H. Hanson, MJ Moir,... more
Palmieri, PA, Peterson, LT, & Bedoya Corazzo, L.(2011). Technological iatrogenesis: The manifestation of inadequate organizational planning and the integration of health information technology. In JA Wolfe, H. Hanson, MJ Moir, Friedman, L., & GT Savage, MD,( ...
An increasingly hollow public administration environment is shaped by a misplaced quest for efficiency. The pragmatism of John Dewey may help the situation. This article links pragmatism to reflective thought, inquiry, nonlinear dynamics,... more
An increasingly hollow public administration environment is shaped by a misplaced quest for efficiency. The pragmatism of John Dewey may help the situation. This article links pragmatism to reflective thought, inquiry, nonlinear dynamics, and communication theories. Finally, a few suggestions for how to more fully take pragmatism to the PA workplace are discussed.
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Most communication research and most applications of that research acknowledge the process nature of communication. However, the material following that acknowledgment confirms to traditional linear and static approaches treating... more
Most communication research and most applications of that research acknowledge the process nature of communication. However, the material following that acknowledgment confirms to traditional linear and static approaches treating communication as little more than printed text. This Print Paradigm persists despite repeated calls to explore the more dynamic nature of communication.
In this second edition, the author updates and expands his argument that communication is a process analogous to the complexity in other living systems. Complexity theory models biological principles similar to how chaos theory treats chemical and physical processes. The book begins with a review of philosophical and social psychological thought as a basis for explaining the mathematical and natural science models. The volume reviews a remarkable range of material stretching over three centuries. The author explains complicated concepts in a simple and often whimsical way and uses practical as well as research examples to bring technical ideas to a wide audience.
The author develops paradigmatic principles and then describes the process of information and a model of communication as a socially emergent process. The early chapters are a foundation for disputing current thinking across a range of topics such as communication and self, stories and storytelling, communication and trust, and conflict. The author concludes by sketching theoretical, methodological, practical, and ethical challenges. The volume is as dynamic and intricate as the complexity of human communication.
Contents: IT’S ALL JUST A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY REPEATING. Philosophy and Theory. Preliminary Paradigmatic Assumptions. SMALL TALK CAN HAVE BIG CONSEQUENCES. The Evolution of Complexity. Dynamic Systems. Paradigmatic Principles for Understanding the Complexity of Human Communication. THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH INFORMATION. Information as a Pattern. Perceived Patterns. Creating Patterns. THE ONLY PROPER INTOXICATION IS CONVERSATION. Modeling the Complexity of Human Communication. Relocating Paradigms. YOU ARE HOW YOU COMMUNICATE WHO YOU ARE. Self in the Communicator. Self as Messages and Presentations. Equivocal Social Cues. Transformations and Stability. Self-Organizing Self. ONCE UPON A TIME, IT WAS A TIME, A TIME IT IS. Lingua. Constructing Stories as Communication. The Complexity of Constructing Stories. From Story to Story. TALK THE TALK. Making Sense of Fear and Trust. Trust and Social Resources. Trust and Social Networks. Conclusion. CONFLICT TRANSFORMS. Conflict Boundaries. A Strategic Choice. Social Conflict Patterns. The Complexity of Conflict. The Potential for Second-Order Change. TALK IS NOT CHEAP. Theory. Methods. Application. Ethics. Discipline. Communication Glossary. Complexity Glossary. Author Index. Subject Index.
In this second edition, the author updates and expands his argument that communication is a process analogous to the complexity in other living systems. Complexity theory models biological principles similar to how chaos theory treats chemical and physical processes. The book begins with a review of philosophical and social psychological thought as a basis for explaining the mathematical and natural science models. The volume reviews a remarkable range of material stretching over three centuries. The author explains complicated concepts in a simple and often whimsical way and uses practical as well as research examples to bring technical ideas to a wide audience.
The author develops paradigmatic principles and then describes the process of information and a model of communication as a socially emergent process. The early chapters are a foundation for disputing current thinking across a range of topics such as communication and self, stories and storytelling, communication and trust, and conflict. The author concludes by sketching theoretical, methodological, practical, and ethical challenges. The volume is as dynamic and intricate as the complexity of human communication.
Contents: IT’S ALL JUST A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY REPEATING. Philosophy and Theory. Preliminary Paradigmatic Assumptions. SMALL TALK CAN HAVE BIG CONSEQUENCES. The Evolution of Complexity. Dynamic Systems. Paradigmatic Principles for Understanding the Complexity of Human Communication. THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH INFORMATION. Information as a Pattern. Perceived Patterns. Creating Patterns. THE ONLY PROPER INTOXICATION IS CONVERSATION. Modeling the Complexity of Human Communication. Relocating Paradigms. YOU ARE HOW YOU COMMUNICATE WHO YOU ARE. Self in the Communicator. Self as Messages and Presentations. Equivocal Social Cues. Transformations and Stability. Self-Organizing Self. ONCE UPON A TIME, IT WAS A TIME, A TIME IT IS. Lingua. Constructing Stories as Communication. The Complexity of Constructing Stories. From Story to Story. TALK THE TALK. Making Sense of Fear and Trust. Trust and Social Resources. Trust and Social Networks. Conclusion. CONFLICT TRANSFORMS. Conflict Boundaries. A Strategic Choice. Social Conflict Patterns. The Complexity of Conflict. The Potential for Second-Order Change. TALK IS NOT CHEAP. Theory. Methods. Application. Ethics. Discipline. Communication Glossary. Complexity Glossary. Author Index. Subject Index.
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Research Interests: Complex Systems Science, Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Organizational Communication, Social Networks, and 9 moreTrust, Complexity Theory, Self-Organization, Nonlinear dynamics, Modeling, Trust Theory (Evolution of cooperation), Complexity, Agent-based modeling, and Self Concept and Personal Identity
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F redrick Taylor's relentless search for the one best way relied on quantification for an assessment of organizational life (Kanigel, 1997). He demonstrated that management could be stra-tegic and that assessment became a central... more
F redrick Taylor's relentless search for the one best way relied on quantification for an assessment of organizational life (Kanigel, 1997). He demonstrated that management could be stra-tegic and that assessment became a central feature of being strate-gic. However, methods of ...
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Page 1. TECHNOLOGY AND THE CRISIS OF SELF ROBERT D. GRATZ and PHILIP J. SALEM Communication between people occurs in a social context including role relationships eventually negotiated by participants. Developing ...
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ABSTRACT Dissertation: --University of Denver. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-162).
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ED220886 - The Development of the Semantic System.
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EJ308124 - Matrix Design: An Alternative Model for Organizing the School or Department.
While many organizational communication researchershave been interested in messageuncertainty, few have: (a) operationalized mes-sage uncertainty using task, human, and maintenance sub-scales,or (b) sought to determine which types of ...
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... Organizations Series Philip Salem Griffin, D. (2002). The emergence of leadership: Linking self-organization and ethics. London: Routledge. ... Petras Philip Salem (Ph.D., University of Denver) is Professor in the Department of... more
... Organizations Series Philip Salem Griffin, D. (2002). The emergence of leadership: Linking self-organization and ethics. London: Routledge. ... Petras Philip Salem (Ph.D., University of Denver) is Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State University. ...
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Page 1. http://mcq.sagepub.com Quarterly Management Communication DOI: 10.1177/0893318989002003007 1989; 2; 409 Management Communication Quarterly Philip J. Salem and Robert D. Gratz Intervening Variables ...
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Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (49th, San Francisco, CA, May 27-31, 1999). For a related document, see CS 510 041. ... Help ERIC expand online access to nearly 340,000 documents... more
Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (49th, San Francisco, CA, May 27-31, 1999). For a related document, see CS 510 041. ... Help ERIC expand online access to nearly 340,000 documents indexed 19661992, now ...
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Les mégastructures du transport. Typologie architecturale et urbaine des grands équipements de la mobilité (Débats CERTU N° 65) Le grand équipement de transport est-il devenu un objet inséparable du processus de transformation des villes... more
Les mégastructures du transport. Typologie architecturale et urbaine des grands équipements de la mobilité (Débats CERTU N° 65) Le grand équipement de transport est-il devenu un objet inséparable du processus de transformation des villes contemporaines ? Dans quelle ...
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Page 1. http://mcq.sagepub.com Quarterly Management Communication DOI: 10.1177/0893318989002003007 1989; 2; 409 Management Communication Quarterly Philip J. Salem and Robert D. Gratz Intervening Variables ...
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Skip to main content eCommons@Texas State University. ...
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Abstract In “Into the Woods,” Karen Evans describes an increasingly hollow public administration environment that is shaped by a misplaced quest for efficiency. She looks to the pragmatism of John Dewey as a way to remedy the situation.... more
Abstract In “Into the Woods,” Karen Evans describes an increasingly hollow public administration environment that is shaped by a misplaced quest for efficiency. She looks to the pragmatism of John Dewey as a way to remedy the situation. This article extends her analysis by linking pragmatism to reflective thought, inquiry, nonlinear dynamics, and communication theories. Finally, a few suggestions for how to more fully take pragmatism to the PA workplace are discussed.
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This book is about core issues related to human communication technology. It begins by examining the nature of information, human communication, and technology and ends by considering the confusion that can accompany hybrid reality. Along... more
This book is about core issues related to human communication technology. It begins by examining the nature of information, human communication, and technology and ends by considering the confusion that can accompany hybrid reality. Along the way, there is material about privacy and anonymity online, cyber-bullying and trolling, online relationships, social networks and social network sites, digital civic engagement and much more.
