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This study reviews the construct of analogy as an individual communication mode, examining its relationship with cross-understanding in knowledge-diverse teams. The authors theorize that analogy use enhances team information processing beyond mere communication frequency through bridging knowledge differences across team members. The authors propose that analogies will have a direct relationship to knowledge application, and an indirect effect via cross-understanding. However, communication frequency will have only an indirect effect on knowledge application through cross-understanding.

The authors sampled a 49-member team with 14 subteams, yielding 146 usable dyadic relationships. Two mediation models were estimated while using linear mixed-effect models in SPSS.

The results confirm the importance of analogies and cross-understanding in teams, generally supporting the hypotheses. Mere communication frequency was not related to knowledge application, indicating that “how you say it” may be more important than how often a team member speaks.

This research explored these constructs through a three-week project in a sample of graduate students working with a real-world client. Future research could explore the validity of this model in other organizational settings and test the analogy construct on the team level.

The effectiveness of team member communication should be measured not only as frequency but also in terms of analogies to transmit meaning.

This paper contributes to an understanding of teams as information processors by building empirical support for the utility of analogical communication in design teams, establishing the relationship of analogies to cross-understanding and knowledge application.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to verify the predicted relationship between the demographic (i.e. tenure, functional background, etc.) difference and cognitive difference among top managers and examine how such a relationship is affected by the communication among top managers.

The authors hypothesized that there is a positive relationship between demographic deviation and cognitive deviation of a focal manager on a TMT, and that such a relationship is mediated by the degree of communication that the focal manager has with other team members on the TMT. Using Structural Equation Modeling techniques, these hypotheses were tested based on a sample of 348 top managers that consist of 28 top management teams.

It was found that the hypothesized relationship between demographic deviation and cognitive deviation of a focal top manager was supported with respect to the tenure of a manager, but not the functional background of a manager. Moreover, it was found that communication frequency of a focal manager with other team members mediated the relationship between the tenure deviation and the cognitive deviation of the focal manager and that tenure deviation negatively influenced communication frequency, which in turn, negatively influenced the cognitive deviation of the manager.

These findings imply that: when constructing a competitive top management, practitioners such as boards of directors of a firm should pay more attention to the tenure diversity of a top management team because tenure diversity influences the cognitive diversity of the team; and communication among members of a management team can reduce the cognitive differences among members. However, communication happens more frequently among managers with similar tenure than among managers with dissimilar tenure. To promote consensus, managers need to watch for the forming of group fault lines along tenure within their teams.

As far as is known, this is the first study that uses relational demography to examine the influence of tenure difference on cognitive difference among members of a top management team and to expose a mediating role played by communication frequency.

The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of a followers’ perception of charisma to the followers’ perceived quality of each of the four sub-dimensions of LMX quality, and the moderating effect of communication frequency on such a relationship. The study hopes to assess the relationship of the four sub-factors of LMX to charisma and, thereby, to advance the current understanding of relationship-based views of leadership.

In total, 208 employed adults who are currently residing within the USA completed surveys that assessed charisma, LMX and it’s sub-factors, and communication frequency. The surveys were validated and the relationships between the variables were tested using partial least squares regression.

Charismatic leadership was shown to have significant effects on all the LMX sub-factors suggesting that charisma is not a simple trait possessed by some leaders. Additionally, the data suggests that there is a significant yet different level of effect of communication frequency on all the LMX sub-factors.

Implications of the research findings are discussed; however, there are some shortcomings in the research. As the variables of communication frequency and LMX quality were rated by the same individual, a limitation to this study exists by way of possible same source bias. A further limitation results from the measurement method utilized to determine communication frequency and its dependence upon the ability of the survey respondent to accurately recall this information free from any type of recall bias (Raphael, 1987). Further study needs to be done into the nature of the moderating effects present on the four lower order factors of LMX. If there are intervening factors that influence the quality of the moderating effects, such as role expectation and role congruence, then the authors may be able to gain further insight into the positive and negative nature of these moderating effects.

The findings suggest that charisma is not a simple, one-dimensional factor and also suggests that the authors need to reconceptualize the ideas of charisma. At a minimum, the authors must rethink how to train people to become leaders.

The study advances the understanding of the relationship between charisma and LMX and its composite factors.

The present study aims to examine the impact of relational communication, operationalized in terms of information sharing, quality and frequency of information, on buyer's trust and relationship satisfaction in a buyer–vendor relationship. The study also tests the mediating role of trust and the moderating role of relationship commitment in relational communication and satisfaction relationship.

The data for the study were collected through a questionnaire survey from 321 managers of the different firms who were directly or indirectly involved in making procurement or purchasing decision in the firm and were familiar with the firm's supplier relationships.

Relational communication was found to be positively related to relational satisfaction and trust partially mediated this relationship. Further, relationship commitment moderated relational communication-satisfaction relationship, such that the positive affect of relational communication on relational satisfaction was accentuated when buyer experienced higher relationship commitment towards the supplier.

Using single source, self-reported questionnaire data and cross-sectional research design are the limitations of this study. Studies in future should consider a dyadic perspective. The study outlines the need to explore investments and strategies in enhancing relational communication in buyer–vendor relationships.

Anchored in theoretical foundations of social exchange theory, the study integrates and tests behavioral aspects of buyer–vendor relationship. Testing an integrated model with direct and indirect effects of relational communication on relationship satisfaction in buyer–vendor is a significant contribution of the research. The study also contributes by examining relational exchanges in buyer-vendor relationships in India, an underrepresented context in buyer–supplier relationship (BSR) literature.

Available studies on parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health in Ghana have largely focused on assessing communication frequency, barriers, and who communicates with whom within the family. The purpose of this paper is to examine parental and family contextual factors that predict parental communication with young people about sexual and reproductive health.

A cross-sectional interviewer-administered survey was conducted among 790 parents selected through a multistage sampling technique. The Cronbach’s α statistic was used to assess various parental and family contextual constructs on parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health. Separate hierarchical multiple regression models for mothers and fathers were constructed to assess predictors of parental communication about sexual and reproductive health.

Nearly the same factors predicted mothers’ and fathers’ communication with young people about sexual and reproductive health matters. The predictors for both mothers and fathers included high socioeconomic status (SES), family religiousity, parent discipline, perceived parent sexual knowledge and parent trustworthiness. Parent permissiveness predicted only for fathers.

Parental communication on sexual and reproductive health is influenced by high SES, family religiousity, parent sexual knowledge, parent discipline and trustworthiness. Interventional programmes on communication about sexual and reproductive health need to take cognisance of these factors to improve parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health.

This paper adds to the limited evidence on parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health in Ghana, by examining parental and family contextual factors that influence parental communication with young people about sexual and reproductive health.

The primary objective of this research is to test a model examining interpersonal trust between marketing managers and R&D managers during new product development projects.

In this study interpersonal trust as a bi‐dimensional construct with cognitive and affective components is conceptualised. The authors' integrative structural model specifies Weber's structural/bureaucratic dimensions – formalisation and centralisation to predict three communication dimensions, communication frequency, quality, and bi‐directionality. In turn these communication dimensions are used to predict cognition‐based trust, and affect‐based trust. In addition, the paper models the direct effects of the three communication dimensions on a dependent variable – perceived relationship effectiveness. The hypothesised model consists of 16 hypotheses, seven of which relate to the two focal interpersonal trust constructs. The measures were tested and a structural model estimated by using PLS. Data were provided by 184 R&D managers in Australia, reporting on their working relationship with a counterpart marketing manager during a recent product development project.

The hypothesized model has high explanatory power and it was found that both trust dimensions strongly influenced the effectiveness of marketing/R&D relationships during new product development, with cognition‐based trust having the strongest impact. The results also reveal which forms of communication help to build interpersonal trust. The most powerful effect was from communication quality to cognition‐based trust. The next strongest effects were from bi‐directional communication, which was a strong predictor of affect‐based trust, and a somewhat weaker predictor of cognition‐based trust. Interestingly, the direct effects of our three communication behaviours on relationship effectiveness were modest, suggesting that their relationship building effects are largely indirect. Last, it is revealed that bureaucratic means of control on product development projects have mixed effects. As expected, centralisation reduces cross‐functional communication. In contrast, formalisation has a positive effect during product development, as it stimulates both the frequency and bi‐directionality of communication between marketing managers and R&D managers on these projects.

This is the first study to treat interpersonal trust as the focal construct in marketing/R&D relationships during new product development. Moreover, it is the only study of marketing/R&D relationships to conceptualise, measure, and model two underlying dimensions of interpersonal trust (cognition‐based trust, and affect‐based trust). Our study also integrates aspects of Weber's theory of bureaucracy, with interaction theory, and demonstrates the strong links between these theoretical frameworks.

This article aims to explore (1) specific frames of dyadic relationship in policy network beyond a simplistic dichotomy of “friend or foe” and (2) the multi-dimensional drivers behind the framing patterns.

To that end, the interviews with the key actors in a nuclear energy policy network in South Korea were conducted, and their relationships in terms of three dimensions were analyzed: belief accordance, communication frequency and resource symmetry.

As a result, 12 relationships that can occur in the policy networks were identified: helping, collaborating, cooperating, unconcerned, stabilizing, observing, pushing, confronting, challenging, ignoring, watching and avoiding. These 12 frames were observed in various in-/congruent patterns between network actors.

The findings provide theoretical and practical implications on why and how the network actors may assess one another through the 12 discrete frames, which are drawn from the three dimensional drivers of belief accordance, communication frequency and resource symmetry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the strategic decision-making process regarding communication flows and trust and their impact on firm cooperation in the context of buyer-supplier relationships in rule-based vs relation-based countries. An institutional view is explored to demonstrate how informal institutions shape a firm’s strategic decision making in the internationalization process.

A conceptual model and accompanying research hypotheses are tested on data from a survey of 169 US and 110 Brazilian buyers. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.

Results suggest that the pattern of flows of communication on building trust and increasing strategic cooperation is based upon the governance of the individual’s country of origin. Quality communication is found to have a greater impact on trust in the USA, while two-way communication is the factor with the greatest effect on trust in Brazil. Frequency of communication and socialization are also found to have indirect, but important distinct roles in the flows of communication in both countries. Trust is also found to be a strong predictor of strategic cooperation.

Results provide insight into what patterns of communication flows are most influential in increasing a buyer’s trust in a supplier, so that suppliers can better formulate strategies to enter overseas markets.

This study extends the communication, trust, and cooperation literature to the context of buyer-supplier relationships in distinct county settings. Comparisons are made between one developed country characterized by rule-based governance, with a low-context style of communication and high country trust and one emerging market characterized by relation-based governance, with a high-context style of communication and low country trust.

Investigates whether faculty who use computer mediated communication (CMC) achieve greater scholarly productivity as measured by publications and a higher incidence in the following prestige factors: receipt of awards; service on a regional or national committee of a professional organization; service on an editorial board of a refereed journal; service as a principal investigator on an externally funded project; or performance of other research on an externally funded project. Also investigates whether faculty who use CMC at less research‐oriented institutions realize disproportional benefit from their use of CMC. Data were collected in Fall 1994. A positive relationship was found between the frequency of use of CMC and publications, including coauthored publications. CMC users also had a higher incidence of prestige factors. In addition to statistically significant relationships between CMC use and productivity measures, faculty judged CMC to be of some utility to their productivity. Nevertheless, there did not appear to be a “democratizing effect” which would yield disproportionate benefit to those from less research‐oriented institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the content and approach of parent-adolescent communication about sexuality were associated with three adolescent sexuality variables (sexual attitudes, combination of all behaviors and advanced behaviors).

Survey research with adolescents was conducted in classrooms at school. Participants were 473 adolescents (196 males, 253 females and 24 unreported) in grades 9–12 from two high schools (one urban and one suburban) in a large midwestern city.

Adolescents who described their parents’ communication approach as open, or who did not engage in conversations about sexuality with their parents reported lower rates of sexual behavior, when compared to adolescents whose parents dictated such conversations. Females were found to have more conservative sexual attitudes than males, and both mothers and fathers were found to have a direct role in talking to their children about sexuality.

Findings from the study may offer guidance to parents and help adults aiming to empower youth to make healthy sexual decisions.