The Breakdown of Hierarchy: Communicating in the Evolving Workplace

The authors aim to discuss ""the evolving role of communication within organizations as shaped by the major changes in technological, climatic, and global forces."" Such a sentence is likely to discourage many from reading further. Even though certain readers would welcome a book that sheds light on the complexities of communication within organizations and on how e-mail and other computer-facilitated technologies are affecting the balance of power within such groups, Marlow, who teaches electronic journalism at the City University of New York, and Wilson, a staff member of the Center for Creative Leadership in North Carolina, do not do this. Much of the text consists of quotes patched together. Chapter two, on electronic media, reads like an annotated bibliography. Several of the quotations present contradictory evidence, yet the authors do not attempt to reconcile them, nor do they always add footnotes where they would prove useful. False conclusions abound; for example, the book states that paper communications are too costly, as shown by the declining volume of mail. Yet the next paragraph acknowledges that the demand for more reliable, thus expensive, courier service has risen. This book is a work in progress. (Apr.)