Date of Graduation
Summer 2012
Degree
Master of Arts in Communication
Department
Communication
Committee Chair
Gloria Galanes
Abstract
Using the Bona Fide Group Perspective as a frame and a theory based in dialectics, this study examines the dialectic tensions experienced by boundary spanners in a complex volunteer organization composed of interrelated groups. Observation of group meetings during the annual budgetary planning process of a Midwestern chamber of commerce and interviews with key members of that chamber were qualitatively analyzed allowing for the emergence of several dialectic tensions, including: dialectics of control, focus and identity. These dialectics offer a clearer picture of the experiences of the boundary spanner and expand the theoretic development of the communication of boundary spanners, dialectic theory and inter-group communication.
Keywords
boundary spanning, dialectics, groups, organization, bona fide group perspective
Subject Categories
Communication
Copyright
© Eric John Zackrison
Recommended Citation
Zackrison, Eric John, "The Dialectics of Boundary Spanning: An Examination of the Dialectic Tensions Experienced by the Boundary Spanners of a Complex Organization Composed of Interrelated Groups" (2012). MSU Graduate Theses/Dissertations. 1053.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1053
