Using a descriptive approach to illuminate the topic, this volume presents accounts of how organizational life is accomplished communicatively in a variety of retail, manufacturing, public service, and newspaper organizations. The cases in this book focus on the ways in which communication creates and maintains organizational realities, with some demonstrating how communication can hinder organizational functioning and others highlighting creative and positive uses of different communication practices. Providing a view of organizational life that reflects the experiences of those who have not only observed, but taken part in its functioning, this volume is unique in the breadth of issues covered, the variety of methodological choices used in gathering data, and the focus itself.