Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik , Ph.D.
Ph.D., University of Arizona, 2005  Office: Room 221	Assistant Professor Communication

Research:
My research focuses on destructive organizational communication, specifically the intersections among justice, emotions, resistance, and identity as these are affected by and affect bullying and non-sexual harassment at work. I have an established body of published scholarship in top-tier journals on the subject, including Management Communication Quarterly, Communication Monographs, Communication Theory, Organization, and Journal of Management Studies. Some of the issues I have examined in these publications regarding the topic of workplace bullying include the prevalence and effects of bullying in the U.S., how workers resist and the associated costs and gains of resistance, intensive remedial identity work when faced with the trauma and stigma of being targeted, the escalatory and silencing effects of persistent abuse, and targets’ metaphorical framing of their experiences as they struggle to make sense of their experiences without having adequate “naming” language for the phenomenon.

I am also co-editor (with Beverly Davenport Sypher) and first author of two chapters in a book titled Destructive Organizational Communication published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. This book is a ground-breaking compilation of work from established and emerging scholars in the fields of organizational communication and management. It explores traditional topics such as sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and incivility from a communication perspective, while incorporating emerging themes like workplace bullying, LGBT discrimination, and excessive careerism—subjects somewhat new to U.S. scholarship. The book goes beyond simply cataloguing the causes and consequences of these destructive processes, however, to explore constructive ways of organizing around human endeavors.

I have a number of other pieces under review that examine the impotence of individual actions in the face of abusive systems, a national prevalence study, and a piece exploring the process of intersubjective sensemaking in the face of persistent abuse. Additionally, other pieces are in progress and include exploring the mediating effect of bullying even when organizations implement other positive workplace efforts, the bleed-over effects of bullying into family communication and relationships, and an examination of why women so often bully other women. A new area in which I am becoming interested is positive organizational communication—roughly associated with positive psychology/positive organizational scholarship (e.g., appreciative inquiry)—although I find myself struggling with what, at times, seems like naïve optimism in this body of work, given what I know about the negative communication that has been the focus of my work to date. Although I often use qualitative and grounded methodologies, other pieces and the questions posed in them employ more traditional, quantitative methodologies. As such, my work intersects traditional and interpretive social science approaches.

Over time, my work on workplace bullying has developed an international reputation—I am one of only a handful of U.S. scholars focusing on this issue. I was recently invited to be a keynote speaker in Montreal at the 6th International Conference on Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace, where I was also elected to serve on the Board of Directors (as treasurer) of the international association representing the general assembly of scholars who make up this group. As a result of my growing scholarly reputation regarding workplace bullying, journalists covering the subject often request interviews and organizations regularly invite me in to present information regarding the topic. To date, my work has received considerable press coverage.

Sample Publications:

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P., & Sypher, B. D. (Eds.). (2009). Destructive organizational communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Namie, G., & Namie, R. (2009). "Workplace bullying: Causes, consequences, and corrections." In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B. D. Sypher (Eds.), Destructive organizational communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing. (pp. 27-52). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (2008). "Intensive remedial identity work: Responses to workplace bullying as trauma and stigma." Organization Special Issue (Managing Identities in Complex Organizations), 15(1), 97-119.

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Tracy, S.J., & Alberts, J.K. (2007). "Burned by Bullying in the American Workplace: A Study of U.S. Prevalence and Delineation of Bullying 'Degree'." Journal of Management Studies. September.

• McDermott, V.M. & Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (forthcoming). "Communicating subtle messages: Creating hostile and supportive environments." In B. Brushan (Ed.), Communication in Perspectives. Amani: Germany.

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (January, 2007). "How Employees Fight Back Against Workplace Bullying." Communication Currents, 2(1). http://www.communicationcurrents.com/. National Communication Association.

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (2007). "But words will never hurt me: Abuse and bullying at work, a comparison between two worker samples." Ohio Communication Journal, 45, 27-52.

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Tracy, S. J., & Alberts, J. K. (2007). "Burned by bullying in the American workplace: Prevalence, perception, degree, and impact." Journal of Management Studies, 44(6), 835-860.

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (2006). "Take This Job and: Quitting and Other Forms of Resistance to Workplace Bullying." Communication Monographs, 73, 406-433.

• Tracy, S. J., Lutgen-Sandvik, P. & Alberts, J.K. (2006). "Nightmares, Demons and Slaves: Exploring the Painful Metaphors of Workplace Bullying." Management Communication Quarterly.

• Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (2003). "The cycle of employee emotional abuse: Generation and regeneration of workplace mistreatment." Management Communication Quarterly, 16, 471-501.

• A complete list is available at her cv site.

Methods:
My perspective as rooted in an interpretive perspective. As such, I predominantly use qualitative methods in my research. However, there are many questions that can only be answered using quantitative approaches, so I adapt methodologies to suit the topic of interest and the research questions/project at hand. I am particularly interested in focus group research, in-depth interviewing, and ethnographic/participant observation approaches. The latter is particularly enlightening for the exploration of employee resistance to abuse by organizational powerholders, since this type of bottom-up change generally occurs over an extended period of time. On the other hand, I am invested in measuring the prevalence of bullying in the U.S. workplace and exploring the impact of bullying on family dynamics, human health, and social functioning.

Teaching:
My research interests, in many ways, inform my approach to and subjects for teaching. The undergraduate courses I teach cover the standard fare in this area and include small group, organizational, and business-professional communication. In addition I have taught organizational analysis and training, and two courses I designed: the “dark side” of organizational communication and leadership communication. I supervise internships and independent studies at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Specifically at the graduate level I teach the general organizational communication seminar and have offered two topics courses: positive organizational communication and emotions in organizational communication. I also teach an M.A.-level research methods course providing an overview of paradigms, perspectives, and methods both qualitative and quantitative. Other graduate topic courses I am planning to teach are work-life communication, power and resistance in organizations, and destructive organizational communication.

My teaching evaluations are strong, and I have a remarkable ability to build rapport with students at all levels. I recently won a teaching award and was nominated for another. In addition to traditional-format courses, I have experience with Instructional Television (ITV), those taught simultaneously at the main campus and in multiple smaller communities across the state. I always create and maintain a course website for both traditional and ITV courses using Blackboard at ASU and WebCT at UNM. In this vein, I am eager to teach online courses when the department moves in this direction. As the sole organizational communication scholar in our department, I serve as the course coordinator for classes in the undergraduate organizational communication area (e.g., small group, organizational communication). In this capacity I supervise graduate student TAs, which includes suggesting course objectives and teaching strategies to meet them, evaluating teaching, assessing and approving course syllabi, providing guidance on student assessment and grading, and assisting TAs in balancing research, study, and other responsibilities. My responsibilities in this area also cover guiding and evaluating course mission, content, and related objectives. Additionally, I advise graduate students whose interests intersect with organizational communication, as the sub-field is broadly defined.

Service:
My service to the department includes three years as the faculty senator and serving on a number of department committees (e.g., M.A. applications, faculty merit, faculty advisory committee, etc.). At the disciplinary level, I currently serve as WSCA Organizational Communication Interest Group secretary, have been a paper reader for NCA and WSCA for the past three years, and, as previously mentioned, am a board member and the treasurer of the International Association on Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace. Additionally, I have reviewed manuscripts for Management Communication Quarterly; Communication Yearbook; Communication Monographs; and Gender, Work and Organizations and refereed proposals for workplace bullying service grants in New Zealand and substance abuse treatment grants in Albuquerque, N.M.

My grant writing experience is extensive, having served as the CEO of two grant-funded not-for-profit organizations prior to entering academia (see CV link on my homepage: http://www.unm.edu/~plutgen/). I have also received two research grants; the first was as a student at Arizona State. In 2007 I received one of only two Dean’s Summer Research Grants for junior faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNM. These funds provided resources for editing/writing the Destructive Organizational Communication book. On a personal note, I have a great sense of humor, have a well-developed sense of empathy, make friends readily, and am an excellent parliamentarian (if needed). I am direct but thoughtful, helpful, organized, and driven to excellence and success.