Culture, Communication, and Cooperation
treats a broad topic—communication and effectiveness in organizations—in a very concrete way. Patricia Covarrubias presents an engaging and original ethnographic study of approximately 550 workers in a Mexican industrial organization in Veracruz. She studies the complex interpersonal networks formed and destroyed by language subtleties, specifically terms of personal address (
tú
and
usted
), and draws larger conclusions about language, culture, and social interaction in businesses and organizations—and also about beliefs and values that are central to Mexican culture. While the book specifically targets students and scholars of organizational communication, those with an interest in Mexican language and culture will also want to read
—now available in paperback.