The Construction of Knowledge in Organizations: Asking the Right Questions about the Challenger

1 September 1990

journal article
research article
Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Business and Technical Communication

Vol. 4 (2) , 7-20
https://doi.org/10.1177/105065199000400201

Abstract

Previous research on the communication failures contributing to the Challenger's explosion tends to ask why it happened that various people in the organizations involved knew about the faulty O-rings but failed to pass on the information to decision makers. This is a faulty question, revealing assump tions many of us unconsciously share even when we consciously reject these as sumptions. This question implies a simplistic notion of knowledge and a conduit model of communication. Insights from the sociology of technology and the new rhetoricians can help us to form better questions about rhetoric in organizations.

Keywords

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