Alexander Lyon, Ph.D.

Abbreviated Curriculum Vita

Communication Department
The College at Brockport, SUNY
alyon@brockport.edu

Research Interest Overview

My scholarly work focuses on organizational communication topic such as culture,

ethics systematically distorted communication, democratic decision-making, and
cultural, intellectual, and social capital. My overall tendency for research and
teaching is to focus on contemporary problems and issues in order to offer useful
communication recommendations

In my own research, I conduct and write data-driven research mainly through

qualitative field studies using a variety of interpretive methods such as
participant- observation, interviews, analysis of documents, and analysis of
recorded interactions. While I prefer collecting data on-site in organizational
settings, I also do case study research on noteworthy organizational incidents
when sufficient data is made available (e.g., through published transcripts, email
databases, internal documents, post-hoc interviews, etc.).

More recently, I’ve developed an interest in family communication research,

specifically father-son communication.

Education

May, 2003 Ph.D., Department of Communication University of Colorado, Boulder.

May, 1998 M.A., Department of Speech Communication

California State University, Northridge

January, 1995 B.A. Department of Communication Rhode Island College

Academic Appointment

Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, The College at Brockport, SUNY,

2007 to present.

Peer Reviewed Publications

Lyon, A., & Mirivel, J. (Under review). Reconstructing Merck’s practical theory of
communication: The Ethics of pharmaceutical sales representative-physician
encounters.

Lyon, A., & Mirivel, J. (Forthcoming). The Imperative of Ethical Communication

Standards in an Era of Commercialized Medicine. Management Communication
Quarterly.

Lyon, A. & Chesebro J. L. (2010) The politics of knowledge: A critical perspective

on knowledge and its management. In H. Canary & R. McPhee (Eds). Communication and
organizational knowledge: contemporary issues for theory and practice. Routledge.

Lyon, A. & Ulmer, Robert R. (2010). Ethics in “Big Pharma”: Communicating the
risks of medicine. In Case Studies for Organizational Communication (3rd ed.).
Joann Keyton & Pam Shockley-Zalabak Eds. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Lyon, A. (2008). The mis/recognition of Enron executives’ competence as cultural
and social capital. Communication Studies, 59, 371-387.

Lyon, A. (2007). “We put patients first”: Systematically distorted communication

and Merck’s marketing of Vioxx. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35,
376-398.

Lyon, A. (2006). The difficulties of virtual leaders. In J. Keyton & P. Shockley-

Zalabak (Eds.), Case studies for organizational communication: Understanding
communication processes (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.

Lyon, A. (2005). “Intellectual capital” and struggles over the perceived value of
members’ expert knowledge in a knowledge-intensive organization. Western
Journal of Communication, 69, 251-271.

Lyon, A. (2004). Participants’ use of cultural knowledge as cultural capital in a

dot-com start-up organization. Management Communication Quarterly, 18, 175-
203.

Deetz, S., Grim, A., & Lyon, A. (2003) Communicative praxis and collective
decision making. In R. E. Ramsey and D. J. Miller (Eds.), Experiences
between philosophy and communication: Engaging the philosophical
contributions of Calvin O. Schrag. Albany: State University of New York
Press (pp. 55-72).

Academic Conference Papers and Presentations

*Lyon, A., & Mirivel, J. (2009). Reconstructing Merck’s Practical Theory of

Communication: The Ethics of Pharmaceutical Sales Representative-
Physician Encounters. Presented at the National Communication Association in
Chicago.

*This paper won a top paper award in the Organizational Communication Division.

Lyon, A. (2006). Systematically distorted communication and significant choice:

Merck’s communication about Vioxx. This paper was presented at the National
Communication Association Convention in San Antonio.

*Lyon, A. (2006). The forms of capital and systematically distorted communication

in organizations: Rereading Enron’s collapse. Presented at the Western
States
Communication Association annual Conference in Palm Beach, CA.

* This paper won a top four paper award in the Organizational Communication
Interest group.

Lyon. A. (2006). Using case studies as an inroad to undergraduate research. This

paper was presented at the National Communication Association Convention in San
Antonio.

Lyon, A. (2006). The politics of knowledge and knowledge management in

daily organizational practices. This paper was presented at the National
Communication Association Convention in San Antonio.

Lyon. A. (2006). An analysis of Merck Inc.’s naturalized sales-driven model:

Training
Vioxx sales representatives to interact with prescribing physicians. This paper
was presented at the National Communication Association Convention in San Antonio.

Lyon, A. (2004). Struggles over the perceived value of members’ knowledge in a

knowledge-intensive organization. Presented at the International Communication
Association convention in New Orleans.

Lyon, A. (2004). Social capital in the workplace: The use of relationships and
“community” as an organizational and individual resource. This
paper was presented at the National Communication Association Convention in
Chicago.

Lyon, A. (2003). Fields, habitus, and dispositions: Power, change, and a clash of
cultures in a “dot-com.” Presented at the National Communication Association
convention in Miami.

Lyon, A. (2001). Discipline, education, and the normalization of students through

university judicial hearings. Presented at the Western Communication Association
convention in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Lyon, A. (2001). “I’m in the business of helping people succeed”: The discursive
disciplinary practices of university judicial officers. Presented at the National
Communication Association convention in Atlanta.

Lyon, A. (2001). A case of cultural management through the discursive

construction and implementation of organizational values: “We teach you
how to live.” Presented at the National Communication Association convention in
Atlanta.

Lyon, A. (2001). The implications of studying power from various perspectives

and the practical importance of systemic and discursive approaches to studying
power. Presented at the Western Communication Association convention in Coeur
d’Alene, Idaho.

Lyon, A., & Glines, N. (1998). Public speaking on the Internet: A contradiction in
terms? Presented at the Western Communication Association convention Denver.

Graduate and Undergraduate Courses Taught

• Culture and Contexts in Organizations

• Organizational Culture, Crisis, and Ethics
• Organizational Cultural Management
• Communication Theory
• Managerial Communication
• Organizational Communication
• Intercultural Communication
• Training and Development
• Interpersonal Communication
• Public Speaking
• Professional Interviewing