Robert M. McCann

Dr. McCann is known for his research on cultural dimensions of workplace ageism, age discrimination, and intergenerational communication. Prior to joining USC, McCann lived in Thailand, a country about which he often writes. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
Research
Dr. McCann, who speaks Thai, is known as the first intergenerational (and even interpersonal) communication scholar to bring Southeast Asia into the communication research literature. Prior to McCann’s work in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, there had been virtually no empirical communication studies in any of these countries. This omission was startling given that countries such as these differ so significantly from both the West and much of East Asia (e.g., Japan, China, Korea) in that their views on aging derive from very different social and religio-philosophical traditions. McCann argues that these dissimilar traditions influence intra- and intergenerational communicative behaviors in differing and unique ways, making culturally sensitive research a potentially valuable portico into how modes of thought and communication vary across cultures.
Following from his work in communication, McCann and noted scholar James Honeycutt were also the first to explore intra-personal communication in Southeast Asia. According to Honeycutt, the work conducted with McCann was “vital to our understanding of intrapersonal and cross-cultural communication, not to mention (Southeast) Asian studies. The rapidly developing Southeast Asian country of Thailand is also now, for the first time, placed on the intra-personal communication research map.”
Dr. McCann was also among a group of academics who were largely responsible for creating the field of cross-cultural intergenerational communication as it is known today. Working under two UC Pacific Rim Foundation grants, the "UC Pacific Rim Group of Scholars" (led by his mentor and frequent collaborator Dr. Howard Giles) were resonsible for over 30 peer reviewed articles, as well as numerous conference papers and chapters.
Broadly speaking, the work of these scholars (Dr. McCann's work focused mainly on SE Asia and in the workplace) changed the way that we look at communicating with older individuals. Specifically, their work challenged conventional notions of positive aging in Asia, finding that socially and communicatively, intergenerational relations in the West were actually perceived to be more favorable than in the many Eastern contexts. In addition, they also documented that negative communicative experiences were associated with subjective ill-being for older people.
For his part in the above research, Dr. McCann was awarded the Western States Communication Association Milton Dickens Award for Exemplary Empirical Research in Communication (offered every three years), the Brython Davis Award for his intergenerational communication in Vietnam, the George D. McCune Award, and the James J. Bradac Award for Excellence in Communication Research.
Intergenerational Communication in the Workplace
Dr. McCann is also known for his pioneering work in the area of intergenerational communication in the workplace both in the USA and internationally. In their oft-cited (and first of its kind) work on the role of language in age discrimination lawsuits, ageist language appears as case evidence with alarming frequency (for review, see McCann & Giles, 2002). Dr. McCann argues that the wrong language - denigrating older workers, even if only subtly - can have an outsized negative impact on employee productivity and corporate profits, noting that retirement decisions and work satisfaction can be affected by intergenerational talk at work.. McCann's new book, which follows from these themes, is entitled Ageism at Work: A Communication Perpspective.
Age Discrimination
Because the communicative dimensions of ageism are often overlooked, Dr. McCann highlights the major role that language has played in both workplace ageism and age-discrimination lawsuits. For the plaintiff, the defendant's ageist comments typically are perceived as clear evidence of the company’s discriminatory intent toward older workers. Defendants, by contrast, generally view these same ageist comments as "stray remarks" proving little other than that ageism is prevalent in society at large. Age-related comments such as “the old woman," "that old goat," "too long on the job," "old and tired," "a sleepy kind of guy with no pizzazz," “he had bags under his eyes,” and he is “an old fart” are just some of the hundreds of ageist comments McCann and former colleague Dr. Howard Giles (developer of the Communication Accommodation Theory) unearthed in their analysis of age-discrimination lawsuits.
Such language has become so common in age-discrimination cases that some groups of ageist comments even have their own names. "Young blood" remarks are perhaps the best illustration, including such examples as: "We need young blood around here," "Let's make room for some MBAs," or "Let's bring in the young guns."<ref name="McCann and Giles" />
Teaching
At USC, Dr. McCann teaches Global Management, Advanced Managerial Communication, Professional Development for Leaders, and Strategic Business Communication. For his teaching, he is the recipient of the Golden Apple Teaching Award, an honor bestowed by Marshall's full time, first year MBA class. Dr. McCann is also the Faculty Director of the USC Marshall Executive Education Management Develop Program. In Thailand, he spent nearly ten years teaching at Chulalongkorn University and the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
Selected Publications
* McCann, R.M. & Giles, H. (2006). Communication with people of different ages in the workplace: Thai and American data. Human Communication Research, 32, 74-108.
* McCann, R.M., Cargile, A., Giles, H., & Cuong, B.T. (2004). Communication ambivalence towards elders: Data from North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the U.S.A. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 19, 275-287.
* McCann, R.M. & Giles, H. (2002). Ageism and the workplace: A communication perspective. In Todd D. Nelson (Ed.) Ageism, (pp. 163-199). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu