Dr. Larry D. Browning (Ph.D., Ohio State University-Columbus, 1973) Dr. Browning’s research areas include the study of narratives, complexity, the role of lists and stories in organizations, information-communication technology, cooperation and competition in organizations, and grounded theory as a research strategy. Browning’s recent work emphasizes narrative theory and the study of complex organizations. His complexity and narrative analyses include a study of SEMATCH, a semiconductor research and testing consortium. In his review of complexity theory and organizational research organizations, Phillip Anderson, in the journal, Organization Science, (1999) calls Browning’s 1995 work on complexity a “pathbreaking example.” Professor Browning has also applied complexity theory and narrative to Information/Communication Technologies ICTs (2004), to the study of organizational sensemaking (2005), and to organizational failure (2006).
His research on organizations is published in a variety of communication and management journals including: Communication Monographs, Communication Theory, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, Communication Education, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Handbook of Organizational Communication, and Communication Yearbook 13. Browning, along with co-authors, has published two books. They are: Sematech: Saving the U. S. semiconductor industry, Texas A&M Press, 2000, and Information and communication technologies in action: Linking theory and narratives of practice. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press, 2004. Browning consults with a wide variety of groups including IBM, Tokyo Electron, Applied Materials, AMD, Motorola, SEMATECH, Transamerica, Digital Equipment Company, Marriott Hotels, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the Zachry Company, and Design Learning-Block, Petrella, Weisbord.