Patricia Riley is a specialist in organizational communication and is internationally known for her work on institutional politics and organizational culture change. Her most recent research focuses on the role of communication infrastructure in knowledge management processes and on the role of communication and information technologies in organizational change and transformation. Her work has appeared in such books as Organizational Communication and Change, Organizational Culture, Advances in Leadership Research and the Handbook of Organizational Communication, and in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Communication Quarterly, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Management, and Argument and Advocacy.

Riley teaches undergraduate courses in organizational communication and graduate seminars on power and politics in organizations, organizational culture, and organizational communication theory. An expert in research methods, she also teaches graduate seminars in field research methodology and multivariate statistics. In addition, she is an associate member of the USC Leadership Institute, teaches in the executive program in the Marshall School of Business, is an adjunct member of the East Asian Studies Center, and directs both the undergraduate and graduate internship programs.

An experienced organizational consultant, Riley conducts workshops and seminars for top executives. She has facilitated structural reorganizations, developed transformation programs, trained Total Quality Management and programs in empowered work teams, and designed numerous attitude and marketing surveys. She has also assisted both technical and human resources training programs with large-scale interventions by developing multi-million dollar state and federal grants. Her recent clients include both for-profit and non-profit institutions: ALCOA, Boeing, 3M, Qualcomm, Raytheon, California School of Professional Psychology, California State University Los Angeles, Hewlett Packard, Hughes Aircraft, the Los Angeles Times, Rossier Schools, Santa Margarita Water District, Treasure Chest Advertising, and Wavetek Corporation. In addition, she has worked with numerous Japanese companies, including Kyocera, Mitsubishi and the Japanese National Railroad.