Business communication tends to focus on principles of nonacademic discourse that cross disciplinary boundaries.
Technical communication tends to focus on discourse about technology.
The amount and significance of research in business and technical communication have increased dramatically since the early 1970s, in part because scholars in other disciplines have increasingly chosen projects in business and technical communication. Scholars who specialize in business and technical communication typically investigate not only issues which are also important in the interdisciplinary fields from which business and technical communication draw but also such issues as electronic, graphic, and intercultural and international communication. Technical and professional communication courses are most often taught in English departments. People with PhDs and dissertations in business and technical communication are in demand both in industry and in college teaching. The Assocation for Business Communication has an annual international meeting in the fall and regional meetings in the spring.