The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication

A one-stop source for scholars and advanced students who want to get the latest and best overview and discussion of how organizations use rhetoric

While the disciplinary study of rhetoric is alive and well, there has been curiously little specific interest in the rhetoric of organizations. This book seeks to remedy that omission. It presents a research collection created by the insights of leading scholars on rhetoric and organizations while discussing state-of-the-art insights from disciplines that have and will continue to use rhetoric. 

Beginning with an introduction to the topic, The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication offers coverage of the foundations and macro-contexts of rhetoric—as well as its use in organizational communication, public relations, marketing, management and organization theory. It then looks at intellectual and moral foundations without which rhetoric could not have occurred, discussing key concepts in rhetorical theory. The book then goes on to analyze the processes of rhetoric and the challenges and strategies involved. A section is also devoted to discussing rhetorical areas or genres—namely contextual application of rhetoric and the challenges that arise, such as strategic issues for management and corporate social responsibility. The final part seeks to answer questions about the book’s contribution to the understanding of organizational rhetoric. It also examines what perspectives are lacking, and what the future might hold for the study of organizational rhetoric.

• Examines the advantages and perils of organizations that seek to project their voices in order to shape society to their benefits
• Contains chapters working in the tradition of rhetorical criticism that ask whether organizations’ rhetorical strategies have fulfilled their organizational and societal value
• Discusses the importance of obvious, traditional, nuanced, and critically valued strategies such as rhetorical interaction in ways that benefit discourse
• Explores the potential, risks, paradoxes, and requirements of engagement
• Reflects the views of a team of scholars from across the globe
• Features contributions from organization-centered fields such as organizational communication, public relations, marketing, management, and organization theory

The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication will be an ideal resource for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars studying organizational communications, public relations, management, and rhetoric. 

Øyvind Ihlen, Dr.art., is Professor at the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo. Ihlen has edited, written, and co-written 12 books, including The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility (Wiley Blackwell, 2011).

Robert L. Heath, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the School of Communication, University of Houston, USA, and has written and edited more than 20 books, handbooks, encyclopedias, research reports, and encyclopedia entries, plus more than 250 scholarly articles and chapters on public relations, issues management, rhetoric, corporate social responsibility, strategic stakeholder engagement, strategic communication, social movement activism, risk and crisis.

List of Figures ix

List of Tables and Boxes xi

Notes on Contributors xiii

Preface xxi

Part I Introduction 1

1. Introduction: Organizational Rhetoric 3
Øyvind Ihlen and Robert L. Heath

Part II Field Overviews: Foundations and Macro�]Contexts 15

2. Organizational Communication and Organizational Rhetoric I: The Theme of Merger 17
Charles Conrad and George Cheney

3. Organizational Communication and Organizational Rhetoric II: The Theme of Division 33
Charles Conrad and George Cheney

4. Public Relations and Rhetoric: Conflict and Concurrence 51
Robert L. Heath and Øyvind Ihlen

5. Marketing Rhetoric and the Rhetoric of Marketing: Manipulation or Mutuality? 67
Simon Møberg Torp and Lars Pynt Andersen

6. Rhetorical Analysis in Management and Organizational Research, 2007–2017 81
Larry D. Browning and E. Johanna Hartelius

7. A Theory of Organization as a Context For, and as Constituted by, Rhetoric 95
John A.A. Sillince and Benjamin D. Golant

Part III Concepts: Foundations Without Which Rhetoric Could Not Occur 111

8. Identification: Connection and Division in Organizational Rhetoric and Communication 113
Robert L. Heath, George Cheney, and Øyvind Ihlen

9. Deploying the Topics 127
Greg Leichty

10. The Truth About Ideographs: Progress Toward Understanding and Critique 143
Josh Boyd

11. Myths that Work: Toward a Mythology of Organizations and Organizing 155
Graham Sewell

12. Stasis Theory: An Approach to Clarifying Issues and Developing Responses 169
Charles Marsh

13. Corporate Apologia: Organizational Rhetoric and Wrongdoing 185
Keith M. Hearit

14. Ethos and its Constitutive Role in Organizational Rhetoric 201
James S. Baumlin and Peter L. Scisco

15. The New Civic Persona: Organizational/Institutional Citizenship Reimagined 215
Jill J. McMillan, Katy J. Harriger, Christy M. Buchanan, and Stephanie Gusler

16. Rhetorical Figures: The Case of Advertising 229
Bruce A. Huhmann

17. Spades, Shovels, and Backhoes: Unearthing Metaphors in Organizational Rhetoric 245
Damion Waymer

18. Synecdoche: Another Ubiquitous and Everyday Trope 257
Peter M. Hamilton

Part IV Processes: Challenges and Strategies 269

19. Rhetorical Legitimacy Contests: EpiPen and the Pharmaceutical Industry’s Rope�]A�]Dope 271
Ashli Q. Stokes

20. Rhetorical Agency: What Enables and Restrains the Power of Speech? 287
Elisabeth Hoff�]Clausen

21. Organizational Rhetoric in Deeply Pluralistic Societies: The Agonistic Alternative 301
Scott Davidson

22. Understanding the Rhetoric of Dialogue and the Dialogue of Rhetoric 315
Michael L. Kent and Maureen Taylor

23. Persuasion in Organizational Rhetoric: Distinguishing between Instrumental and Deliberative Approaches 329
Ford Shanahan, Alison Vogelaar, and Peter Seele

24. Strategic Message Design Defined: A Call for Focused Organizational Rhetoric and Communication 345
Pete M. Smudde and Jeffrey L. Courtright

25. Visual and Multimodal Rhetoric and Argumentation in Organizations and Organizational Theory 359
Jens E. Kjeldsen

26. Conceptualizing Audience in the Communication Process 373
Heidi Hatfield Edwards

Part V Areas: Contextual Applications and Challenges 383

27. Strategic Issues Management: Organizations Operating in Rhetorical Arenas 385
Robert L. Heath

28. Corporate Social Responsibility and Rhetoric: Conceptualization, Construction, and Negotiation 401
Amy O’Connor and Øyvind Ihlen

29. Organizational Rhetoric––Dialogue and Engagement: Explicating the Infrastructural Approach to Risk Communication 417
Michael J. Palenchar and Laura L. Lemon

30. Rhetoric as the Progenitor: The Creation and Expansion of Crisis Communication 429
W. Timothy Coombs

31. Organizing for Advocacy: Activist Organizational Rhetoric 439
Michael F. Smith and Denise P. Ferguson

Part VI Conclusions: From Origins, to Now, and Beyond 453

32. Aristotle, Burke, and Beyond: Impetus for Organizational Rhetoric’s Revival 455
George Cheney and Charles Conrad

33. New Vistas in Organizational Rhetoric 471
Rebecca J. Meisenbach

34. Conclusions and Take Away Points 485
Robert L. Heath and Øyvind Ihlen

Name Index

Subject Index

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