Organizational Rhetoric: Situations and Strategies - Softcover

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Mary F. Hoffman (Ph.D., University of Kansas) is associate professor and chair in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She teaches courses in organizational rhetoric, organizational communication and rhetorical criticism. Her research is concerned with how individuals negotiate organizational demands that conflict with personal values. Her work on three organizations of Benedictine nuns has been published in Communication Studies, Western Journal of Communication, and Journal of Communication and Religion. Her work on how individuals and organizations negotiate the idea of work/life balance has appeared in Qualitative Research Reports in Communication and Communication Quarterly.

Debra J. Ford (Ph.D., University of Kansas) is assistant dean for student affairs and research assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Nursing. She also teaches in the University of Kansas Department of Communication Studies. She has worked for twelve years in recruitment, advising and administration in nursing education, and has taught for ten years. She teaches courses in organizational communication, organizational rhetoric, leadership, communication theory and health communication. Her research focuses on strategies used by organizations to influence public policy, group communication processes in public-private partnerships, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has published articles in Communication Theory, Health Communication, Western Journal of Communication, and Communication Studies, among others. She is the principal investigator on a U. S. Dept. of Education GAANN grant.

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Organizational Rhetoric introduces students to a rhetorical approach to understanding, analyzing and creating organizational messages for both internal employees and external customers. This textbook provides students a theoretically-grounded understanding of the basic building blocks of organizational rhetoric, the types of rhetorical situations faced by organizational communicators, and the specific strategies used to address six common organizational rhetorical situations (such as image management).

Students will gain an understanding of the power of organizations in contemporary society and be able to think critically about organizational messages.

The text is organized in two units. In the first unit, authors Mary Hoffman and Debra Ford introduce the rationale for a rhetorical approach to organizational messages, and introduce the basic rhetorical building blocks and principles behind the rhetorical situation and the analysis of strategies.

In the second unit, the authors cover six specific rhetorical situations commonly faced by organizations, image and identity management, issue management, impression management, risk management, crisis management and organizational apologia, and internal message management. Each chapter is structured similarly, in conjunction with the ideas developed in unit one, and each ends with a case study that exemplifies the content presented in that chapter.

Features and Benefits:

- The first unit in the text will introduce the details of analyzing situations and identifying strategies

- The second unit will examine six specific recurring rhetorical situations for organizations

- Organizational schema centered on situations and strategies

- Use of real-life case studies

- Focus on careers in organizational rhetoric

- Focus on thinking critically about organizations in society