ABSTRACT
Few conditions are as propitious to rumor formation as those of professional life, at the factory, the office, in businesses and administrations. One finds in these places most of the parameters that favor the emergence, diffusion and amplification of rumors. Rumors flourish wherever one finds secrets. Secrecy, like censorship, increases the value of information and leads to an exacerbation of "desires to know more." Rumors flourish when individuals have feeling that they have lost control over their future. Everything is decided externally, without their input: nominations, pay, promotions, and layoffs. While they control their external communication, businesses have realized that they are totally unarmed when it comes to internal communication. One can nevertheless prevent certain rumors. An examination of the tactics used by internal communication managers shows that these managers espouse the ideal of transparency. As rumors are born of under-information, overinformation, or mis-information, their strategy consists in excising the roots of these three factors by an open information policy.
