ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a concise but thorough view of organizational rhetoric. We review how work in organizational rhetoric spans research on propaganda analysis, organizational communication, public relations, and rhetorical social movements, highlighting connections and differences among these perspectives and outlining what organizational rhetoric has borrowed from and contributed to each. We then consider issues of concern to organizational rhetoric scholars: crisis communication, maintenance communication, power relationships, and ethics. In discussing these areas, we address individual theories of organizational rhetoric, including legitimacy, apologia, issue management, identification, and corporate social responsibility. Finally, by reflecting on existing work, we offer our predictions for the future of research in organizational rhetoric. Overall, we call attention to thinking about all organizations as “inherently rhetorical” so that communication scholars and practitioners can understand and explore the utility of applying a rhetorical perspective to their work in various communication contexts.
