Rhetorical Approaches

Rhetorical approaches to organizational communication address the persuasive communication of organizations. Scholars who view organizational communication through a rhetorical lens argue that rhetoric is inherently organizational and organizations are inherently rhetorical. Rhetorical theory provides a means of considering the ways organizations garner support from stakeholder groups through the use of structured argument. Beyond employing rhetorical theory and criticism, the rhetorical impulse provides a framework for understanding how organizations themselves are rhetorical structures. Both perspectives create future work that focuses on the relationships between organizational society and the ways technology impacts how organizations craft rhetorical arguments.