Theorists and management in the South African non-profit sector agree that strong stakeholder relationships are essential in negotiating the challenges faced by the South African non-profit sector. Despite the acknowledgement from the non-profit sector that strong relationships are key to achieving organisational goals, there is an apparent lack of knowledge and strategic thinking amongst them pertaining to the concept of stakeholder relationship management. Against this background the purpose of this study was therefore to develop a metamodern model for stakeholder relationship management, aimed specifically at the South African non-profit sector, that could be implemented by NPO management in a practical manner. The blurring lines between the opposing views of modernism versus postmodernism motivated the choice of metamodernism as a relevant worldview for this study. Metamodernism does not imply a balance between these poles, but rather a constant swinging of the pendulum during which metamodernism negotiates between modernism and postmodernism. It is the construction of a workable, interrelated worldview, recognising the intimate relationship between modernism and postmodernism. It was therefore concluded that a metamodern worldview in which both modernism and postmodernism feature, would not only make it possible for nonprofit organisation managers to understand and join the discussion on stakeholder relationship management, but also to implement the proposed metamodern stakeholder relationship management model. The resultant metamodern stakeholder relationship management model for non-profit organisations is framed by so-called modernistic communication and stakeholder relationship management theories, but it was done in line with the metamodern worldview of the study, allowing for initiative and innovation. The flexible, organic and cyclic nature of the proposed model echoes this worldview. A qualitative, exploratory and interpretative research design was implemented to test a conceptual framework and face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior management in the non-profit sector. The design of the framework and subsequent model was guided by a number of assumptions and propositions arising from a thorough literature review, all of which were supported and confirmed by the research results. The most significant contribution of the study is the application of a metamodern worldview emanating from a reluctance to choose between a modern or postmodern stance when discussing communication science and stakeholder relationship management practices. It is therefore foreseen that it would offer the field of communication science new and creative means of combining modernism and postmodernism approaches when studying communication phenomena. It will also expand the responsibility for communication and stakeholder relationship management beyond that of the communication specialists to senior management in the non-profit sector. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

En tant que type particulier d'organisation religieuse séculaire, les organisations traditionnelles d'arts martiaux chinois (TCMAO) sont peu étudiées en ce qui concerne la manière dont l'autorité est accomplie de manière communicationnelle et le rôle des pratiques corporelles. Fondée sur une vision performative de l'autorité relationnelle dans la perspective de la constitution communicationnelle des organisations (CCO), cette thèse propose de répondre à cette omission dans la littérature actuelle. Convaincue de la valeur de l'utilisation de théories indigènes pour étudier les pratiques locales, cette thèse s'appuie sur le concept de chaxugeju (ou mode d'association différentiel) du sociologue chinois Xiaotong Fei et développe l'idée d'autorité différentielle, qui décrit le phénomène par lequel l'autorité d'une personne peut être étendue à d'autres territoires et d'autres acteurs par le biais d'associations. Ensemble, les pratiques corporelles et l'autorité différentielle constituent le cadre conceptuel de cette thèse. Cette thèse adopte une approche ethnographique en mobilisant des méthodes qualitatives. En analysant les données ethnographiques recueillies auprès d'une TCMAO située à Zhengzhou (Chine), j’identifie cinq pratiques corporelles principales dans une TCMAO: l'instruction incarnée, la pose de photos, le rituel corporel, la performance mise en scène et le concours situé. Chaque type de pratique corporelle joue un rôle unique dans l'établissement d'associations significatives qui aident les individus et les organisations à revendiquer une autorité différentielle. L'instruction incarnée présente d’une manière très efficace les artistes martiaux comme les vecteurs légitimes d'un art martial particulier, prouvant ainsi l’association authentique entre l'héritier et l'art qu’ils représentent. Ces personnes utilisent également le photo-posing pour développer leurs associations positives avec des figures d'autorité (humaines ou non) afin de revendiquer l'autorité différentielle des individus et des organisations. Parallèlement, ils évitent toute forme d'association négative qui pourrait nuire à leur autorité. Grâce au mécanisme mutuellement bénéfique de l'emprunt de lumière et de l'ajout de gloire, le maître et ses disciples utilisent ces photos comme dispositifs d'auctorialité différentielle de leur association pour établir leur autorité respective par le biais de l'association maître-disciple. De même, les rituels corporels établissent et réaffirment les associations des disciples avec leurs ancêtres, leurs maîtres et les lignées célèbres. Ces rituels sont essentiels pour accomplir l'autorité différentielle de ces disciples et de l'organisation qu'ils représentent. Les performances mises en scène contribuent ainsi à établir leur autorité en associant les artistes martiaux à des étapes importantes investies de prestige et d'influence. Quant aux performances mises en scène au niveau intra-organisationnel, elles permettent de différencier certains membres de l'organisation des autres en affichant publiquement leur statut au sein de l'organisation, ce qui aide ainsi les membres favorisés à accomplir les bases de leur autorité. Enfin, les concours situés établissent l'autorité des artistes martiaux en les différenciant et en les plaçant dans différentes positions dans la hiérarchie de la communauté des arts martiaux. Ces cinq pratiques corporelles se mêlent les unes aux autres et contribuent à l'accomplissement communicatif de l'autorité dans une TCMAO. Cette thèse apporte des contributions significatives à la littérature sur l'intersection entre religion et organisation. Elle étend la recherche en cours sur la dimension matérielle de la communication. Elle fait progresser la discussion sur l'autorité relationnelle dans une perspective communicationnelle, en particulier la discussion du corps et du rôle de la pratique corporelle dans l'accomplissement de l'autorité. / This dissertation aims to address two omissions in current literature. First, current literature has not examined how authority is communicatively accomplished in traditional Chinese martial arts organizations (TCMAOs), which are one special kind of secular religious organization. Second, in the communicative constitution of organizations (CCO) literature, it is unclear what is the role of body practices in the communicative accomplishment of authority. Grounded in the CCO tradition, this dissertation seeks inspirations from Xiaotong Fei’s chaxugeju (or differential mode of association) theory and develops the concept of differential authority, which refers to the phenomenon that authority can be shared and extended to other actors and territories through meaningful associations established in and through communication. Together, body practices and differential authority constitute this dissertation’s conceptual framework to investigate how body practices contribute to the communicative accomplishment of authority in a TCMAO. To answer my research question, this dissertation takes an at-home ethnographic approach to study a TCMAO located in Zhengzhou (China). I developed an organic iterative approach to analyze data collected through participant observation, conducting interviews, and writing a reflective journal. My analysis summarizes five body practices in a TCMAO: embodied instruction, photo-posing, body ritual, staged performance, and contesting. Each body practice plays unique roles in helping individuals and organizations establish meaningful associations with authoritative figures, and thus claim differential authority. They also intermingle and co-act with one another in the communicative accomplishment of authority in a TCMAO. Through embodied instruction, martial artists show themselves as the legitimate vectors of a particular martial art, thus proving their authentic associations between the inheritors and the art. People use photo-posing to develop their positive associations with authoritative figures (human or non-human) to claim the differential authority of individuals and organizations; and they avoid any form of negative associations that might hurt their authority. Through the mutually beneficial mechanism of borrowing light and adding glory, the master and disciples use photos as differential authoring devices of their associations to establish their authority respectively through the master-disciple association. Body rituals establish and reaffirm disciples’ associations with ancestors, masters, and famous lineages. They are critical for accomplishing the differential authority of these disciples and the organizations they represent. Staged performance establishes authority by associating martial artists with important stages invested with prestige and influence. Intraorganizational staged performance differentiates certain organizational members from others by publicly displaying their status within the organization, thus helping the favored members to accomplish authority. Contesting establishes martial artists’ authority by differentiating them and placing them in different positions in the martial arts community hierarchy. This dissertation contributes to the CCO literature by advancing research on the role of body practices in accomplishing authority from a communicative point of view. Besides forwarding ongoing research on the material dimension of communication, it also extends our understanding of relational authority by integrating an indigenous theory of association from China. Furthermore, it expands our understanding of TCMAOs and secular religious organizations at unfamiliar settings.