This project attempts to bridge the gap between organizational theory and political rhetoric by approaching the study of the George W. Bush administration through the lens of Weick's theory of organizing. I specifically argue for the Bush administration as a tightly coupled system, as demonstrated by the media and the members of the administration themselves. Second, I argue for the constraining nature of the enacted environment through an analysis of the administration's position on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. I find that Bush's decision to veto stem cell legislation in 2006 was a consequence of his identity as an Evangelical Christian and of his definition of what it means to be a leader. Finally, I argue for the importance of requisite variety in the administration's rhetorical constructions of the problems facing Social Security and the proposed methods of program reform. The administration's proposal demonstrates the necessity for a rhetorical "matching" between the construction of the problem and the construction of the solution. Finally, I turn to Crable and situate the findings within Crable's model of organizational rhetoric.

Organizational Rhetoric is typically used in the fields of Communication and Mass Communication to examine the communicative strategies that animate businesses and corporate organizations. This study aims to give a more rhetorically focused definition of organizational rhetoric by emphasizing how communicative acts structure action and shape the construction of identity in settings beyond formal workplaces. Based on an analysis of the social sorority bylaws of Kappa Alpha Theta and the rhetorical situations those bylaws address, this study suggests that social sororities employ organizational rhetoric as an effective means of persuading their members to be active participants within the organization. Ultimately, the analysis argues that the rhetoric employed by social sororities mimics the typified, effective rhetorical moves of an organization to shape the agency and identities of their members.

Denna studie beskriver hur svenska lärosäten använder sig av retorik för att kommunicera sin identitet till externa intressenter. Genom en kvalitativ textanalys undersöks artiklar och medförande bilder ur åtta svenska lärosätens forskningsmagasin: Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Lunds Universitet, Högskolan Väst, Jönköping University, Mittuniversitetet, Högskolan i Gävle, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH) och Högskolan i Borås. Genom Hoffman och Fords (2010) organisationsretoriska modell analyserades en artikel från de utvalda lärosätenas forskningsmagasin för att se på vilket sätt de uttrycker sin strategiska vision samt vilka strategier de använder för att skapa och upprätthålla sin identitet. Vi analyserade även bilderna till respektive artikel för att se vad de bidrar med i lärosätenas kommunikation. Utöver samarbete med externa intressenter var de strategiska visioner som tydligast framträdde i magasinen lärosätenas forskningskvalitet och deras goda innovationsförmåga. Det skiljer sig dock åt mellan lärosäten på vilket sätt dessa två teman framställs. Resultaten i denna studie indikerar att mindre lärosäten är mer benägna att kommunicera värdet av innovation och konkurrensfördelar till sina externa intressenter. Detta för att förbättra sin image och attrahera externa intressenter att samarbeta med lärosätet. Resultaten indikerar även att associeringsstrategier är vanliga när lärosätena bygger sin identitet. Denna studie visar dock att även differentieringsstrategier förekommer. Slutligen indikerar resultaten att bilder har potential att förbättra lärosätenas kommunikation av sin strategiska vision och kan även hjälpa lärosätet att nå ut med forskningsresultat till en bredare målgrupp. / This study describes how Swedish universities use rhetoric to communicate their identity to their external stakeholders. Articles and pictures in research magazines of eight Swedish universities are examined through a qualitative text analysis, these universities are: Chalmers University of Technology, Lund University, University West, Jönköping University, Mid Sweden University, the University of Gävle, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and the University of Borås. A organizational rhetorical model for text analysis by Hoffman and Ford (2010) is used to study the universities concerned in their way of expressing their strategic vision, how they use different strategies in their identity building and what their published photos in the magazines contributes to the communication of the strategic vision. The results of the study indicates that smaller institutions are more prone to communicate the value of innovation and competitive advantage in their communication with external stakeholder in order to establish a good image and attract external stakeholder to cooperate with the university. The most commonly used rhetorical strategy by universities to communicate their identity is by association. The use of differentiation is however an interesting strategy that might help higher education institutions stand out from the crowd and create a more unique identity. The use of pictures can also be helpful to communicate the strategic visions. Because of the popular science character of the visual communication, pictures can also help universities to reach a broader audience with the latest academic research.

The study of communication was born with the study of rhetoric, and scholars have been examining the creation and reception of messages for thousands of years. However, the term rhetoric often has negative connotations, as we hear people label some statement as “just rhetoric” or we hear them say, “The action doesn't match the rhetoric.” However, rhetoric is a style of communication that takes into account the effective use of both verbal and non-verbal languages, and it is one of the main ingredients in the day to day communication in organizations, healthcare organizations being no exception. It is virtually impossible to communicate without the use of rhetoric. This study focused on healthcare organizations because the delivery of healthcare is built on communication, and there is more to understand about the usage of language and organizational rhetoric in healthcare organizations. To these effects, the study examined communication in healthcare organizations and the perceived use of rhetoric among healthcare professionals; it explored how healthcare professionals perceive communication with their audiences, how the use of rhetoric, as perceived by healthcare professionals, affects communication in healthcare organizations and the contribution of rhetoric, as perceived by healthcare professionals, in motivating healthcare audience in healthcare organizations. The five canons of rhetoric were employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as tools for data collection. While contributing to existing literature on health and organizational communication, this study will also contribute in providing both government and private organizations insights into the use of rhetoric in professional communication with the hope of enhancing the quality of communication in the workplace.

The purpose of this project was to examine the perceptions of junior faculty members as they relate to roles and expectations related to the tenure process. The study utilized a mixed methods approach to gain a multifaceted perspective of this complex process. I employed a quantitative and qualitative survey to explore junior faculty perceptions regarding roles related to promotion and tenure policies. In addition, I conducted fantasy theme analysis (FTA) to explore the organizational rhetoric related to these policies. Findings from the study illustrate the continued presence of the "publish or perish" paradigm, as well as issues related to role conflict within the context of organizational rhetoric.

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