A rhetoric-in-context approach to building commitment to multiple strategic goals

Abstract

There are still few explanations of the micro-level practices by which top managers influence employee commitment to multiple strategic goals. This paper argues that, through their language, top managers can construct a context for commitment to multiple strategic goals. We therefore propose a rhetoric-in-context approach to illuminate some of the micro practices through which top managers influence employee commitment. Based upon an empirical study of the rhetorical practices through which top managers influence academic commitment to multiple strategic goals in university contexts, we demonstrate relationships between rhetoric and context. Specifically, we show that rhetorical influences over commitment to multiple goals are associated with the historical context for multiple goals, the degree to which top managers' rhetoric instantiates a change in that context, and the internal consistency of the rhetorical practices used by top managers. Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840607075266
Divisions: College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School > Economics, Finance & Entrepreneurship
College of Business and Social Sciences > Aston Business School
Additional Information: The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Organization Studies, 20(11), November 2007 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © 2007 SAGE Publications.
Uncontrolled Keywords: commitment,context,multiple strategic goals,rhetoric,universities,Management of Technology and Innovation,Strategy and Management,Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
Publication ISSN: 1741-3044
Last Modified: 25 Nov 2024 08:04
Date Deposited: 21 Oct 2009 14:57
Full Text Link: http://oss.sage ... ract/28/11/1639
Related URLs: http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2007-11
Authors: Jarzabkowski, Paula
Sillince, John

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