Making an ethical commitment: A rhetorical case study of organizational socialization

1 June 1990

journal article
research article
Published by Taylor & Francis in Communication Quarterly

Vol. 38 (3) , 255-267
https://doi.org/10.1080/01463379009369762

Abstract

This essay approaches formal socialization in organizations as a rhetorical process, presenting a rhetorical‐critical study of one organization's formal orientation to company objectives. The analysis reveals the orientation program as a complex act aiming to shape ethical conduct of newcomers. The study identifies a strategy of evoking identification to the organization through a series of strategically focused identifications which culminate in an attempt to shape commitment to a set of organizational values. Ethical dimensions of the discourse are analyzed from a moral rights framework, revealing a rhetorical statement about the moral role of this business in society.

Keywords

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:

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