Rhetorical criticism as a method for examining cultural pressures on organizational form

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a rationale and step‐by‐step description of how to use rhetorical criticism as a method for accounting for organizational isomorphism in organizational fields.Design/methodology/approachThe idea that rhetoric is an important form of organizational discourse has gained interest among organizational scholars in recent years. Institutional theorists, especially, have been willing to embrace the “rhetorical turn” in organization studies. These scholars recognize that rhetoric plays an important role in creating, maintaining, and disrupting organizational and institutional orders. This paper adds to this research agenda by suggesting that organizational isomorphism can be partly understood as a rhetorical phenomenon. A method of rhetorical criticism – a qualitative approach for analyzing the rhetorical dimensions of texts and practice – and its efficacy for institutional research is explicated. Using a popular television program about crime scene investigations (which has arguably produced a “CSI effect” that influences the criminal justice system as an organizational field) as a sustained example, steps are provided for conducting rhetorical criticism of popular culture texts in order to account for isomorphic trends in an organizational field.FindingsRhetorical analysis of cultural and organizational artifacts, including institutional work, can expose myths and ceremonies that guide practices effectively and problematically.Originality/valueThe potential value of the paper is in its function as a guide for (neo)institutional and organization scholars looking for innovative approaches to studying organizations from a cultural perspective.