Much of the information that passes up and down the hierarchy in formal organizations is not of the referential kind taken for granted in theories about the interaction of principals and agents. It is less factual than it is persuasive. To have practical application, at least at the microlevel, theories of organizational behavior need to comprehend rules which govern the composition of persuasive messages; that is, they should take account of the rhetoric (especially the poetics) of organizational communication. Persuasive communication is described in the context of military organizations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bagehot, Walter
. [1867] 1966. The English constitution. Reprint. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
2.
Burke, Kenneth
. 1968. Language as symbolic action. Berkeley: University of California Press.
3.
Hašek, Jaroslav
. 1973. The good soldier Svejk. Translated by Cecil Parrott. London: Heinemann.
