Abstract

Although communication is widely accepted as central to the construction of organizational culture, researchers in organizational theory and in rhetoric and professional communication have focused primarily on traditional spoken and written texts, overlooking the vital role that new technologies—especially film and video—are now playing in socializing members of organizations to organizational life. This article examines corporate videos as cultural texts and develops the claim that videos function as rites and ceremonials in modern organizations, facilitating organizational socialization. Drawing on videos produced by a major national financial services firm, the article defines and analyzes four types of rites: integration, passage, renewal, and enhancement.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
1992-10-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651992006004001
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

References (43)

  1. Inside Organizations: Understanding the Human Dimension
  2. Principles of Behavior Modification
  3. JBTC
  4. Principles of Anthropology
  5. Discourse and the Social Life of Meaning
Show all 43 →
  1. Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography
  2. Two-Dimensional Man
  3. 10.2307/357716
  4. Organizational Development: Behavioral Science Interventions for Organizational Improvement
  5. Transitions: Four Rituals in Eight Cultures
  6. 10.1086/221800
  7. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays
  8. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology
  9. Rites of Passage
  10. 10.5465/amr.1984.4279675
  11. Essays on the Rite of Social Relations
  12. 10.1177/002194368802500303
  13. 10.5465/amr.1981.4288021
  14. Anthropology as Cultural Critique
  15. Cognitive Social Psychology
  16. Organizational Symbolism
  17. Secular Rituals
  18. Communication and Power in Organizations: Discourse, Ideology, and Domination
  19. Writing in Nonacademic Settings
  20. 10.2307/2392363
  21. Research in Organizational Behavior
  22. Dialectical Anthropology
  23. Navaho Religion: A Study of Symbolism
  24. 10.1037/0021-9010.66.2.193
  25. For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-Collar Organization in Anthropological Perspective
  26. 10.2307/2392563
  27. Organizational Culture
  28. 10.2307/2392248
  29. JBTC
  30. Inside Organizations: Understanding the Human Dimension
  31. Research on the Sociology of Organizations
  32. 10.1177/001979396902300104
  33. 10.5465/amr.1984.4277391
  34. Reader's Digest
  35. Understanding Cultures: Perspectives in Anthropology and Social Theory
  36. Organizational Symbolism
  37. Written Communication
  38. 10.1177/002194368502200101