Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Jun 2015

Responding to Hostility: Evidence-Based Guidance for Communication During Planned Organizational Change

Kim Sydow Campbell University of Alabama ; Pierson Carmichael University of Alabama ; Jefrey S. Naidoo University of Alabama

Abstract

Hostile challenges to planned organization change are common and challenging to deal with effectively. Little research has explained successful responses to such stakeholder hostility. To address this gap, we use the concept of readiness to characterize the content of hostile challenges. We also use rhetorical strategies based on speech act theory to describe options for responding to those challenges. Because change agents must choose among multiple strategies, we continue a line of research investigating relative preferences among them. Ultimately, our aim is to offer six lessons for change agents who face hostile challenges based on evidence from research.

Journal
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published
2015-06-01
DOI
10.1177/2329490614551570
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Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Marlow et al. (2018)
    The Influence of Textual Cues on First Impressions of an Email Sender
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

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