This dissertation explores the workings of corporate communication, focusing on an employee communication program at AFC Canada, a subsidiary of a multinational travel and financial services organization. This case study focuses on how two key genres of employee communication, employee newsmagazines and all-employee meetings or town halls, function as management tools.
Rhetorical analysis of documents and events was used together with observation and interviews conducted over eleven months during 1998. Interviews revealed that the corporate communication group attempted to pursue an "open and honest" communication policy, delivering both good and bad news to employees in a timely manner. However, the group was often constrained in its communicative practices by more powerful managers in other divisions. For example, the group had difficulty convincing certain managers that employees needed to know that the company had lost several important contracts. Thus, while the group members in some senses saw themselves as advocates for employees, they were not always able to act in this capacity.
Results of the rhetorical analysis reveal that the genres of employee communication serve as epideictic rhetoric, attempting to inculcate particular values---and ultimately behaviors---among employees. Negative messages and positive emphasis were both found to be used strategically. Negative messages were used to preempt unofficial versions of events (such as the employee grapevine) and "counterspin" external media reports. They were also presented in a way that averted the company's responsibility for decisions that negatively impacted employees such as lay-offs. In addition, both the newsletter and the town hall meetings used identification strategies such as employee testimonials and storytelling to engender employee loyalty.
The analysis of the town hall meeting found that they served a ritual function in the organization's culture, functioning as epideictic rhetoric by reinforcing key organizational goals and values among members. The meetings used entertainment features including a theatrical setting and the showcasing of employee "performers" to achieve greater adherence to organizational values as well as to the American parent company. Most notably, the meetings used both forms and language of democracy, yet permitted little genuine employee participation.