This article critiques the conceptualization of corporate communications in a recent study by Llewellyn and Harrison. We argue that their analysis of the reception of corporate messages is one-sided and partial and fails to advance a comprehensive understanding of corporate communications and its role in contemporary organizations. Llewellyn and Harrison suggest that blue-collar employees share a class-based anti-management attitude which together with their `folk' linguistic competences leads them to read corporate communications texts in a strictly cynical way that reinforces a class distinction between `managers' and (blue-collar) `employees'. In the hope of advancing a more sophisticated view on corporate communications, we challenge Llewellyn and Harrison's position by questioning the methods and arguments brought forth in their analysis.
Albert, S. & Whetten, D.A.Organizational identity . Research in Organizational Behavior , 1985, 7, 263—95 .
2.
Alvesson, M. & Willmott, H.Identity regulation as organizational control: Producing the appropriate individual . Journal of Management Studies, 2002, 39, 619—44 .
3.
Ashforth, B.E. & Mael, F.Social identity theory and the organization . Academy of Management Review, 1989, 14(1), 20—39 .
4.
Ashforth, B.E. & Mael, F.Organizational identity and strategy as a context for the individual. In J.A.C. Baum & J.E. Dutton (Eds), Advances in strategic management, vol. 13. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press , 1996, pp. 19—64.
5.
Cheney, G.On the various and changing meanings of organizational membership: A field study of organizational identification . Communication Monographs , 1983a, 50, 343—63 .
6.
Cheney, G.The rhetoric of identification and the study of organizational communication . Quarterly Journal of Speech, 1983b, 69, 143—58 .
7.
Cheney, G.Rhetoric in an organizational society: Managing multiple identities. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press , 1991.
8.
Cheney, G. & Christensen, L.T.Organisational identity. Linkages between `internal' and `external' organisational communication. In F.M. Jablin & L.L. Putnam (Eds), The new handbook of organisational communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage , 2001, pp. 231—69.
9.
Christensen, L.T. & Cheney, G.Self-absorption and self-seduction in the corporate identity game. In M. Schultz , M.J. Hatch & M.H. Larsen (Eds), The expressive organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press , 2000, pp. 246—70.
Corley, K.G. & Gioia, D.A.Identity ambiguity and change in the wake of a corporate spin-off . Administrative Science Quarterly, 2004, 49, 173—208 .
12.
Cornelissen, J.Corporate communications. Theory and practice. London: Sage , 2004.
13.
DiSanza, J.R. & Bullis, C. ` Everybody identifies with Smokey the Bear': Employee responses to newsletter identification inducements at the U.S. Forest Service . Management Communication Quarterly, 1999, 12, 347—99 .
14.
Dutton, J.E. & Dukerich, J.M.Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation . Academy of Management Journal , 1991, 34(3), 517—54 .
15.
Elsbach, K.Managing organisational legitimacy in the California cattle industry: The construction of effectiveness of verbal accounts . Administrative Science Quarterly,1999, 39, 57—88 .
16.
Fiol, M.Capitalizing on paradox: The role of language in transforming organizational identities . Organization Science, 2002, 13(6), 653—66 .
17.
Ginzel, L. , Kramer R. & Sutton, B.Organizational impression management as a reciprocal influence process: The neglected role of the organizational audience . Research in Organizational Behaviour, 1993, 15, 227—66 .
18.
Gioia, D. & Chittipeddi, K.Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation . Strategic Management Journal, 1991, 12, 443—8 .
19.
Haslam, S.A. & Ellemers, N.Social identity in industrial and organizational psychology: Concepts, controversies and contributions. In G.P. Hodgkinson (Ed.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology , vol. 20. Chichester: Wiley , 2005, pp. 39—118.
20.
Hatch, M.J. & Schultz, M.Relations between organizational culture, identity and image . European Journal of Marketing,1997, 31(5), 356—65 .
Humphreys, M. & Brown, A.D.Narratives of organizational identity and identification: A case study of hegemony and resistance . Organization Studies, 2002, 23(3), 421—47 .
23.
Johnson, M.The body in the mind: The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason . Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press , 1987.
24.
Langacker, R.Grammar and conceptualization. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter , 2000.
25.
Llewellyn, N. & Harrison, A.Resisting corporate communications: Insights into folk linguistics . Human Relations, 2006, 59(4), 567—96 .
26.
Marchand, R.Creating the corporate soul. The rise of public relations and corporate imagery in American big business. Berkeley: The University of California Press , 1998.
27.
Morsing, M.The media boomerang: The media's role in changing identity by changing image . Corporate Reputation Review, 1999, 2(2), 116—35 .
28.
Pratt, M.G.To be or not to be: Central questions in organizational identification. In D. Whetten & P. Godfrey (Eds), Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage , 1998, p. 171—208.
29.
Pratt, M.G.Disentangling collective identity. In J. Polzer , E. Manniz & M. Neale (Eds), Identity issues in groups: Research in managing groups and teams. Stamford, CT: Elsevier Science , 2003, pp. 161—88.
30.
Smidts, A. , Pruyn, A.T.H. & van Riel, C.B.M.The impact of employee communication and perceived external prestige on organizational identification . Academy of Management Journal, 2001, 49(5), 1051—62 .
31.
Van Riel, C.B.M.Principles of corporate communication. London: Prentice Hall , 1995.
