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Full-Text Articles in Business

Addressing Corporate Ties To Slavery: Corporate Apologia In A Discourse Of Reconciliation, Claudia Irene Janssen Jan 2012

Addressing Corporate Ties To Slavery: Corporate Apologia In A Discourse Of Reconciliation, Claudia Irene Janssen

Claudia I. Janssen Danyi, PhD

Pressured by activists to take responsibility, American corporations recently found themselves in the spotlight for their past ties to slavery. Responding to the issue, they stepped into a complex discourse of reconciliation. Taking a rhetorical approach, this article analyzes the response of Aetna Inc. It explores how corporate rhetoric functions within present discourses about historical injustices and illustrates that Aetna's response informed by common strategies of corporate apologia inhibited meaningful reconciliation. The article thus furthers criticisms of (corporate) apologia in the context of historical injustice and raises questions about the potentialities and limitations of corporate rhetoric for reconciliation.


Dynamic Crisis Modifiers: Bp's Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, Catherine G. Bocke Jan 2012

Dynamic Crisis Modifiers: Bp's Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, Catherine G. Bocke

Masters Theses

When an organizational crisis emerges, crisis communicators must craft specific messages for their stakeholders and the public. While an organization is attempting to shape how the public perceives it during a crisis, the media work to frame the public's perception of the crisis through news coverage. Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) is a prescriptive theory that assesses a crisis situation to determine which crisis response will best protect the organization's reputation. Two factors, crisis history and severity, serve as modifiers that can affect the crisis situation, and ultimately influence the best response. BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill serves as …