Managing meanings, coaching virtues and mediating rhetoric: Revisiting the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and practice

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to present and revisit the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors revisit the insights from previous work on the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and introduce new perspectives based on the original contributions included in this special issue.

Findings

There is an ongoing need to stress the importance of narrative and rhetorical perspectives in management research, specifically for exploring the managing of meanings, the coaching of virtues and the mediating of rhetoric.

Originality/value

The paper revisits and provides new insights on the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and emphasizes the interrelationship between both, specifically by focusing on the conceptual framework of Kenneth Burke, whose work can be situated at the intersection of rhetoric and narrative.

Citation

Rutten, K. and Flory, M. (2020), "Managing meanings, coaching virtues and mediating rhetoric: Revisiting the role of rhetoric and narratives in management research and practice", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 581-590. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-11-2019-0333