The rhetorical and organizational nature of public relations: The case of General Motors' C/K pickups

Organizational discourse has been addressed as either a rhetorical or an organizational phenomenon. What is lacking is a grounded theory of corporate discourse that integrates rhetorical and organizational theory. The best way to accomplish this objective is to study a case of an organization that managed an issue that cut to the core of its business and its relationships with its publics: General Motors 1973–1987 C/K pickup trucks, which were alleged to have a defective fuel-system design. This project combines Kenneth Burke's rhetorical theory and dramatistic critical method with Karl Weick's theory of organizing as a lens through which to view a particular case of public relations. The result is a theory-driven analytical method for describing, interpreting, evaluating, and planning public relations discourse. This project uses the case to test this method and model the public relations process.;In the case and in general, corporate public relations, as organizing activity about enacted environments, functions dramatistically and features symbolic action to induce cooperation between an organization and its publics. Through the analytical method, this project answers three research questions: (1) How successful was GM's public relations in managing the issue? (2) What does the case study teach us about the practice of public relations? (3) How effective is the Burke-Weick combination as a way to translate the case into its rhetorical and organizational aspects? Answers to these questions and the surrounding analysis sufficiently explain the simultaneously rhetorical and organizational nature of public relations.;This dissertation's key contribution is synthesizing theories of rhetoric and organizations—those of Burke and Weick respectively—into an analytical system for analysis and action. This convergence has never been done before. Other important contributions include defining public relations anew to emphasize, unlike other definitions, the context of symbolic action borne of organizing behavior; outlining and pragmatically defining (for the first time ever) specific public relations discourse genres, which serve as vital reference points; using texts prepared for both internal and external publics; and presenting a unique program for the “dramatistic organizing of public relations” that draws on the case study, the author's experience, and published research.