Rhetorical Tools for Communicating Strategic Change: Dana’s Definitional Statement

Abstract

What rhetorical tools are critical for managers seeking to communicate strategy? What textual features matter when developing a language of change? To explore these questions we compare Dana Corporation’s 1987 strategic definitional statement, The Philosophy and Policies of Dana, with its 2004 revision, our framework being Eccles and Nohria’s triadic of rhetoric, action, and identity. In a newly competitive environment, Dana evolved from recognition as an exemplary company into reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Concurrently, their 2004 statement marks a significant rhetorical shift. Dana’s example suggests the usefulness of thematic rearrangement, language adjustments, and opening sentence subjects to articulate revisions in purpose, values, and behavioral expectations and illustrates the usefulness of Eccles and Nohria’s framework for understanding rhetoric as a strategic organizational activity.