Invitational discourse: towards a spirituality of communication

Ralph Bathurst and Chris Galloway

Social Responsibility Journal, 2018, vol. 14, issue 2, 336-350

Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to explore invitational discourse as a modality underpinning socially responsible enterprises seeking to become spiritually alert. This is carried out by focussing on a rich symbolic environment within which organizations operate. Design/methodology/approach - This conceptual paper explores a fifteenth-century icon from the Russian Orthodox tradition to demonstrate how organizations might move from silo-based communication strategies to create open environments where information is shared. A case study of the global organization in crisis, the dairy cooperative Fonterra, is used as a case study. Findings - Where organizations become invitational and go beyond blame to develop the two fundamental ethical qualities of forgiveness and generosity, they become more socially responsible. Originality/value - The study takes a well-known artefact within one tradition and appropriates for a discussion about contemporary organizations as they seek to become more holistic and spiritually alert.

Keywords: Leadership; Storytelling; Public relations; Christian theology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:srjpps:srj-05-2016-0089

DOI: 10.1108/SRJ-05-2016-0089

Access Statistics for this article

Social Responsibility Journal is currently edited by Prof David Crowther

More articles in Social Responsibility Journal from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().