Title

Bridge Discourses and Organizational Ideologies: Managing Spiritual and Secular Communication in a Faith-Based, Nonprofit Organization

School/Department

School of Fine Arts and Communication

Publication Date

10-2014

Abstract

The present interpretive research contributes to the increasing niche of studies that acknowledge spirituality and religion in organizations. The current study examines communication in the workplace as it is mediated by the organizational context. In particular, we explore how a faith-based organization navigated the seemingly incompatible ideologies of faith and business. First, we identify the ideological commitments and values that coexist for organizational members. Second, we argue that bridge discourse facilitated the coexistence of disparate ideological commitments and values. Specifically, we describe how three dominant discourses, (a) a spiritual-business discourse, (b) a theological-science discourse, and (c) a discourse of excellence, navigated ideological differences in a nonprofit, faith-based organization. The findings in this article have implications for future studies ranging from the pragmatic to the critical.

Keywords

Nonprofit organizations--Management; Business communication

Publication Title

International Journal of Business Communication

Volume

51

Issue

4

First Page

386

Last Page

408

DOI of Published Version

10.1177/2329488414525451.

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