Ventriloquial Moves in CEO Open Letters: Modulating Multiple Voices for the Rhetorical Construction of Commitment
Management Communication Quarterly
Published online on August 14, 2026
Abstract
Management Communication Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
CEO open letters are typically studied as monovocal texts whose persuasive force derives from the formal authority of CEOs. This paper challenges that premise. Drawing on Cooren’s ventriloquial theory, it characterizes these letters as polyphonic ...
CEO open letters are typically studied as monovocal texts whose persuasive force derives from the formal authority of CEOs. This paper challenges that premise. Drawing on Cooren’s ventriloquial theory, it characterizes these letters as polyphonic ...