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Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments

Mini-disseration (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.

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Other Authors: Price, Gavin
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Price, Gavin
author_browse Price, Gavin
author_facet Price, Gavin
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2016 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria.
description Mini-disseration (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
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publishDateRange 2016
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/52352 Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments Price, Gavin ichelp@gibs.co.za Wray, Andrew M. UCTD Mini-disseration (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. The ability to effectively persuade in the context of the highly competitive, fast-paced, but tight global economy is arguably an elixir to organisational growth in these challenging times. Sustainable growth is dependant not only on carving out a distinctive value proposition, but also on convincing the market of the merits thereof in order to remain competitive. The need for this research originated from the gap in literature on the interconnectedness of persuasive instruments, and their effectiveness as mechanisms for organisational growth. Rhetoric and social influence are complex phenomena, and their impact as persuasive instruments incompletely understood. By better understanding their interconnectedness, the researcher hoped to appreciate how executives could possibly leverage them, from an organisational perspective, as instruments of growth. A hypothetical framework was generated based on the themes that emerged from the literature review. The framework was sense tested through in-depth interviews with executives and the subsequent data analysis process, with the aim of validating its rationale and a number of assumptions made in its creation. Interviews were conducted with fourteen research respondents from a cross-section of industries, comprising of eight executives in the listed corporate environment as well as six owners of private entities. The stated objective of the research was to debunk growth strategy in the context of the arduous current economic environment, and to explore executives experiences and perspectives of growth strategy. The underlying objective of the research was to investigate executives instinctive use of rhetoric and social influence as persuasive instruments, as observed in the description of their growth strategies. Research respondents were only made aware of the underlying research objective after interview completion, so as to ensure the integrity of the data. Through their narratives, research respondents enabled triangulation of the various phenomena investigated. A refined model, dubbed the contemporary model of persuasive instruments emerged from the findings of the research. It presented a conceptualised framework of the combinations of rhetoric and social influence which were observed in the interviews with executives. The research contributed toward the facilitation of a better understanding of the interplay of persuasive instruments in practice, which provided valuable insight on how to utilise these to the benefit of business. The model, whilst only conceptual in nature, requires more rigorous strength testing through the collection of quantitative data to further validate the findings. nk2016 Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) MBA Unrestricted 2016-05-04T13:45:51Z 2016-05-04T13:45:51Z 2016-03-30 2015 Mini Dissertation Wray, AM 2015, Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments, MBA Mini-disseration, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52352> GIBS http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52352 en © 2016 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments
title Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments
title_full Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments
title_fullStr Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments
title_full_unstemmed Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments
title_short Rhetorical and social influence : a contemporary model of persuasive instruments
title_sort rhetorical and social influence a contemporary model of persuasive instruments
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52352