Communicating the Holocaust: A Comparative Analysis of Desired and Actual Roles of U.S. Museums

• In Event: Organizational Learning in Crisis and Conflict

Abstract

Organizational rhetoric studies focus on how corporate identity and its personae are communicated; social science research measures corporate identity among organizational members and results like stakeholder’s images. This study examines how U.S. Holocaust museums’ personnel perceive their organizations’ communication of personae: A survey allowed comparison of specific roles, regarding their desirability and actual enactment. The study also reports ranking of five predominant roles and includes implications for museums, organizational communication, public relations, and corporate identity.

Authors

• Gerald Slaughter, Kutztown University

• Jeffrey Courtright, Illinois State University

• Peter Smudde, Illinois State University