Dangerous Voices - Losing the Battle for Dominance in a Cross-Cultural Rhetorical Arena.

An organization finding itself embroiled in an international crisis has to consider the many voices that can appear in the rhetorical arena in which it seeks to communicate. Their differing psychological and socio-cultural context can affect the appropriateness and effectiveness of crisis communication efforts in numerous ways. Frandsen and Johansen's (2016) Rhetorical Arena Theory is utilized to frame an analysis of Japan's Olympus Corporation's crisis communication efforts during its 2011 financial statement fraud crisis. Textual analysis reveals that Olympus lost the battle for definitional hegemony in a steadily expanding rhetorical arena where multiple voices managed to overwhelm Olympus's crisis communication efforts. Poor cultural alignment of Olympus's crisis communication efforts and overall crisis handling led to considerable reputational damage not only to the company itself but corporate Japan as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]