This paper examines the rhetorical foundations of strategic intent statements in a food bank organization. It analyzes how strategic intent extends vision and mission statements into concrete operational objectives, investigates the role of speech acts—particularly assertions and promises—in performing organizational commitment, and explores how ethos rhetoric establishes organizational character and credibility. The paper demonstrates that effective strategic communication integrates these three elements: clear tactical direction, performative language that commits the organization to action, and ethical appeals that build trust with donors, partners, and staff.
Strategic intent is designed as a follow-up to vision and mission statements, because it provides more concrete objectives for achieving organizational goals. The purpose of strategic intent is to define the path the company needs to take by outlining specific instructions for employees to follow during day-to-day operations. The vision is a "long-term aspiration" that a company desires to pursue—in this case, to be the bridge between hungry individuals and the food industry. Strategic intent provides more focus by creating short-term, achievable goals, such as minimizing costs for partners by using the organization's own drivers to transport donated food from food companies to a warehouse, and then allocating it through available distribution channels to local charities. With strategic intent, the direction of the organization is clearly highlighted, which helps to realize its intended vision and mission.
The concept of "speech act" is based on the principle that "when we say something we are always also doing something," meaning that underlying intentions are present every time an utterance is made. J.L. Austin identified a special category of speech that he termed "performatives", because they "perform a particular action in and of themselves." For example, to say "I promise to do something" is to make a promise; one cannot refute this by saying "no, you do not," because that is the nature of the statement, regardless of the speaker's actual intentions. Speech acts tend to exist only when the utterance is made in "the first person and the present tense" and when it has "illocutionary force," meaning the sentences are meant to be taken as what they are. Speech acts exist in writing as well as speech, since they share largely similar linguistic features.
In the section of strategic intent, as well as the rest of the strategic statement, the speech acts being performed are those of "assertion" and "promise," since the organization's intentions and operations are stated in the first person "we" and mostly in present tense. As a functioning registered charity, the organization already provides these existing services. However, to inform those who may not be familiar with its goals and operations, the strategic intent is intended to give them more insight into the organization's work. When an organization asserts its goals and promises to achieve them, it makes it easier for readers to agree with those intentions subconsciously, because they are written in "performatives." This performative quality transforms the strategic statement from mere description into a commitment that binds the organization's identity to its stated actions.
"Building ethical appeal and organizational identity in charity work"
"Combining credibility, character, and goodwill to sustain organizational support"
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