The efficacy of narratives as a

Abstract

This research was aimed at determining the extent to which narratives are effective in communicating strategic intent within organisations. This research also served to investigate the factors that make the use of narratives an effective means to communicate corporate strategic intent. The research questions for this research were as follows: · Are narratives effective in communicating corporate strategic intent? · Are narratives an effective teaching method? · Are narratives an accepted management tool? · Are narratives effective for communicating with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds? · Can audiences relate to the stories? This research is based on a case study conducted at Ernst & Young, South Africa. The research examines their use of storytelling within the Technology and Risk Services Division. The data was collected by means of semistructured interviews, conducted on those respondents that had been involved in the storytelling initiatives. The interview transcripts were interpreted by means of content analysis, making use of content analysis software. In addition to codifying the interview transcripts according to the research questions, a number of new themes emerged that supported the use of storytelling within organisations. The first use of storytelling at Ernst & Young was through the telling of the “Fearless” story. The story was however not widely communicated throughout the division