{"title":"Shells, Fronts, Astroturfing, and Beyond: Examining Concealment Strategies of Proxy Organizations","authors":"Craig R. Scott, Katie K. Kang","doi":"10.1177/08933189231222471","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates what we call proxy organizations (e.g., shell companies, front organizations, astroturfing efforts). Drawing on existing literature to better conceptualize proxy organizations and their communicative nature, we position these proxy organizations within scholarship on visibility management and hidden organizing. To answer research questions about public discourse around these proxies and their use of concealment strategies, we analyze news coverage of these organizations from 2001, 2011, and 2021. Findings suggest sizable increases in discourse about each proxy type. Additionally, analysis reveals several concealment themes in that media coverage: dark/secret money/finances, hidden owners, shadowy influence, anonymous proxies, covert links, online concealment, secret/illegal activities, and revelation safety/fear. We then draw conclusions, discuss implications, and suggest directions for future organizational communication research about proxy organizations.","PeriodicalId":47743,"journal":{"name":"Management Communication Quarterly","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Management Communication Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189231222471","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigates what we call proxy organizations (e.g., shell companies, front organizations, astroturfing efforts). Drawing on existing literature to better conceptualize proxy organizations and their communicative nature, we position these proxy organizations within scholarship on visibility management and hidden organizing. To answer research questions about public discourse around these proxies and their use of concealment strategies, we analyze news coverage of these organizations from 2001, 2011, and 2021. Findings suggest sizable increases in discourse about each proxy type. Additionally, analysis reveals several concealment themes in that media coverage: dark/secret money/finances, hidden owners, shadowy influence, anonymous proxies, covert links, online concealment, secret/illegal activities, and revelation safety/fear. We then draw conclusions, discuss implications, and suggest directions for future organizational communication research about proxy organizations.
期刊介绍：
Management Communication Quarterly presents conceptually rigorous, empirically-driven, and practice-relevant research from across the organizational and management communication fields and has strong appeal across all disciplines concerned with organizational studies and the management sciences. Authors are encouraged to submit original theoretical and empirical manuscripts from a wide variety of methodological perspectives covering such areas as management, communication, organizational studies, organizational behavior and HRM, organizational theory and strategy, critical management studies, leadership, information systems, knowledge and innovation, globalization and international management, corporate communication, and cultural and intercultural studies.
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