Maria Isaksson

I am an Associate Professor at the BI Norwegian Business School. I have a Ph.D. degree from Åbo Akademi University from 2000 with a thesis on cross-cultural argumentation, and a Master's degree from Purdue University. I was a faculty member of the English Department, Åbo Akademi University, and worked as teaching assistant in the ESL Rhetoric program at Purdue University. After joining BI in 1997, I was head of Department of Communication, Culture and Languages in 1998-2004.

As a board member of the Nordic Network for Intercultural Communication I co-chaired the conference in 1999, and was co-chair for the 8th European Convention of the Association of Business Communication.

Research areas

My primary research interests are in leadership rhetoric, political and religious rhetoric, corporate website rhetoric, organizational identity discourse, cross-cultural communication. My current research focuses on leadership rhetoric, epideictic rhetoric, corporate website rhetoric.

Teaching areas

I teach rhetoric and leadership communication in executive programs, both Master's and Bachelor's.

ACADEMIC DEGREES

• 2000 Åbo Akademi University Ph.D.
• 1983 Purdue University Master of Science
• 1980 Åbo Akademi University M.A.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• 2012 - Present Åbo Akademi University, Dept of English Docent
• 2004 - Present Norwegian Business School Associate Professor
• 1997 - 2004 BI Norwegian Business School Head of Department
• 1983 - 1987 Åbo Akademi University, Dept of English Teaching Assistant
• 1983 - 1985 Åbo Akademi University, Dept of English Research Scholar
• 1981 - 1983 Purdue University, Indiana, USA Teaching Assistant

CONFERENCE PAPERS

Bang, Tor; Isaksson, Maria. 

The Listhaug Doctrine: A Strict and Fair Immigration Policy?. The Sixth “Rhetoric in Society” Conference of the RSE; 2017-07-03 - 2017-07-05 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen, Flyvholm, Poul Erik. 

Brexit: Coming to Terms with a Dominant Rhetoric of Fear.. Media and Politics in Times of Crisis and Change; 2016-12-12 - 2016-12-13 BI

Isaksson, Maria. 

Beyond the boundaries of politics and religion. The rhetoric of identification in Norwegian foreign affairs. ABC (Association of Business Communication) Europe Conference.; 2012-05-30 - 2012-06-02 BI

Isaksson, Maria. 

The public value of epideictic rhetoric. Opportunities and challenges for the academic community. Docent prøveforelesning; 2012-01-27 - 2012-01-27 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen Flyvholm, Poul Erik. 

Between moral leadership and executive authority. Visionary rhetoric in the Danish and Norwegian Prime Ministers' New Year's address. NORDKOMM 6. Nordic Research Seminar on Communication.; 2012-02-23 - 2012-02-25 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen Flyvholm, Poul Erik. 

Visionary rhetoric in the Danish and Norwegian Prime Ministers’ New Year’s address 2012. NIC Nordic Network for Intercultural Communication.; 2012-11-22 - 2012-11-24 BI

Isaksson, Maria. 

Ledarskapets ethos och det epideiktiska mötet. Gästföreläsning för masterstudenter; 2011-05-12 - 2011-05-12 BI

Isaksson, Maria. 

Visioner i nordisk politisk retorik - på jakt efter en modell. Vetenskapligt forskningseminar för doktorander; 2011-05-11 - 2011-05-12 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen Flyvholm, Poul Erik. 

Contesting the rhetoric of goodwill in public and private sector value statements: Benevolence or competence?. NORDKOMM 5 - joint seminar (Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University & Norwegian School of Management BI); 2011-02-25 - 2011-02-27 BI

Isaksson, Maria. 

Visionary rhetoric in political speech. Do visions and charisma have a rhetorical expression on the Nordic political scene?. Fjärde Nordiska Retorikkonferensen; 2010-10-06 - 2010-10-08 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen, Poul Erik Flyvholm. 

Goodwill online? Rhetorical strategies in public and corporate discourse: commonalities and divergences. Association for Business Communication, 10th European Convention; 2010-05-27 - 2010-05-29 BI

Isaksson, Maria. 

Visionary rhetoric in political speech. The case of President Barack Obama and the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affair. 16th NIC Conference on Intercultural Communication; 2009-11-26 - 2009-11-28 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen, Poul Erik F.. 

A journey through credibility in corporate discourse. Nordic Research Seminar on Communication 2009; 2009-02-20 - 2009-02-22 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen, Poul Erik F.. 

Credibility discourse of PR agencies: A cross-cultural study of corporate ethos on the web. Conference on Corporate Communications; 2008-06-06 - 2008-06-09 BI

CHAPTERS

Isaksson, Maria. 

Ytringsanstendighet. Norsk utenrikspolitikk i møte med moskéens retoriske ytringsrom. I: Kommunikasjon og ytringsfrihet i organisasjoner. Cappelen Damm Akademisk 2016 ISBN 9788202482237. p. 25-45 BI

Svennevig, Jan; Isaksson, Maria. 

Språk, retorikk og ledelse. I: Kommunikasjon for ledere og organisasjoner. Fagbokforlaget 2014 ISBN 978-82-450-1426-6. p. 177-198 BI UiO

Isaksson, Maria. 

Talets gyllene ögonblick. Retorik för fest och politik – en norsk och amerikansk fallstudie. I: Forståelsens gylne øyeblikk : festskrift til Øyvind Dahl. Tapir Akademisk Forlag 2011 ISBN 978-82-519-2602-7. p. 63-76 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen, Poul Erik Flyvholm. 

The rhetoric of corporate mission statements: Virtues and emotions for the market. I: Language and the Market. Palgrave Macmillan 2010 ISBN 9780230210608. p. 226-237 BI

Jørgensen, Poul Erik Flyvholm; Isaksson, Maria. 

Credibility in Corporate Discourse. I: Pragmatics across Languages and Cultures. Handbooks of Pragmatics. Mouton de Gruyter 2010 ISBN 9783110214437. p. 513-541 BI

Svennevig, Jan; Isaksson, Maria. 

Communication strategies in a joint venture between the Nordic and the Post-Soviet countries. I: Dahl, Øyvind, Jensen, Iben, Nynäs, Peter (eds.). Bridges of understanding. Perspectives on intercultural communication. Unipub forlag 2006 p. 213-226 BI

Isaksson, Maria. 

Ethos and Pathos Representations in Mission Statements: Identifying Virtues and Emotions in an Emerging Business Genre. I: Trosborg Anna & Flyvholm Jørgensen, Poul Erik (Eds.) Business Discourse. Texts and Contexts. Peter Lang Publishing Group 2005 ISBN 3-03910-606-6. p. 111-138 BI

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES

Jørgensen, Poul Erik Flyvholm; Isaksson, Maria. 

The compassionate organisation: Contesting the rhetoric of goodwill in public sector value statements. International Journal of Public Sector Management 2015 ;Volume 28.(1) p. 72-83 BI

Isaksson, Maria; Jørgensen, Poul Erik Flyvholm. 

Communicating Corporate Ethos on the Web: The Self-Presentation of PR Agencies. Journal of Business Communication 2010 ;Volume 41.(2) p. 119-140 BI

Jørgensen, Poul Erik Flyvholm; Isaksson, Maria. 

Building credibility in international banking and financial markets: A study of how corporate reputations are managed through image advertising. Corporate Communications. An International Journal 2008 ;Volume 13.(4) p. 365-379 BI

Svennevig, Jan; Isaksson, Maria. 

Kulturell og kommunikativ kompetanse som suksessfaktorer å finne tonen med russiske handelspartnere. Magma - Tidsskrift for økonomi og ledelse 2005 (Årg. 8, nr 1) p. 54-61 BI