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Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 4, 485-510 (1989)
DOI: 10.1177/0893318989002004003

The Emergence of the Memo as a Managerial Genre

JoAnne Yates

MIT Sloan School of Management

This article traces the historical evolution of the memorandum as a genre of written communication in American business during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It draws on published and unpublished materials from the period, including archival materials from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and Scovill Manufacturing Company. The historical analysis shows that the memo developed from the letter, not for reasons related to rhetorical theory, but as a practical response to two sets of developments: (1) the emergence of new managerial theory and techniques, and (2) innovations in the technology of written communication. The study also reveals a significant lag between the actual emergence of the genre and its recognition in instructional materials in communication.


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