Discourse in Organizations and Workplaces

Abstract

This chapter focuses on discourse in organizations and workplaces and will discuss a number of studies which explore the complexity and diversity of communication in modern working life. With a theoretical orientation towards sociology, organization/network theory and social constructivism, researchers have sketched the macro-frames which in) uence discourse at various levels within organizations. Studies of the correspondence between organizational structure and discourse will be used as a background for presentations of analyses which try to grasp and understand communication in the modern organization from different viewpoints and with a focus on different problem areas. The theoretical and methodological perspectives of these analyses include textlinguistics, ethnography, critical discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics and conversation analysis. A relevant question for our understanding of modern working life is related to the effects of technological advance and globalization. The conditions for professional discourse have been in) uenced by a series of changes taking place in recent decades. Technological advances have facilitated a globalization of working life, while lifelong learning, ) exibility, mobility and diversity have come to be key values in the global economy. In organizations throughout the world, we - nd a widespread use of technology and increased reliance on the internet for internal and external communication. Another striking feature, made possible of course by the technological advances, is the globalization of the business world and the job market. Throughout the world, we - nd transnational companies which use English as their corporate language and employ multilingual people who can move between jobs, between branches and between countries. The workforce mobility and workplace diversity which characterize a globalized economy also raise issues of multilingualism and multiculturalism to the surface, both in relation to the organization as a whole and to workplace practices. For employees this new situation has come to entail different and higher demands for literacy and communicative skills. The purpose of this chapter is to deepen our understanding of the discourserelated problems facing managers and employees in the globalized economy. In the various sections of the chapter I discuss these problems from different viewpoints. First, I explore the correspondence between organizational structure and discourse at a more general level, where I use examples from analysis of small