contents · this number is similarly startling in cross-border ... something that can make our life...

v

Contents

List of figures ixList of tables xiiPreface xivAcknowledgements xviiiTranscription conventions xix

1 Language and business success 1

Section 1A: Business Focus: The Role of Language in Business and at Work 2Section 1B: Language Focus: Exploring Business Communication 7Section 1C: Business and Language Focus: Genre Knowledge and Effective Business Communication 14Key Terms and Concepts 21Additional Resources 21

PART I: Corporate perspectives 23

2 Communicating with stakeholders 25

Section 2A: Business Focus: Public Relations, Marketing and Language 26Section 2B: Language Focus: Multimodal Communication 33Section 2C: Business and Language Focus: A Holistic, Discourse-Centred Approach to Stakeholder Communication 40Key Terms and Concepts 46Additional Resources 47

3 Branding 48

Section 3A: Business Focus: Brand Personalities 51Section 3B: Language Focus: Analysing Brand Narratives 54Section 3C: Business and Language Focus: Creating Brand Tone of Voice 61Key Terms and Concepts 64Additional Resources 65

4 Corporate communication in the digital age 66

Section 4A: Business Focus: The Changed Landscape of Corporate Communication in the Digital Age 69

Copyrighted material – 9780230298422


vi Contents

Section 4B: Language Focus: The Sociolinguistics of Digital Business Communication: Understanding Your Audience 75Section 4C: Language and Business Focus: The Blurring Boundaries Between Personal/Professional and Private/Public in Corporate Communication 80Key Terms and Concepts 83Additional Resources 83

5 Talking to customers 85

Section 5A: Business Focus: Language as a Commodity 87Section 5B: Language Focus: The Importance of Being Polite 92Section 5C: Business and Language Focus: Handling Business-Sensitive Situations 96Key Terms and Concepts 102Additional Resources 102

6 Crisis communication 103

Section 6A: Business Focus: Types of Crisis and Strategies in Crisis Communication 104Section 6B: Language Focus: Evaluation and Hedging 110Section 6C: Business and Language Focus: Corporate Apologies 113Key Terms and Concepts 117Additional Resources 117

PART II: Management perspectives 119

7 Leadership 121

Section 7A: Business Focus: Leadership Styles 122Section 7B: Language Focus: Rhetoric in Formal Leadership Communication 132Section 7C: Business and Language Focus: Managing Virtual Teams 137Key Terms and Concepts 144Additional Resources 144

8 Change management 146

Section 8A: Business Focus: Managing Change 147Section 8B: Language Focus: Metaphor 154Section 8C: Business and Language Focus: Channels and Ways of Communication for Getting Cross-Company Buy-In 160Key Terms and Concepts 168Additional Resources 168

9 Managing conflicts 169

Section 9A: Business Focus: Managing Conflicts 170Section 9B: Language Focus: Conversation Analysis 178



Contents vii

Section 9C: Business and Language Focus: The Role of Nonverbal Communication in Leading and Managing People 186Key Terms and Concepts 196Additional Resources 196

10 Diversity and inclusion 197

Section 10A: Business Focus: Diversity and Inclusion at Work – a Discourse Perspective 198Section 10B: Language Focus: Social Actor Representation 202Section 10C: Business Focus: Doing Business in the Global Workplace 212Key Terms and Concepts 220Additional Resources 220

PART III: Employee perspectives 223

11 The language of recruitment 225

Section 11A: Business Focus: The Role of Communication and Discourse in Organizations 226Section 11B: Language Focus: Job Advertisements and Semantic Framing 230Section 11C: Business and Language Focus: Self- Branding and Impression Management in Job Applications 235Key Terms and Concepts 242Additional Resources 243

12 Interviews at work 244

Section 12A: Business Focus: Conversations with a Purpose 245Section 12B: Language Focus: The Pragmatics of Job Interviews 252Section 12C: Business and Language Focus: The Performance Appraisal Process 257Key Terms and Concepts 263Additional Resources 263

13 Constructing employees 264

Section 13A: Business Focus: Constructing Happy and Satisfied Employees 265Section 13B: Language Focus: Constructing Employees Through Corporate Discourse – The Mission Statement 269Section 13C: Business and Language Focus: Socialization and Culture at Work 275Key Terms and Concepts 283Additional Resources 283



viii Contents

14 Using language at work 285

Section 14A: Communicating in Writing: The Language of Emails 286Section 14B: Communicating By Speaking: The Language of Negotiations 296Section 14C: Communicating by Writing and Speaking: The Language of Presentations and Entrepreneurial Pitches 303Key Terms and Concepts 312Additional Resources 312

References 315Index 339



1

As management consultant Czerniawska points out in the above quote, language plays a complex and increasingly prominent role in business – but people often remain ignorant of its prominence. In this chapter we invite you to explore the crucial role that language and communication play in organizational life. In Section 1A we make a case for why language and communication should be taken more seriously: we challenge previous conceptions about language and demonstrate the ‘hard’ value of communication skills. In Section 1B we examine organizational life through the lens of language and linguistic encounters: we take stock of the various arenas of language use and show how genre theory can be used to make sense of a wide variety of text types. In Section 1C we dem-onstrate how to put genre theory and genre analysis to use, giving the example of institutional and social practices as they are reflected in a specific text type (guidance notes for an appraisal form). Finally, we analyse the so-called moves in an unsolicited promotional letter to understand how the document is struc-tured and to identify the typical language of the individual parts.

Learning TargetsBy the end of this chapter, you will be able to

• understand the role language plays in specific business contexts;

• classify text types using genre theory;

• identify rhetorical moves to help you develop communication strategies.

1 Language and business success

Language and communication are becoming fundamental to the way in which our organisations operate internally and compete externally. However much we distrust it, we are much more dependent on language in business than we used to be.

— Fiona Czerniawska, British management consultant, in Corporate-speak (1997)



2 Language in Business, Language at Work

Section 1A: Business Focus The Role of Language in Business and at Work

Why is language so underestimated in business and at work? There might be two reasons for this. The first is that generally people assume that language is an invisible medium that has no active role at work or in the life of an organization. The second is that people undervalue the role of effective communication skills.

The first assumption may be motivated by the fact that language is such an ingrained part of our everyday life that we tend to take it for granted and oversimplify its role and function. As Thompson (2003, p. 36) argues:

We feel so comfortable with language that we perhaps make assumptions about it being simple and straightforward when, in reality, language matters are very far from being at all simple or straightforward.

One particular area where people are quick to assume a straightforward link is between language and meaning: the assumption is that if we say one thing it will always mean the same, under any circumstances and with everyone we communicate with. This assumption could not be further from the truth – just look at the following example:

OVER TO YOU 1.1

Rank the expressions below from strongest to weakest. Ask your friends to do the same and compare your ranking in the group.

Expressions related to conflict: upset, annoyed, irritated, frustrated, cross

Expressions related to agreement: that’s fine, perfect, okay, great, pretty good

Expressions related to disagreement: I’m unsure, I disagree, with all due respect, you’re right but…

Expressions related to deadlines: ASAP, as a matter of urgency, right away

upset?

annoyed?

frustrated?

irritated?

cross?

Figure 1.1 The meaning of our words is context-dependent and individual



Language and business success 3

Did you all agree on the order/strength of these expressions? In all likelihood, you didn’t. This example (Figure 1.1) shows that meaning is neither consistent nor coherent: what might be the strongest expression of frustration or disagreement for you could well be a much milder indication in your friends’ interpretation.

These differences can have serious implications at work: misunderstandings, not speaking the ‘same language’, can be detrimental when a project deadline is looming and urgent action is needed, during a major negotiation, a business pitch or a departmental meeting. This is actually backed up by survey findings: The Project Management Institutes’ 2013 Pulse of the Profession report, for example, revealed that in the US, $135 million is at risk for every US$1 billion spent on a project. Of this sum, a shocking 56 per cent (US$75 million) is at risk due to ineffective communications (Project Management Institute, 2013). This number is similarly startling in cross-border transactions: around half of the respondents in a survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit admit that misunderstandings in communication have stood in the way of a major cross-border transaction, incurring significant losses for their company (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2012).

The role of language is particularly striking in the external communications of an organization. As Peirson-Smith puts it, practitioners rely on the ‘linguistic capital of words to shape organisation reputations, (re-)position products and services in the marketplace, promote issues and public policy, negotiate and establish community, employee media and customer relations’ (2014, p. 419). It is therefore not surprising that many organisations now invest in specialist services that understand the role and importance of language and employ con-sultants and branding strategists focusing on coherent tone of voice, consistent style and engaging content.

THE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE IN MODERN BUSINESS

Talking about ‘the linguistic capital of words’ is recognizing that language has symbolic added value – but this is, of course, not the only function it achieves in business. Apart from adding symbolic value, language plays a constitutive role in the life of organizations, it functions as a tool, it provides access and it is an industry in itself (Heller, 2010).

SYMBOLIC ADDED VALUE: Through branding strategies, marketing and other forms of corporate communication, language provides symbolic added value to industrially produced resources and intangibles such as services. Brand names, verbal identity and corporate tone of voice are now crucial elements of brand management and represent an important part of brand equity (see Keller, 2013).

CONSTITUTIVE ROLE: Language is the glue that holds work groups together and helps to distinguish the members from outsiders. Language




Above, we have seen evidence of what Czerniawska (1997, p. 11) aptly summarised 20 years ago already in the quote at the beginning of this chapter:

Language and communication are becoming fundamental to the way in which our organisations operate internally and compete externally. However much we distrust it, we are much more dependent on language in business than we used to be.

Apart from the role of language, this idea also highlights the importance of communication – another often overlooked aspect of language in business.

To illustrate her business clients’ approach to communication, a trainer colleague of one of us often uses a pink and fluffy pair of socks as a visual metaphor: something that can make our life more comfortable, but in essence it is unnecessary – and perhaps something that only women would wear. But again, the reality about the role and importance of communication in business is very different. In actual fact, communication is not only one of the most

defines organizational boundaries and the culture within. It also reveals hidden assumptions: for example, the metaphors used to describe a com-pany – such as ‘family’, ‘machine’ or ‘organism’ – reveal the deep-seated values of an organization (see Morgan, 2006).

TOOL: Language is the tool for managing the flow of resources, which now often happens in international transactions and under increasing time pressure with greater need for precision. This means managing the globalized production and circulation of industrial goods, e.g. through supply chain management, but also identifying and producing resources aimed at an increasingly saturated market, e.g. through improved meth-ods of market research.

ACCESS: Language provides access to niche markets. This means different languages or varieties of a language help develop approaches specific to a geographical location or social group rather than an undifferentiated global market. Understanding and using the local language or language variety enables organizations to address specific groups of people, interact with local suppliers and market to local customers.

INDUSTRY: Translation, language teaching, communication training or call centre work, for instance, rely on language as the means of the ongo-ing work processes, but information in linguistic form such as specific information materials for local markets or verbal branding have now also become end products.




This report is not a positive one, however: the survey uncovered that soft skills are now in deficit, causing major problems for business and resulting in diminished productivity, competitiveness and profitability. The UK Commission’s Employee Skills Survey (Winterbotham et al., 2014; see Figure 1.2) or the white paper on Skills Requirement for Tomorrow’s Best Jobs (Cushing and Gantz, 2013) provide evidence of that skill shortage. It is estimated that by 2020 soft skills deficits will affect all sectors of the UK economy, with areas such as accommodation and food services, retail, health and social work sectors being the most affected. The annual overall loss of production due to expected soft skills deficits is expected to amount to almost £8.4 billion per year by 2020 (Development Economics, 2015).

It is not only employees who need to up their game when it comes to com-munication skills, though. Soft skills are now a key aspect of management and leadership, too, as Hlupic points out in her book The management shift: ‘Business as usual will not work anymore. Instead of just focussing on numbers, processes and structures, management needs to focus on people … Businesses have to view people as sources not as resources’ (2014, p. 20). The need for a shift in attitude towards being people-centred is clear in previous research, which provides strong evidence, for example, that employees are more satisfied with their jobs and better engaged if their supervisor is a competent commu-nicator (Madlock, 2008). A recent report has found that by improving people-management skills, such as creating a strong set of values for the team, being an inspiring leader and effectively recognizing and rewarding performance, businesses could considerably increase efficiency and performance, gaining an additional £77 billion in the UK economy (IIP/TBR, 2015).

prominent tools in getting work done, but the very substance that constitutes organizations and organizational processes.

Let’s discuss this statement in greater detail. Communication is, in fact, the key tool for completing work, so much so that if we read any white collar job advertisement, communication skills are guaranteed to be featured among the required skills for the job. (In Chapter 12, we show that communication skills are also expected, although not advertised, for non-professional jobs.) A recent report (Development Economics, 2015) has valued the soft skills of employees – including strong communication and interpersonal skills – at over £88 billion in gross value added to the UK economy each year, underpinning around 6.5 per cent of the economy as a whole.

Soft skills are perhaps best understood in relation to hard skills – the latter refer to the specialist knowledge and technical expertise needed for a job. Softs skills, on the other hand, are non-technical skills which might include interpersonal qualities such as emotional intelligence, empathy, self- and time-management skills, and people skills, such as teamwork, listening and good communication skills. See footnote 1 in the Preface.




Technical, practical or job specific skills 63%

41%

41%

40%

38%

37%

34%

33%

30%

26%

22%

17%

16%

Planning and organisation skills

Oral communication skills

Written communication skills

Problem solving skills

Literacy skills

Team working skills

Numeracy skills

Advanced IT or software skills

Foreign language skills

Basic computer literacy / using IT

Strategic management skills

Customer handling skills

Figure 1.2 Skills lacking in applicants (Winterbotham et al., 2014)

WHAT MAKES SOMEONE A COMPETENT COMMUNICATOR?

To start with the negative: approaches that do not lead to better commu-nication skills are scripting, styling and other forms of linguistic regula-tion which assume that every speaker in every situation should follow the same procedures, and that speakers cannot be trusted to communi-cate without exhaustive guidance on even the most elementary points. Guidelines and training programmes along those lines have been rightly criticized in Deborah Cameron’s (2000) work on contemporary ‘communi-cation culture’. We cannot emphasize enough that such approaches do not produce ‘better communication’, nor do they produce more ‘skilled’ and ‘empowered’ communicators. They cannot produce those things, because they negate the single most important ability of a truly skilled communi-cator: the ability to assess what is going on in a situation and be flexible in choosing strategies that are likely to be effective in that situation.

Rather, good communicators show the following abilities:

• awareness of what others do;• ability to reflect on the situation and themselves;• empathy, i.e. being able to talk from someone else’s point of view;• understanding what language and other resources can achieve;• flexibility to use a wide range of resources: linguistic styles and strate-

gies, nonverbal cues and other modes of communication such as visuals.




Also, communication plays a much more prominent role in the life of organiza-tions than is usually assumed; it’s the substance that enables, constrains and forms thinking, culture and organizational processes. In a recent study for example (Madsen, 2016), researchers examined how co-workers used internal social media to discuss issues related to their firm. The study found that it was specifically through these discussions that colleagues negotiated what the com-pany represented for them and the values they thought governed their work. It was these discussions that enabled them to identify with the organization, and through this identification become more committed employees and brand ambassadors. Organizational scientists even go as far as to say that

organizations exist only in so far as their members create them through discourse. This is not to claim that organizations are ‘nothing but’ discourse, but rather that discourse is the principal means by which organization mem-bers create coherent social reality that frames their sense of who they are. (Mumby and Clair, 1997, p. 181)

What this means is that ways of talking and writing, the choice of words, modes and channels of communication, rules and norms of interaction both reflect and (re)create organizational reality. This is a big claim that we will be discussing in greater detail throughout this book (especially in Section 11A). What we need to remember for now is that communication is not something that we can have in addition to ‘hard skills’ at work – like the pink sock in our wardrobe – but rather the substance that enables hard skills to function.

Section 1B: Language Focus Exploring Business Communication

Communication suffuses the life of a company: even small organizations are complex entities that work as part of a network of people and other organiza-tions, using language to do so. Let’s take the example of a small local café. Whether independent or part of a franchise, the owner or franchisee has to contact the local council to obtain necessary licences, draft documents that provide evidence of compliance with building regulations, and interact with the tax office to register the company. The owner or franchisee also has to negotiate contracts with suppliers and landlords, recruit, train, monitor and motivate employees, and, crucially, interact with and serve customers in a manner that keeps the business going. But finding customers alone is not enough for suc-cess: our café owner has to engage with existing and potential patrons through marketing channels and keep in touch via social media to reply to questions, comments and reviews. All these multiple and complex relationships involve communication: within the company (between the owner and employees), with other companies – so-called business to business, or B2B – (for instance with suppliers or a marketing agency), with non-profit organizations (for instance the city council), with actual customers (when serving them at the café),




with potential customers (through marketing, including social media) and with the general public (for instance neighbours complaining about noise). The overall aim of communicating with all these so-called stakeholders is to keep the business running smoothly and sustainably.

However, these relations are with different groups and individuals who each have very different interests and agendas: the suppliers want to negotiate a higher price while maintaining the ongoing business relationship, employees want a secure working environment where their performance is acknowledged and rewarded, customers expect to be treated well and served high-quality food and drink, the neighbours need to be listened to and have any complaints han-dled in a diplomatic manner. It is clear that each of these communicative situa-tions requires a different type of communication: both in terms of the selection of communication channels and in terms of crafting the message. Table 1.1 provides an overview of the various interactions our imaginary café owner engages in, along with the channels of communication he/she might choose and an indication of the typical language features used in these interactions.

If we think about the range and variety of communicative channels, text types and language features listed above, it is easy to see that the study of language – linguistics and discourse analysis – can offer analysts and practition-ers ways to understand how language and communication processes work in business contexts.

In research and academic scholarship on business and organizational com-munication, the focus is determined by the role language plays in specific contexts: the types of question asked, the research methodology and how to apply the findings all vary depending on the role language plays. For example, researchers interested in the constitutive role of language and communication tend to use discourse analytical approaches to expose how language contributes to constructing organizational processes and how it affects perceptions of real-ity. Areas of interest include organizational stories (narratives) and metaphors as they show in materials like e.g. corporate histories, or social interactions like meetings or interviews. Studies often take a critical stance to reveal how particular forms of communication and language use serve to reinforce – or indeed challenge – corporate power in society and hierarchical power structures within companies. (See Grant et al., 2004 for a summary of how this field has developed.)

Another major area of enquiry examines the role of language in areas like branding, marketing and public relations. To expose the symbolic added value created by specific uses of language and communication strategies, studies scru-tinize public documents such as advertisements and other marketing materials, entrepreneurial pitches and similar corporate genres. Areas of interest include the use of persuasive language that is encoded in evaluation, metaphors and grammar, as well as spoken interaction and the interplay between visual and linguistic signs (multimodal communication). Although sometimes addressing issues from a critical perspective, the findings often serve as basis for improving communication skills and services.




Tabl

e 1.

1 F

orm

s, fu

ncti

ons,

chan

nels

and

feat

ures

of s

take

hold

er co

mm

unic

atio

n

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ehol

ders

Stak

ehol

der

aim

sO

wne

r’s

aim

sC

hann

el o

f co

mm

unic

atio

nLa

ngua

ge fe

atur

es

Publ

ic s

ecto

r or

gani

zati

ons:

e.g

. ci

ty c

ounc

il

Enfo

rce

regu

lati

ons

Set u

p an

d co

ntin

ue b

usin

ess

Emai

l, ph

one,

fo

rms

Lega

l voc

abul

ary

(lexi

s), f

orm

alit

y th

roug

h e.

g. n

omin

aliz

atio

n:

turn

ing

verb

s in

to n

ouns

(‘Pl

ease

sen

d yo

ur a

ckno

wle

dgem

ent

upon

rece

ipt’

inst

ead

of ‘P

leas

e ac

know

ledg

e th

at y

ou re

ceiv

ed

our e

mai

l’)

B2B:

sup

plie

rsM

ake

a pr

ofit

Cut c

osts

, buy

hi

gh-q

ualit

y su

pplie

s

Emai

l, ph

one

Spec

ific

lexi

s, la

ngua

ge o

f neg

otia

tion

s, e

.g. c

ondi

tion

als

(‘aft

er

havi

ng e

xam

ined

the

sam

ples

we

will

dec

ide

if w

e’re

goi

ng to

se

ll al

l thr

ee ty

pes’)

B2B:

com

peti

tors

Gai

n m

arke

t sh

are

Gai

n m

arke

t sha

reA

ds, f

lyer

s,

Inst

agra

m p

osts

, Fa

cebo

ok g

roup

s

Pers

uasi

on th

roug

h e.

g. p

osit

ive

eval

uati

ve la

ngua

ge (‘

the

new

est p

lace

in to

wn’

)

Com

pany

mem

bers

: Em

ploy

ees

Goo

d pa

y an

d w

orki

ng

cond

itio

ns

Cut c

osts

, hir

e re

liabl

e an

d co

mpe

tent

sta

ff

Phon

e, te

xt,

face

-to-

face

(In)

dire

ct c

omm

ands

(‘I w

ould

nee

d yo

u to

wor

k th

is T

uesd

ay’),

m

otiv

atio

nal l

angu

age

(‘We

need

to p

ull t

oget

her i

n th

is’)

Cust

omer

s: a

ctua

lSo

cial

izin

g,

ente

rtai

nmen

tEn

sure

cus

tom

er

loya

ltyFa

ce-t

o-fa

ce,

phon

ePo

liten

ess

in c

usto

mer

ser

vice

enc

ount

ers,

info

rmal

ity

by e

.g.

acce

nt, c

ollo

quia

l lex

is; p

ersu

asio

n by

impl

ied

mea

ning

or

posi

tive

eva

luat

ion

(‘Why

not

try

our b

ests

ellin

g te

a?’)

Cust

omer

s: p

oten

tial

To fi

nd o

ut

info

rmat

ion

To p

rom

ote

busi

ness

, ens

ure

inte

rest

turn

s in

to

cust

om

Mar

keti

ng

mat

eria

ls, s

ocia

l m

edia

, onl

ine

revi

ews

Mul

tim

odal

com

mun

icat

ion,

e.g

. im

ages

, web

site

and

flye

rs,

pers

uasi

ve la

ngua

ge, o

rgan

izat

iona

l sto

ries

, con

vers

atio

nal s

tyle

on

soc

ial m

edia

(‘Th

e on

ly th

ing

bett

er th

an a

bac

on s

arni

e? A

ch

icke

n an

d ba

con

toas

tie!

’)

Gen

eral

pub

lic: e

.g.

neig

hbou

rsM

aint

ain

or

incr

ease

qua

lity

of li

fe

Ensu

re g

oodw

ill,

acqu

ire

new

cu

stom

ers

Face

-to-

face

, le

tter

Polit

enes

s by

e.g

. apo

logi

es, i

ndir

ect s

peec

h ac

ts (‘

Plea

se a

ccep

t ou

r apo

logi

es, w

e’ll

mak

e su

re th

at th

is w

on’t

happ

en a

gain

.’)




The third area that has received a lot of attention from business and organi-zational communication scholars is the discursive and communicative practices in workplaces, including spoken interactions – ranging from small talk to official negotiations and business meetings – as well as a wide range of written genres. In this line of enquiry there is a specific emphasis on effectiveness and on the issues that might prevent it. Importantly, achieving goals can be impeded by interpersonal problems, which is why it is important to look at, for example, linguistic politeness and relational work, intercultural and cross-cultural aspects of communication, the problems associated with gendered communication and the implied meanings in what people say. Findings based on the analysis of naturally occurring data increasingly make their way into materials used for teaching effective business communication.

Text Types: Genres

For those new to language in business and language at work there is a bewilder-ing array of studies to explore in professional and business contexts. The best course of action to better understand these is finding ways to describe what types of texts, or genres, are described and discussed in such research.

To start with two brief definitions, we can regard a text as a unit of language use that is both grammatically cohesive and semantically coherent, is produced to communicate and has meaning in the context in which it is used. As we shall see throughout this book, it is also the currency with which people negotiate social identities and relations. Incidentally, a text can be of any length as long as it fulfils these criteria, from a single-letter traffic sign – think of a white P on a blue background – to a 600-page novel. A text type, or genre, is a conventional way of using language for a particular communicative purpose, with typical linguistic features that help to meet that purpose: where genres are concerned, form follows function. Every text is representative of a genre or a mix of genres. A genre also foregrounds specific relations between participants.

Let’s take the example of an informal chat between colleagues who run into each other at the photocopier. We can more or less predict not only what they will talk about – the weekend, holidays, office politics, etc. – but also that they will use rather informal language features, such as first names, short greet-ings, perhaps humour. Their purpose in communicating may be ‘phatic’, that is catching up with each other for the sake of maintaining good relations, or perhaps more goal-driven, e.g. learning about what happened at the last team meeting. The relation between them that is foregrounded is that of being col-leagues, but for all we know they may also be friends, hiking partners or even spouses. We have called this type of spoken interaction an informal chat; other genres that we find in business are meetings, memos, sales presentations and online reviews. All those genres are communicative actions that many people engage in repeatedly, they become conventionalized and develop into ‘members’ resources’: you know about them because you are a member of a group that uses them routinely. Some genres are extremely widespread, like text messages, for




While the diagram in Figure 1.3 is helpful to give a first orientation of the vast area of business communication, it is also deceptively simple. For one, it is not always clear where internal communication within a company ends and com-munication between the company and outside stakeholders begins, or indeed who counts as an insider or an outsider. Where, for instance, do consultants fit, especially those involved in long-term projects that involve spending periods of time in the company? What about suppliers who are distinct businesses but may work very closely with a company? And what about the multiple internal and external audiences for the genre of the mission statement (see Section 13B)? To complicate matters further, not even the boundaries between spoken and written genres are always clear-cut. To acknowledge this blurred boundary, some researchers in business communication now speak of ‘conceptual orality’ and ‘conceptual scripturality’ (Janich, 2017, p. 44). The former reduces formality and distance, while the latter increases it. A genre that is ‘conceptually’ oral need not be expressed in a spoken medium though. For example, instant messaging (IM), while technically written, resembles spoken language. This is why we think that the distinction between written and spoken genres is too simplified to maintain, and is not even particularly helpful for teaching and learning.

Instead of classifying text types by the increasingly blurred distinctions between internal and external, written and spoken, it may be more fruitful to distinguish them by what they are meant to achieve, i.e. by their communicative purpose. In fact, this form of classification has a long history in linguistics. As early as 1974, Robert Longacre proposed to categorize genres into four classes, depending on whether they were prescriptive or non-prescriptive, chronological or non-chronological, as depicted in Table 1.2:

example, while others are restricted to smaller groups of people, e.g. presenta-tions at an academic conference.

Genres have been the object of much research and linguists have come up with various ways of classifying them. At the most basic level, we can divide genres into spoken and written ones. For the context of business, this division would look something like this:

Figure 1.3 Genres in business communication

businesscommunication

internal businesscommunication

spoken genres (e.g meeting)

spoken genres (e.g service calls)

written genres (e.g reports)

written genres (e.g job ads)external businesscommunication




As indicated by the names that Longacre gave to the above classes of genres, examples of the various classes seek to, respectively, tell the reader how to do something (procedural and instructional), influence the audience’s behaviour (persuasive), or explain and describe (expository and descriptive). Narrative genres are special in that they can have any of these functions (see Section 3B for more on narrative and storytelling).

A similar classification was proposed by Bhatia (2014), who suggests grouping genres into colonies with primary, secondary and peripheral members, all of which share a communicative purpose (Figure 1.4). In contrast to Longacre’s classes of genres, Bhatia’s genre colonies also feature explanation and description, story-telling and instruction, but leave out persuasion while adding evaluation. The colonies are then grouped by what they are trying to achieve in their description, evaluation, etc., so that we get promotional genres or reporting genres. Within the colony, we can distinguish between individual genres and various sub-genres. Every colony has prototypical or primary genres, such as an advertisement (and its sub-genres, e.g. TV ad) as a primary member of the promotional genre colony. Secondary members are less prototypical but still have a promotional purpose; an example is a product review. And finally, the boundaries between genre colonies can be blurred in that individual genres can have more than one communica-tive purpose. A company’s annual report, for instance, has a financial reporting function and as such, this genre is a primary member of a reporting colony. Yet, annual reports have become more and more promotional over time, up to the point that their first half is now almost entirely promotional (see Bhatia, 2010). (The more recent version of the corporate social responsibility [CSR] report is arguably mostly promotional, in that it seeks to establish and enhance a com-pany’s legitimacy and reputation; see Section 2C and Pollach, 2015.)

Another way of classifying genres is by looking at the sequence in which they occur as part of a social practice. This is what has come to be known as a genre chain (Fairclough, 2003, pp. 31–32). (Other theorists see genre chains as linking

Table 1.2 Longacre’s four classes of genres (adapted from Longacre, 1974, p. 358)

Prescriptive Non-prescriptive

Chronological Procedural and instructional genres• no specific person• goal-oriented• no specific tense• chronological links• e.g. manual

Narrative genres• first or third person • actor-oriented• past or present tense• chronological links• e.g. corporate history

Non-chronological Persuasive genres• typically second person• addressee-oriented• no specific tense• logical links• e.g. advertisement

Expository and descriptive genres• typically third person• subject matter-oriented• no specific tense• logical links• e.g. report




Figure 1.4 Colony of promotional genres © Bhatia (2014), p.71 Worlds of Written Discourse, London: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Advertorials

Job Applications

Book Reviews

Company Reports

Annual Reports

CompanyBrochures

TravelBrochures Public

Campaigns

Job Advertisements

Grant ProposalsFundraising Letters

Film Reviews

Book Blurbs

Reference Letters

SalesPromotionAdvertisement

text types that are in a hierarchical, content or technical relation; Janich, 2017, p. 54.) For example, a meeting – which in itself consists of initial small talk followed by reports and discussion – can be seen as the central element of a genre chain that starts with a decision on holding the meeting, and deciding on where, when and with whom, then sending out the invitation and agenda. During the meeting, a participant will take notes which are then written up, sent out and archived as the minutes of the meeting. There may also be sub-sequent formal genres, such as follow-up documents, and immediate informal reactions such as discussions in the corridor. According to Fairclough (2003), the interesting thing about such genre chains is what content makes it into the subsequent links and how the content is rephrased from one link to the next – ‘re-contextualised’, as Fairclough calls it –, because investigating those changes can tell us a lot about how changes in organizations do or do not happen. Also, subse-quent links in the chain can be anticipated in an earlier one, e.g. when discussion during a meeting is summarized by the Chair in language that already resembles that of the minutes genre or someone asks that their comments not be minuted.




The notions of genre colony and even more so genre chain point to the links between text types and practices. One theory that accounts for this connection is critical genre analysis (Bhatia, 2016). This recent approach sees text types as embedded in professional contexts and forming part of the professional practices that people engage in to achieve their goals in business and at work.

Section 1C: Business and Language Focus Genre Knowledge and Effective Business Communication

In the previous section we discussed the wide array of texts that people encoun-ter during their working day and looked at various ways of classifying and cat-egorizing these texts. In this section we will discuss how knowing about genres can turn us into better, more effective communicators.

Understanding genres is important, because genres draw attention to the conventional ways of saying or writing things, the participants involved in the production and reception of texts, and the functions they want to achieve.

Understanding Institutional Structures at Work

Take, for instance, the guidance notes for an appraisal form that is part of a performance review, i.e. an annual or semi-annual interview between a member of staff and a more senior colleague, which serves to assess the performance of the reviewee. (See Section 12C for more on appraisals.) This is a management tool that was developed in corporate contexts and has found its way into public and third-sector organizations. Figure 1.5 shows part of the guidance notes for a performance development review at a British university.

The genre chain of which this annotated form is a part begins with the reviewer contacting the reviewee and arranging a date, usually by email. The pair then meet for a discussion which is based on last year’s review and fill in the form together, either face-to-face as part of the meeting or afterwards on email again. Alternatively, we can see the guidance notes as part of an instructional genre class or as a peripheral member of a reporting colony of genres, as it mixes both describing and instructing. The form in Figure 1.5 has been annotated by staff in Human Resources to help with filling it in. Its explicit purpose, stated at the top of the page (not shown), is ‘to assist reviewees and reviewers to use the [appraisal] form and to get maximum value from the [performance review] processes’. The annotation on the form contains a number of linguistic features worth looking at. First, there are a number of unmitigated imperatives instructing the parties in the process what to do: ‘state’, ‘see’. There are also other markers of deontic modality, i.e. language being used to put someone under an obligation; note the modal verb ‘should’ as in ‘there should be 6 or 7 key objectives identified’, a very impersonal way of saying ‘you should identify …’. Another example is ‘this should correspond broadly with workload allocation’, again a very noun-heavy and impersonal way of putting things. However, there is also one instance of




direct address, where the producer of the guidance notes has used a pronoun to refer to the person whose performance is being reviewed: ‘the proportion of your overall time’. And finally, there are some guiding questions which mitigate the force of the imperatives that we find elsewhere: ‘What feedback might be received from others?’ So, on the whole, this text uses a mix of linguistic features to address and instruct the reviewee in more or less direct ways. And it is really the reviewee who is being instructed and addressed, so the onus is on them, even if the purpose is allegedly to help both reviewer and reviewee.

To complete the analysis of this text, we can distinguish between different roles that participants have in communication: institutional, interactional and interpersonal roles. Their institutional roles are defined by the position they have in the organization, e.g. senior account manager or graduate trainee. These in turn determine the interactional roles they take in the review process, namely reviewer and reviewee. It is this relationship between the two people that is foregrounded explicitly at the top of the form, although the actual notes then focus only on the reviewee’s duties. Interpersonal roles are more flexible, even if they are influenced by institutional and interactional roles. The reviewer may take a quasi-parental role, which can be more or less strict or nurturing, or they may choose to act more like an older peer. As ever, the institutionally more powerful, i.e. more senior person, will have greater leeway in choosing an inter-personal role. The interpersonal roles between the two participants depend on

Figure 1.5 Guidance notes for a performance review form




how close they are to each other, how closely they work together and not least on their personalities. We would need to record the actual discussion between them to comment on that, but as it is, we have only this link in the genre chain.

The above analysis demonstrates Bhatia’s point that ‘genres are reflections of disciplinary and organizational cultures, and in that sense, they focus on social actions embedded within disciplinary, professional and other institutional practices’ (2014, p. 24). This implies that understanding the various genres of a specific work environment or institution can give us a good understand-ing of the rules, norms and culture governing that workplace (more on this in Section 13C). Such detailed knowledge of how genres work will also help us navigate our ways through the wide range of texts we produce and consume at work. Understanding genre helps us realize how texts fit into the organizational culture and how various linguistic and non-linguistic elements represent insti-tutional, interactional and interpersonal functions.

OVER TO YOU 1.2

Who is writing what? Look at the following text types and position them in the diagram (Figure 1.6):

end-of-year financial report

official PR statements

email to be sent to an important business partner

email to be sent to a disgruntled customer

newsletter item

meeting minutes

agendas.

Can you see a pattern emerging?

Figure 1.6 Who writes what texts?

highly complex texts,greater importance for decision making or influencing

standardized texts,related to basic service

TEXTS

EMPLOYEESstaff in lowestposition

high position executives




Understanding Rhetorical Moves to Craft Effective Texts

Understanding genres, and the rules that govern them, can also provide people with the knowledge and skills they need to communicate successfully in par-ticular situations – specifically because, as Paltridge points out, such knowledge can provide people with access to ‘socially powerful forms of language’ (2012, p. 85).

So how exactly can genre theory provide access to ‘powerful forms of lan-guage’? The answer lies in our ability to understand the elements of which a text is made up: these are called moves. The first stage of moves analysis is identifying the distinctive units of a text, and identifying the communicative purpose of each of these units. The second stage involves zooming in on the linguistic choices that help to realize the communicative purpose of the move. These typically include the lexical and grammatical choices made by the author of the text.

To demonstrate how the analysis works and why it is useful, we selected an email that is the first in a string of emails in a sales negotiation (adapted from Jensen, 2009). The analysis of the moves structure is identified in Table 1.3, along with typical linguistic features of the individual moves.

We need to point out that this moves analysis is based on one example only – to make the observations generalizable, we would have to look at a much larger collection of emails in sales negotiations. Nonetheless, it provides a good example to show that by examining texts closely we will not only be able to

Gunnarsson (2009), in her research about working practices in a gov-ernment office, has found a strong link between the position of employees, the complexity of documents and the types of writing activity undertaken. Employees in high positions tend to write complex documents that require planning and preparation – documents of high importance to be used in decision making or other managerial functions. Middle position employ-ees typically are in charge of memoranda, emails to customers or news-letter items, i.e. texts with lower complexity and importance, but aimed at discernible addressees. Employees in low positions typically produce documents that are standardized and not meant for specific addressees, such as meeting minutes, meeting agendas and routine responses to the public. Nickerson (2000) arrived at similar conclusions and highlighted that the type of communicative situations that people at different levels of the organizational hierarchy engage in lead to ‘genres or typified com-municative practices’ (p. 180). These practices fulfil two functions simulta-neously: they provide a standardized way of completing work tasks related to text production, and also serve as reflection of organizational culture, hierarchy and institutional practices.




understand the communicative function that is achieved by various moves and linguistic choices, but also be able to produce a text that appeals to readers who are used to reading conventionalized text types. From a business perspective, this is important, because, as Lagerwerf and Bossers (2002) have shown in their research, decision makers in business tend to appreciate conventional texts more than innovative ones.

This chapter revolved around the role of texts in business and at work. Section 1A looked closely at why language and communication play a crucial role in business and professional success. Language has been found to play a number of key roles in today’s businesses: from adding symbolic value, to having a constitutive role, from being a tool to providing access to being an industry in its own right. We also discussed why communication is underval-ued and what makes a competent communicator. Section 1B focused on the specific interactions and texts people take part in or produce in their profes-sional life. Specifically, we talked about genre theory and introduced different ways of classifying genres, namely as classes of text types with purposes such as instructing, explaining, persuading or storytelling (Longacre’s classes of genres), as genre colonies sharing a communicative purpose and having primary, secondary and peripheral members (Bhatia’s genre colonies) or as

Dear Mr. X

1. We met you at the [...] Show [last week] and discussed our interest in importing your Pro CCTV LCD Monitors for Denmark and the Scandinavian market.

2. We are manufacturing and distributing Matron DVR as well as distribut-ing Security Products in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic Countries and South England (We have an office in London). See our homepage www.matron.dk.

3. I did find your products of very high quality and I understood that you could supply the CCTV LCD Monitors from 01-11-04. I would like to place our first order soonest possible. I understood during our conver-sation that we could take over distribution in our region of EEC (The European Union).

4. Please send us your pricelist and a draft for your Distributor Agreement, and let me know which of the countries mentioned above you would like us to distribute your products in.

5. We are participating in the […] Security Fair in Copenhagen 3.-4.11.04, the fair is especially for Scandinavian security companies.

6. I look forward to hear [sic] from you.

Best Regards




Table 1.3 Moves, purposes and types of grammar found in sales negotiation emails

Move Purpose Typical lexico-grammar

1. Reference to previous interaction

To establish common ground and orientate the reader between the email and previous interactions

Adverbs of time (last week)References to writer and addressee (we met you)

2. Reference to the writer’s company

Renewed introduction Self-references (we are manufacturing), hyperlink

3. References to previous interaction about the details of the deal

Provides the reader with a summary of how the writer understood the outcome of the previous discussion

Vocabulary relating to initiating a business relationship (first order)This example includes some level of tentativeness (I understood), perhaps as to avoid sounding overly confident

4. Invitation to specify/change details of the deal

Provides the addressee with an opportunity to review and modify what has been presented in the previous move – can also be viewed as a strategy of politeness to demonstrate that the potential customer has power to influence the deal

Directives, usually in mitigated form (Please send us your pricelist)

5. Details of the offer and the service

Reiterates some key aspects of the service/offer – it is here that the company can reinforce the value of the offering

This might include evaluative language to indicate the value of the service/product (superior quality, award-winning service)

6. Mention business opportunity for addressee

Aims to encourage the addressee to engage in the business relationship

Temporal adverbials (3.-4.11. 04)

7. Soliciting a response

To establish that the channel for interaction is open but also to encourage the addressee to respond to the offer

Formulaic language to encourage addressee to get in touch (I look forward to hearing from you)

a chain in which genres follow on from each other, with each link re-contex-tualising and anticipating the contents and language use of the previous and subsequent links (Fairclough’s genre chains). In the last section we put our knowledge of genre theory and genre analysis to use: we analysed guidance notes for an appraisal form to observe how genres reflect institutional and




DIVERSITY CORNER

Cultural Differences and Genre

We have talked about ‘conventionalized’ communicative practices in this chapter and have pointed out that these practices are often influ-enced by the more immediate but also wider context of the speaker/writer, including, for example, organizational or even national cultures. It goes without saying that the cultural background of the communica-tors will affect what he or she views as conventionalized, ritual practice. Consequently, if someone wants to become an effective communica-tor in business, they have to acknowledge that what might count as standard convention for one person can be different for a person from a different cultural background.

Carrio-Pastor (2015), for example, compared emails written by speakers of English as a native or second language and found that the messages of Indian writers typically contained two additional moves compared to the messages of native English speakers. These were thanking and giving positive details to the reader as a way of empathizing with them. The conclusions of this study show that Indian English speakers draw on the conventions of their linguistic background in digital communication, and conventionally employ a wider strategy to express politeness and positive attitude. Other researchers compare the same genre across different languages: for example sales letters in Italian and English (Vergaro, 2004) or in Chinese and English (Yunxia, 2000). Both studies show that although the examined languages share the same basic moves structure, the Italian and Chinese letters show differences related to cultural preferences for relationship building, the level of formality or how politeness is expressed in these letters.

The lesson here is that such contrastive analyses can help us to develop an awareness about our own culture’s writing conventions and thereby help us observe and experience the conventions in other cultures.

social practices. We then used moves analysis to expose the internal structure of documents, including the purpose and possible linguistic realization of moves.

In the next chapter, we will further pursue a discourse-linguistic approach to stakeholder communications, after investigating how language and visuals are used in marketing.




Key Terms and Concepts

Functions of language: symbolic added value, constitutive role, access, tool, industry

Deontic modality GenreGenre chainGenre colonyMovesNominalizationRoles: institutional, interactional, interpersonal rolesPhatic communicationSoft skillsStakeholdersText

Additional Resources

The following is a collection of chapters that take stock of the current develop-ments of professional and business discourse research:

Alessi, G.M. and Jacobs, G., 2016. The ins and outs of business and professional discourse research: reflections on interacting with the workplace. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

The chapters give a good overview of some of the topics contemporary research is concerned with, but is also an overview of the problems that researchers face as a result of misunderstanding the role and importance of language and com-munication in the workplace.

The chapter below is a useful read for those who would like some further explana-tion regarding genre theory:

Bhatia, V.K., 2012. Professional written genres. In: J.P. Gee and M. Handford, eds, The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis. London: Routledge, pp. 239–251.

It also contains a useful example of how to put the methodology into practice.

Proswrite.com is the blog of Dr Kym Sydow Campbell, who uses genre analysis in her consultancy and training practice. Several of the blog posts are concerned with genre and provide detailed moves analyses of real working documents.

The following is a collection of studies addressing a range of business communi-cation genres from emails to mission statements, from leadership texts to press releases:

Dieltjens, S., Groot, E.D. and Gillaerts, P., 2012. Researching discourse in business genres: cases and corpora. Bern: Peter Lang.

An interesting aspect of the studies is the use of corpus linguistic methods.



339

IndexThe page numbers in italics refer to where the index entry is dealt with in detail.

Abstractionas impersonalization

strategy 208as generalization 240

Accommodation 216–219convergence 216, 219divergence 218normalization 219over-accommodation 218

Active listening 192Adjacency pairs 180, 181, 184Advertisements 12, 13, 32,

35, 39, 215job advertisements 5, 13,

230–235Advertising 30, 40

ethics 31–32Agency

in narratives 58–59semantic 163, 164

Agentless passive 164, 200, 205, 207, 208, 212

Aflac 271–272Anecdotes 307, 308Anthropomorphization 52Apologies 9, 70–71, 100,

102, 107, 112, 113–115key components 114

APPRAISAL analysis 45Appraisal interviews 14,

143, 178, 248, 249, 257–262

supervisor strategies 261Associative meanings 111,

231 Audience 54, 56, 58, 75–76,

82, 123, 209, 210, 242 imagined 77

Audience analysis 123, 304Audience design 76–80, 296

initiative 79responsive 78

Avon 205–212

Backchannelling 191, 192, 305

Bills 40–43Body posture see nonverbal

cuesBooths 57–58BP 45, 104, 106Brands 48–50

brand audit 242brand claim 58, 60 brand community 55brand equity 3, 50, 53 brand loyalty 53, 70, 83, 97brand management 3,

49, 50, 54, 83 brand narrative 54–61 brand personality 54–61brand recall see brand

recognitionbrand recognition 53brand tone of voice 61–64brand value 50, 60

Brandingemployee 227, 233, 235employer 233, 235personal branding see

self-brandingself-branding 235–238, 242

Business magazine articles 155

Business letters 70–71, 95, 96, 111, 123, 132, 135–137

Business meetings see meetings

Buy-inaudience 132, 308cross-company 160–168employee 44, 46,

151–154

Call centre work 4, 85, 90–91, 102, 265, 277

Change management see also organizational change

communication strategies: informal dialogue 152

communication strategies: plain language 151

communication strategies: repetition and redundancy 151

entity approach 150Kotter’s eight-step

model 149–150relational approach 150

Chiquita 81Chronemic (time-related)

cues see email technology

Collocative meaning 111Communication

accommodation 216–219

Communication channels 8, 66, 74, 76, 85, 226, 268, 282, 294

Communicationand organizational

success 226–227internal 227, 228, 267,

274, 282multimodal 9, 33–39,

47, 63, 243, 279, 280, 309, 313

personal vs. professional 81–82

private vs. public 81–82Communication efficiency

factors for high and low need 165

Communicative action 10Communicative

competence: 89–91linguistic 89sociolinguistic 89strategic 89technological 89

Communicative constitution of organizations (CCO) 229

Communicative purpose 10, 12, 17, 18, 97

Communities of practice 276–277, 283

Comparatives 45, 112, 135, 162

Competitive advantage 88, 91, 198, 201

Compliance-gaining strategies 302–303

Concordance 270–271Conditionals 9, 112Conference calls 182–183

earnings conference calls 136–137

Conflict management 170Conflict stages 174–177

argument 176avoidance 174, 178disagreement 174, 177



340 Index

Conflict stages (continued)disengagement 176, 178imposing a decision 175negotiation 176resolution 177topic shift 176, 178verbal fight 176

Conflict typesargument 171hostile episode 171pervasive tension 171verbal abuse 171

Conflict stylesaccommodating 172avoidance 172competitive 172compromise 172collaborative 172

Connotations 35–36, 211Consensus-building 131

factors for high need 165Consumer reviews see online

reviewsContext collapse 75–76, 77,

79, 82, 83Contractions 43, 54, 62, 64Conversation analysis

178–181Conversational features

repairs 180, 306sequencing 180, 305topic management 180 turn-taking 181

Conversational maxims 255–257

flouting 255opting out 255violating 255

Conversational maxims 255 manner 255quality 255quantity 255relation 255

Cooperative principle 253–254

Corporate brand see corporate identity

Corporate communication 26–27, 39, 40, 66–68, 73, 74, 80, 106, 227

Corporate culture see organizational culture

Corporate history 12, 56–60

Corporate identity 40, 75, 270, 277, 283

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) see also reports 26, 40, 44–45

Corpus 111, 270Corpus analysis 44,

117, 270–271Cosmopolitan canopy 200Cover letters 238–239, 241Creation of user

imagery 52Crisis

origin of the word 103Crisis communication

strategiesdenial see distancingdistancing 106ingratiation 106mortification 107non-existence 106suffering 107

Crisis typesinternally vs. externally

generated 104–105sudden vs. gradual

onset 104–105Critical genre analysis 14Cultural display rules 193Culture

and genre 20display rules see cultural

display ruleselements: symbolic and

interactive 278, 280–282

high-context 213–216low-context 213–216nonverbal

communication 214Customer complaints 87,

92, 97–98, 100, 101Customer satisfaction 70,

88, 245Customer service

interaction 86, 102Curriculum vitae (CV)

238–241, 243

DEANEX method 141, 293 Deepwater Horizon

(case) 104, 106Deictic reference 298, 305Devon (company) 136Difference as organizing

principle 199Digital communication

building blocks 67Digital footprint 241Digital shadow 241Direct address 15, 43, 161,

298Discourse 7, 28–29

and marketing 30–31diversity and

inclusion 198–200

Discourse markers 181, 305Diversity

advantages and challenges 201–202

in human resource management 198

Double bind 128 Dragon’s Den (TV

programme) 303Dramatism 58

Ellipsis see also rhetorical devices 55, 134, 141, 143, 219, 305

Emails 137, 286embedding 295quoting 295

Email technologyaffordances 295lack of audio-visual

cues 293chronemic (time-related)

cues 294Emojis see emoticonsEmoticons 141, 143Employee branding see brandingEmployer branding see brandingEntrepreneurial pitch 303Equality and diversity 274Erin Brockovich (film) 300Evaluation

explicit 111in narrative 55–58

Face-threatening acts (FTAs) 93–94, 291

Facein negotiations 299–301negative 142, 181positive 184, 303redress 94, 181saving 127, 216

Facebook 115–116Femininity see genderFillers 127, 305 Followers 124, 131, 132,

153, 187, 188 Forms (documents) 50,

97–98Frames

cognitive 153, 156, 231interactional 231semantic 231

Framing theory 156Fundraising

team 154, 202

Gatekeeping 258Gender

in advertising 32in branding 51



Index 341

and leadership 128–129metaphors 157and language 186, 198, 221and non–verbal

communication 189diversity 199, 273–274

Genres 10–12Genre analysis 19, 21, 44,

307–308Genre chains 12Genre colonies

promotional 13reporting 12

Gestures 35, 190, 192, 218, 238, 309

Goodwill 9, 107, 133Grammar of spoken

language 305

Hearer roles 76addressee 77auditor 77eavesdropper 77overhearer 77

Hedging 110–112, 115, 127

HMV 73Humour 93, 161, 217, 281,

283

IBM 49, 59–60, 135Ideology 210Ikea 45 Illocution 253Immediacy

nonverbal 188–189, 192verbal 298–299

Imperatives 14, 15, 254, 291, 298

Implicature 254–255Impression

management 84, 114, 194, 237–238

Impression management, strategies in

association with success 239

dissociation from failure 239

entitlement 239hyperbole 239ingratiation 239self-enhancement 239

Impression construction see impression management

Informal language 10, 62, 79

In-groups and out-groups 217

innocent 63–64Intensifiers 55, 70, 177

Interviews in the workplace 244

appraisal see appraisal interviews

channels 248job see job interviewspurposes 245setups 248structures 249

Interview conditionscontrolled 247unbalanced 247underlying purpose 250

Instant messaging 11, 139, 278

iPod 310

Job advertisements see advertisements

Job interviews 252–257Job satisfaction 266, 277

psychological states 266

Kodak 147–148

Language as a commodity 87–89

Language functionsaccess 4constitutive role 3industry 4symbolic added value 3tool 4

Layout 38framing 38information value 38–39salience 38

Leadership definition 122vs. management 122–123

Leadership communication 127

Leadership stylesagentic 125, 127 authoritarian/

autocratic 130communal 125, 127egalitarian 131hierarchical 131individualistic 131 laissez-faire 131participatory 130paternalistic 130relational see communal transactional see agentic

Leadership traits 124Leadership behaviour 124Letter to shareholders 132,

135Lingua franca 182, 212,

218

Locution 253Logo 36, 40, 280lululemon 70–72

Marketing 3, 8, 9, 25–27, 73, 87, 214

Marketing discourse and ethics 31–32in job advertisements

232–235natural healthcare 29–30

McDonalds 215–216Masculinity see genderMeaning

collocative 111connotative 34, 37, 38,

111denotative 34

Meetings 161, 218–219 Metaphor see also rhetorical

devicesconceptual 155elaboration 159experiential 35, 37, 38re-accentuation 159recombination 159source domain 155substitution 159target domain 155

Metaphor functionsaffective 154, 156cognitive 154, 156narrative 154, 156

Metonymy see rhetorical devices

Minimizers 127, 143Mission statements 11, 65,

123, 269–273, 284functions 270

Modalitydeontic 14, 143, 177,

298 epistemic 177, 298, 302modal verbs 55, 112, 309

Moves analysis 17, 20, 101Multimodal analysis 38–39,

47, 313Multimodal

communication 8, 9, 33–39

Narratives 8, 12, 54, 65, 156, 159, 168, 257, 280, 282, 307, 308, 309

brand see brand narrativesBurke’s functional

model 58–59reasons for

storytelling 54Labov’s formal

model 55–58



342 Index

Negotiations 9, 175, 176, 177, 195, 216, 296–303

sales see sales negotiationsNegotiation goals 297

identity-related 299–301instrumental 301–303relational 297–299

Nestlé 271–272Nominalization 9, 164,

200, 208, 219, 240Nonverbal

communication 6, 40, 43, 89, 139, 140, 143, 179, 180, 182, 186–194

immediacy 188Immediacy Scale-Self

Report (NIS) 188–189Nonverbal cues

body posture (kinesics) 191, 309

chronemics 191, 294haptics 191prosodic features

(vocalics) 180, 191, 195

proxemics 191Nonverbal signs

emblems 191illustrators 191

Non-finite clauses 164, 304 Northern Rock 106–107

Observer’s paradox 179Online reviews 9, 100, 101Organizational change 147,

152, 196, 281additive 149evolutionary vs.

revolutionary 149proactive vs. reactive 149resistance 151substitutive 149

Organizational culture 16–17, 81, 149, 278–283

Passive voice 127, 164, 219Performance review see

appraisal interviewPerformative speech act 71,

113Perlocution 253Personal pronouns 208,

305Phatic communication 10,

290, 297Pitch 303–312Politeness principle 110Politeness strategies 94

avoidance 94bald on-record 95negative 94, 100, 239

off-record 94positive 94, 239

PowerPoint 311, 313Presentations 303–312Press Releases 106, 107,

162, 168Problems

tame 122wicked 122

Public relations (PR) 26

Questions 68, 95, 98, 131, 184, 247, 249, 253, 254, 257

closed 251leading 251open 250, 256rhetorical 251, 308, 309tag 127, 143, 251

Reformulations see repairsRelationship

management 96Relationship marketing

see relationship management

Repairs 180, 306Reported speech

hypothetical 302Reports 11, 12, 69

corporate social responsibility (CSR) 12, 40, 44–45

financial 12, 43–44, 135Reputation 12, 25, 27, 40,

44, 45, 48, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73, 75, 77, 80–81, 101, 108, 113, 114, 227, 274

Rhetoricclassical 132, 284ethos 133, 135, 136, 137,

284, 306, 307fallacies 133logos 133, 135, 136, 137,

306, 307modern 133pathos 133, 135, 136,

137, 284, 306, 307Rhetorical devices 135–137

alliteration 134, 136anaphora 134, 135antithesis 134assonance 134, 135chiasmus 134, 135, 136ellipsis 55, 134, 141, 143,

219, 305euphemism 134hyperbole 134, 137, 239metaphor see also

metaphor (main entry) 134

metonymy 134, 208oxymoron 134parallelism 134, 135, 136simile 134three–part lists 134, 135

Roles 89, 214, 281, 297institutional 16, 122,

159, 180, 199, 225, 246, 264, 265, 268

interactional 16, 180, 261interpersonal 15–16, 180

Ryanair 106, 110

Sales negotiations 19Samsung 104Self-branding see brandingSemiotic resources 35, 38,

39, 311Sexism 31–33Single-and double-loop

learning 166–167Small talk see also phatic

communication 10, 13, 93, 268, 281, 297–298

Social actors 127, 164, 267, 298, 299

Social actor analysis 44, 202–212, 284

exclusion 206, 208, 212impersonalization 95, 208passivation 206personalization 207 specification 207–208

Social media 7, 9, 66–68, 73, 74, 76, 77, 80–84, 148, 229, 241, 268

Social semiotics 35Soft skills xiv n.1, 5Southern Rail 105Speech act theory 254Speech acts 253, 257, 292

direct 254indirect 90, 254performative 71, 113

Stakeholders 9, 27, 40, 45–46, 51–52, 61, 80, 199, 201, 210, 272

Stakeholder communication 9, 26, 32, 39, 40–46, 47

Stereotypes 31–32, 34, 51, 128, 200, 218

Storytelling see narrativeSystemic functional grammar

see systemic functional linguistics

Systemic functional linguistics 44, 146, 163, 263, 284, 313

Superlatives 45, 270



Index 343

Tesco 79, 92The Devil Wears Prada

(film) 246Toyota 57, 105, 107Turn-taking see also

conversational features 180, 181

interruptions 127, 131, 177, 182, 185–186, 294

latchings 185

overlaps 179, 180, 182, 185, 294

Type fonts 34meaning potential

37–38Typography see type fonts

ValueJet 107Virtual work 137–139Vision see mission

statement

‘we’ see also personal pronouns 9, 19, 44, 61, 63, 127, 203–204, 208–210

Websites 9, 39, 57–58, 74, 215–216, 280

White Stuff 57Workplace culture see

organizational culture Workplace stress 259–260,

265, 286



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