Organisational discourse analysis

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the changes and innovations that we see in contemporary business organisations and their implications for employees. These changes and innovations involve new technologies, restructured product lines or services, and new managerial, professional and occupational tasks and responsibilities. What the research that is reviewed in this chapter suggests is that these developments manifest most dramatically in how employees relate to one another, what they say to one another, how much they say to one another, and how frequently they (have to) communicate with each other (Adler 2001; Child and McGrath 2001). For that reason, the focus ofthe chapter is on how changes within business organisations impact on employees in those organisations - not on the discourses of how people do business with one another across organisations.