The Language of Organizational Styling

214 Pages·2015·1.199 MB·

by  Lionel Wee

TheLanguageofOrganizational Styling
The ways in which commercial organizations and service providers style
themselves–creatingtheimagetheywishtoportraytotheirpotentialcon-
sumers–isalong-establishedareaofresearchinthefieldsofsociologyand
businessstudies.However,languagealsoplaysanimportantroleinorganiza-
tionalstyling,whichuntilnowhasbeenlargelyoverlookedintheliterature.
Thisisthefirstbook-lengthstudyofthelinguisticsoforganizationalstyling,
lookingatthelanguageandsemioticresourcesusedbyholidayresorts,phar-
maceuticalcompanies,restaurantsandinsurancecompaniesinordertoproject
theiridentitiesandstylethemselves.Itdiscussesindetailanumberofcase
studies and presents an innovative take on the notion of style, as well as
bringingtogetherworkfromlinguistics,businessstudiesandsociology.
This interdisciplinary book will be of interest to scholars and advanced
studentsinsociolinguistics,andscholarsofsociologyandbusinessstudies.
lionel wee is a professor in the Department of English Language and
LiteratureattheNationalUniversityofSingapore.

The Language of
Organizational Styling
LionelWee
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107054806
(cid:2)C LionelWee2015
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2015
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Wee,Lionel,1963–author.
Thelanguageoforganizationalstyling/LionelWee.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-05480-6(hardback)
1.Englishlanguage–BusinessEnglish–Studyandteaching(Higher) 2.English
language–Rhetoric–Studyandteaching(Higher) 3.Englishlanguage–Style–
Studyandteaching(Higher) 4.Businesswriting–Studyandteaching. 5.Business
writing–Technique.I.Title.
PE1479.B87W44 2014
306.44–dc23 2014020937
ISBN978-1-107-05480-6Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Acknowledgments pagevi
1 Introduction: the organization as a corporate actor 1
2 Styling: from persons to organizations 19
3 Enterprise culture as a master ethical regime 39
4 Size matters: the semiotics of big versus small businesses 67
5 When Peter meets Harry: the emotional labor of organizations 92
6 Organizational restyling 115
7 Styling the organizational other 143
8 Organizations and speakers: structure and agency in language 168
References 188
Index 203
v
Acknowledgments
In a book about organizational styling, it may be perhaps appropriate for me
to first thank the organization with which I am affiliated. I would therefore
liketothanktheNationalUniversityofSingaporeforprovidingthefinancial
supportandacademicleavethatmadethisbookpossible.Iwouldalsoliketo
thank yet another organization, John Benjamins, for giving me permission to
reproduce sections of my paper “The ranked list as Panopticon in enterprise
culture.”Thispaperwasoriginallypublishedin2011inPragmatics&Society
2/1.Organizationsaside,Iamgreatlyindebtedtocolleaguesandfriendswho
through their encouragement and discussion helped shaped and clarify my
ideas.Inparticular,IwouldliketoacknowledgeAnnBrooks,MieHiramoto,
Cindy Ong, Joseph Park, Chris Stroud, Alan Tea, as well as the audiences
atthe9thInternationalSymposiumonBilingualism(NanyangTechnological
University,Singapore),the19thSociolinguisticsSymposium(FreeUniversity,
Berlin),theworkshoponLanguagePractices,MigrationandLabor(University
oftheWesternCape,CapeTown)andthesymposiumonOrdersofVisibility
(Stockholm University, Sweden). Any errors that remain are, of course, my
own. For technical support, I am extremely grateful to Angeline Ang, Yau
GeokHwa,FatimahAhmadandAdelineKoh.AspecialthanksgoestoJunie
Yeo,whohelpedtoorganizemyofficialappointmentssothatIwouldalways
have time to do some writing. Finally, Helen Barton and Helena Dowson at
CambridgeUniversityPresshavemadetheentireprocessofgettingthebook
outarealpleasure.
vi
1 Introduction: the organization as a
corporate actor
Whyorganizations?
WhywouldawatchmanufacturerlikeWylerwanttotoutitsstatusasacarbon
neutralcompany?WhatmotivatesaluxuryresortchainliketheBanyanTree
to announce its commitment to community development and the protection
of indigenous wildlife? How is it that a pharmaceutical chain like Walgreens
candescribeitshistoryasoneof“innovation,growthandindustryleadership”
without coming across as unduly immodest? How does a charity like Singa-
pore’s National Kidney Foundation try to regain public trust after a scandal
overthemisuseoffunds?AndwhatdoesasmallIndianrestaurantinMalaysia
hopetogain(atleastaccordingtoMcDonald’s)bynamingitself“McCurry”?
Toanswertheseandotherrelatedquestions,itisnecessarytopayattentionto
howorganizationsconstitutethemselves,theidentitiestheyaimtoproject,the
relationshipstheyattempttocultivate,andthesemioticresourcestheymarshal
towardssuchends.
But while the study of organizations is well established in sociology and
businessstudies,thesamecannotbesaidaboutsociolinguistics.Yet,asIshow
inthisbook,asociolinguisticapproachhasmuchtoofferbywayofproviding
interestingandinsightfulanswerstoquestionssuchasthoseposedabove.And
itisimportanttotryandanswerthesequestions,notleastbecauseorganizations
are a key defining feature of modern society, with their activities responsible
forshapingmuchofcontemporarysociallife(Adler2009).
Theaimofthisbook,then,istwofold:toarticulateananalyticalframework
that recognizes the organization as an entity of sociolinguistic interest and
significance,andtoalsodemonstratetheempiricalviabilityofthisframework
viaanumberofcasestudies.Thecurrentchapterlaysthefoundationforthis
framework,whichisthendeveloped inthenextchapter.Thecasestudiesare
discussedinthechaptersthatfollow.
Thereareclearlymanydifferentthingsthatcouldbestudiedaboutorgani-
zations. But in order to answer questions such as those presented above, the
currentchapterdrawsonstudiesinsociology,anthropology,politicaleconomy
and cultural geography to highlight a number of relatively robust factors that
1
2 Introduction
meritspecificconsideration.Theseincludetheinstitutionalenvironmentwithin
whichorganizationsstruggleforsurvivalandlegitimacy;thehegemonicstatus
of neoliberalism and enterprise culture in shaping organizational activity and
identity;andtheidentityeconomy,wherethereisincreasedemphasisplacedby
organizationsonthecompetitivecultivationofsemioticresourcesinresponse
to the commodification of identity. Towards the close of the chapter, a case
will be made that our understanding of these factors can be usefully devel-
opedfromastyle-theoreticperspective(Coupland2007;EckertandRickford
2001;Rampton1999).Thisstyle-theoreticperspectiveonorganizationsisthen
describedindetailinchapter2.
Theubiquityoforganizations
Albrow(1997:29)definesorganizations“associalunitswhereindividualsare
conscious of their membership and legitimize their cooperative activities by
referencetotheattainmentofimpersonalgoalsratherthantomoralstandards.”1
As entities that have been created or established in order to serve particular
goals(BlauandScott1963:1;Parsons1960:17),organizationshaveaccessto
moreresourcesthan(unorganized)individuals,andtheycanarguablytherefore
exertgreaterinfluenceinachievingthosegoals.
Moreover, itwouldnot betoo much of anexaggeration tosay thatorgani-
zations of various sorts are proliferating. Activist groups, social movements,
charities,oversightorregulatoryagencies,multinationalcorporationsandtheir
subsidiaries,socialenterprises,smallstartups–theserepresentjustsomeofthe
manytypes oforganizations thatarealreadypopulating thesociallandscape.
But it is not just the types of organizations that are on the increase. Tokens
ofthesetypes,too,areontheupswing.Forexample,widespreadconcernabout
the effects of climate change has led to the creation of organizations such as
the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the Climate Institute, C40 Cities
ClimateLeadershipGroup,andtheEarthLabFoundation,tonamejustafew.
Societal demand for greater access to education also has led to the establish-
ment of more schools and universities. The small city-state of Singapore, for
example, used to have just two major universities, the National University of
Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University. As of 2012, however,
therearealsotheSingaporeManagementUniversity,SIMUniversity,theSin-
gapore University of Technology and Design, and the Singapore Institute of
Technology.Thislistdoesnotevenincludethemanyoverseasuniversitiesthat
have decided to setup campuses inSingapore. And of course, the success of
1 TheonlyqualificationthatneedstobemadetoAlbrow’sdefinitionconcernshisreferenceto
“moralstandards.”Aswewillseebelow,bothmoralstandardsaswellasethicalissuesare
relevantconsiderations(seealsothediscussionaboutancillaryactivitiesinchapter2).