Finding the Organization in the Communication: Discourse as Action and Sensemaking

This article discusses two ways in which language and discourse have entered the conception of organizing: as communicative activities of agents (conversations); and as discursively based interpretations defining agents, purposes, and organizations (texts). Conversation, framed within a material/soc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization (London, England) England), 2004-05, Vol.11 (3), p.395-413
Main Authors: Taylor, James R., Robichaud, Daniel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agency and Structure
Collective action
Conversation
Discourse
Discourse Analysis
Interpersonal communication
Language
Language Usage
Management
Meaning
Meetings
Organization
Organization theory
Organizational Research
Studies
Texts
Verbal communication
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Summary:This article discusses two ways in which language and discourse have entered the conception of organizing: as communicative activities of agents (conversations); and as discursively based interpretations defining agents, purposes, and organizations (texts). Conversation, framed within a material/social and a language environment, is the site where organizing occurs and where agency and text are generated. Astext, in turn, the language environment frames conversations and reflects the sensemaking practices and habits of interpretation of organization members dealing with their immediate material/social purposes. Using a senior management meeting as an illustration, the article discusses these two levels of apprehension of the language–organization relationship and argues that a dynamic view of language and organizing must account for the processes linking both sides of the organization– language relationship.
ISSN:1350-5084
1461-7323
DOI:10.1177/1350508404041999