So what has language got to do with it? or How to train skilled business professionals through language analysis

Panel convenor: Erika Darics

Business and management has been once viewed as a profession “disciplined with an unambiguous end: profit” (Schön, 2002, p. 23). Not anymore. Wide-scale social changes, mass immigration, the climate crisis, new communication technologies and media platforms, and the increasing presence of AI have fundamentally changed the context of modern business. As a result of the shift of the thus far “unambiguous end”, both the knowledge base and the practices of business and management are undergoing a seismic change. In such a rapidly changing environment future professionals need to have unprecedented level of adaptability.

Specifically, critical thinking and reflexivity have become essential requirements, as the concerns about the relationship of business and the natural environment (Stibbe, 2015), artificial intelligence (McKee and Porter 2017), society (Brueckner et al. 2018) and human well-being (Linstead et al. 2014) continue to grow.

This panel aims to make a case for education that embraces the complex ethical, political and ideological issues of modern management. Specifically, the panel has two aims: first, to showcase how the deeper understanding of language-as-social-practice enables students to notice areas of conflicting values, purposes and interests in business and professional contexts; and second to make a case for the importance of linguistic and discourse knowledge to nurture skilled but also ethical and responsible future professionals. Panelists demonstrate how to incorporate the findings of discourse analytic research in the development of teaching and training materials; and provide examples of how even rudimentary discourse analytical skills can lead to higher level analytical and critical thinking skills, reflexivity and heightened sense of morality.

References:

Brueckner, M., Spencer, R., & Paull, M. (2018). Disciplining the Undisciplined? : Perspectives from Business, Society and Politics on Responsible Citizenship, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability. Springer International Publishing.

Linstead, S., Maréchal, G., & Griffin, R. W. (2014). Theorizing and researching the dark side of organization. Organization Studies, 35(2), 165-188.

McKee, H. A., & Porter, J. E. (2017). Professional communication and network interaction: A rhetorical and ethical approach. Routledge.

Shon, D. A. (2002). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think In Action/.. Basic Books.Aldershot.

Stibbe, A. (2015). Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories we live by. Routledge.