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1 – 10 of over 14000Stephan Ludwig and Ko de Ruyter
Drawing on the theoretical domain of speech act theory (SAT) and a discussion of its suitability for setting the agenda for social media research, this study aims to explore a…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the theoretical domain of speech act theory (SAT) and a discussion of its suitability for setting the agenda for social media research, this study aims to explore a range of research directions that are both relevant and conceptually robust, to stimulate the advancement of knowledge and understanding of online verbatim data.
Design/methodology/approach
Examining previously published cross-disciplinary research, the study identifies how recent conceptual and empirical advances in SAT may further guide the development of text analytics in a social media context.
Findings
Decoding content and function word use in customers’ social media communication can enhance the efficiency of determining potential impacts of customer reviews, sentiment strength, the quality of contributions in social media, customers’ socialization perceptions in online communities and deceptive messages.
Originality/value
Considering the variety of managerial demand, increasing and diverging social media formats, expanding archives, rapid development of software tools and fast-paced market changes, this study provides an urgently needed, theory-driven, coherent research agenda to guide the conceptual development of text analytics in a social media context.
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João Carlos de Almeida Rodrigues Gonçalves, Fernanda Araujo Baião, Flavia Maria Santoro and Giancarlo Guizzardi
A literature review was conducted in order to establish a detailed definition of a knowledge-intensive process (KiP). Moreover, relevant theories from humanities – especially the…
Abstract
Purpose
A literature review was conducted in order to establish a detailed definition of a knowledge-intensive process (KiP). Moreover, relevant theories from humanities – especially the fields of linguistics and philosophy – were thoroughly researched and adapted for establishing descriptive and analytical foundations for the phenomena involved. Finally, a cognitive business process management (BPM) theory was proposed in order to assess how sufficient are its respective explanatory and predictive powers. This study aims to discuss the aforementioned objective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes a novel theory for KiPs that describe the process flow based on the participants' interactions and their beliefs, desires and intentions as the main drivers of the process enactment and execution.
Findings
The proposal puts forth a comprehensive definition of a KiP, depicting knowledge intensity, participant interaction and decision-making. The inner dynamics of each of these two elements (as well as other associated elements) are described as an information systems (IS) theory that enables the study of KiPs in detail, going beyond the typical techniques of the BPM field and common obstacles.
Originality/value
A theory proposal for KiP that applies concepts from speech act theory and intentional states as the main drivers for understanding the process dynamics are, to the best of the authors' knowledge, not present at the literature. Being an original proposal, the real-world scenario discussed brings up the explanatory and predictive powers of the theory as well as its innovative value for research in the field.
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Ian Palmer, Adelaide Wilcox King and Dianne Kelleher
How organizations communicate with shareholders during times of great uncertainty, such as during transformational change, is a relatively neglected area within the change…
Abstract
How organizations communicate with shareholders during times of great uncertainty, such as during transformational change, is a relatively neglected area within the change management literature. We use the concept of “change conversation” and speech act theory to analyze GE's letters to shareholders 1980‐1999. We found five consistent change conversations through which GE's management sought to reassure shareholders and reduce their uncertainty around the expected outcomes of GE's transformational changes: warnings; actions; explanations; achievements, and predictions. These were underpinned by three types of speech acts: assertives, expressives, and commissives. We suggest that internally and externally oriented change conversations differ, the former being best characterized as operational change conversations and the latter as supportive change conversations. We suggest that successful change managers engage in both types of change conversations.
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Béchir Ben Lahouel and Nathalie Montargot
This paper aims to capitalize on a linguistic perspective to analyze the rhetoric of French leaders about organizational change.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to capitalize on a linguistic perspective to analyze the rhetoric of French leaders about organizational change.
Design/methodology/approach
To address the research questions, the authors opted for a lexical content analysis. They use Ford and Ford’s (1995) change conversational framework and the speech act theory to analyze French CEOs’ letters to stakeholders, over the period 2007-2012.
Findings
The authors find that leaders’ rhetoric consists of three types of change conversations, namely, initiative, for understanding and for performance, that were underpinned by a network of assertive, expressive and commissive speech acts.
Practical implications
The results reveal that the communication of change to external stakeholders can be characterized as supportive change conversations, offering assurance on the necessity, appropriateness and expected benefits of change.
Originality/value
This paper is the first work, in the French context, which integrates change conversations and speech act perspectives to examine the way leaders communicate with external stakeholders through CEOs letters. Previous research focused specially on communicating change with internal stakeholders.
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Md Karim Rabiul, Md. Kamrul Hasan, Mahadi Hasan Miraz and Rashed Al Karim
Drawing on conservation of resources (CoR) and speech act theories, the authors tested the relationship between managers’ motivating language (ML) and employee service quality and…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on conservation of resources (CoR) and speech act theories, the authors tested the relationship between managers’ motivating language (ML) and employee service quality and psychological relatedness and competence as mediating variables between their associations.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a convenient sampling technique, the authors collected 366 hotel employees’ opinions in Malaysia and analysed them in partial least squares-structural equation modelling.
Findings
Three forms of ML, psychological competence and relatedness correlate with employees’ service quality. Although direction-giving language is correlated with competence, empathetic and meaning-making language are not; thus, competence only mediates the relationship between direction-giving language and service quality. Three types (direction-giving, empathetic and meaning-making) of managers’ communication are correlated with relatedness; thus, relatedness mediates the association between the three types of language and service quality.
Practical implications
Hospitality managers are encouraged to enhance psychological relatedness and competence by practising an appropriate ML. Psychological relatedness and competence are significant mechanisms that enlighten the effects of supervisory communicant on service quality, indicating employees’ need satisfaction should be improved.
Originality/value
Our study contributes to speech act and CoR theories by explaining the relationship between ML, psychological relatedness, competence and service quality.
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Joanne Locke, Nick Rowbottom and Indrit Troshani
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the process by which “analogue” corporate reports produced under a “paper paradigm” are translated into a machine language as required by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the process by which “analogue” corporate reports produced under a “paper paradigm” are translated into a machine language as required by digital reporting. The paper uses Austin and Searle’s linguistic speech act theory to examine how digitally translating reporting information into atomised data affects the infrastructure and practice of accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
Extensive interview and observation evidence focussed on the IFRS Foundation’s digital reporting project is analysed. An interpretive approach is informed by the concepts of L compatibility, illocution and perlocutionary acts which are drawn from speech act theory.
Findings
Two key sites of translation are identified. The first site concerns the translation of accounting standards, principles and practices into taxonomies for digital tagging. Controversies arise over the definition of accounting concepts in a site populated by accounting and IT-orientated experts. The second site of translation is in the routine production and dissemination of digital reports which impacts the L compatibility between preparers and users.
Originality/value
The paper highlights a previously unexplored field of translation in accounting and contributes a unique perspective that demonstrates that machine translation is no longer marginalised but is the “primary” text with effects on the infrastructure and practice of accounting. It extends speech act theory by applying it to the digital domain and in the context of translation between languages.
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Knowledge of conversation theory and speech acts assists us to understand how people search for information. Dialogue embodies meanings and intentionalities, and represents…
Abstract
Knowledge of conversation theory and speech acts assists us to understand how people search for information. Dialogue embodies meanings and intentionalities, and represents epistemic inquiry. There are implications for the information‐processing model of cognitive psychology. Question formulation (erotetics) and turn‐taking play important roles in eliciting information, while discourse analysis furnishes us with information about people's categorising, recall, and semantic skills.
Jennifer D. Chandler, Rommel Salvador and Yuna Kim
As a social media platform, Twitter enables direct, continuous and real-time communication across many markets simultaneously. Drawing on speech act theory (SAT), this study aims…
Abstract
Purpose
As a social media platform, Twitter enables direct, continuous and real-time communication across many markets simultaneously. Drawing on speech act theory (SAT), this study aims to view tweets as “speech acts” and explores whether language and brand on Twitter influence firm value.
Design/methodology/approach
The frequency of two language types (accommodative and defensive) used on four corporate Twitter accounts for Sony and Microsoft was observed during the product launch periods of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, respectively, covering 5,056 tweets. A linear mixed model was used to analyze whether language and brand influence firm value.
Findings
Results show that accommodative language used by firms on their corporate Twitter accounts has an overall negative influence on firm value the following day, whereas the use of defensive language has a positive influence. Moreover, the effects of these language types on firm value are attenuated when the Twitter accounts are personal, compared to the brand accounts.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on one type of social media platform (Twitter) and one product category (video game consoles). Future studies should investigate other platforms and product categories to improve generalizability.
Practical implications
Managers should carefully strategize their use of Twitter, especially the use of language and account type, as they can significantly affect firm value.
Originality/value
This study applies SAT to explain how language and brand on Twitter can influence firm value.
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Politeness rituals can be understood as socially facilitative, performative speech acts that operate at the meso-level of Goffmanian interaction order, translating macro-level…
Abstract
Politeness rituals can be understood as socially facilitative, performative speech acts that operate at the meso-level of Goffmanian interaction order, translating macro-level cultural scripts into micro-social action. Whereas previous research has focused on individual face-saving, this chapter examines the implications of politeness for the group face of speech communities, demonstrating the concept of collective facework. Taking Swedish culture as an example, I observe a tension between two sets of rules: the Nordic code of Jante Law, which frowns upon boasting and encourages humility, and the values of honesty and conversational directness. This is dramaturgically resolved through polite forms of talk, such as strategic reticence and sanctioning verbal domination. These interaction rituals perform collective facework to address negative and positive collective face needs.
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