Perceiving the organisation through a coding scheme
The construction of managerial expertise in organisational training
In contemporary organisations, managerial expertise is increasingly viewed as an ability to reflect on activities, processes and human relations within organisational life in order to gain a systemic understanding of the workings of the organisation. This article examines the interactional practices of a consultant-led management training where steering groups of an organisation have a task of gaining such expertise. The article investigates how managerial expertise is constructed and negotiated in training interaction as the groups categorise their managerial actions through a specific coding scheme. The analysis shows that the use of the coding scheme is contingent on being able to display access to organisational processes and activities, connecting general managerial knowledge to specific, local knowledge of the organisation and moving from ‘knowing-that’ to ‘knowing-how’ type of knowledge.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Knowledge and expertise in professional contexts
- 3.Data and method
- 4.Construction of managerial expertise through the task assignment
- 4.1Constructing coding as a learning object
- 4.2Attempting to fill in the grid
- 4.3Adjusting coding to the organisational reality
- 5.Conclusion
- Notes
-
References
References (36)
Algahati, Ali
2014 “
Are Ladership and Management Different? A Review.”
Journal of Management Policies and Practices 2 (3): 71–82.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Angouri, Jo
2018 Culture, Discourse, and the Workplace. London: Routledge.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Angouri, Jo, and Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini
2011 “
‘So What Problems Bother You and You Are Not Speeding Up Your Work?’ Problem Solving Talk at Work.”
Discourse & Communication 5 (3): 209–229.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bassetti, Chiara
2021 “
The Tacit Dimension of Expertise: Professional Vision at Work in Airport Security.”
Discourse Studies 23 (5): 597–615.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bowker, Geoffrey C., and Susan Leigh Star
2000 “
Invisible Mediators of Action: Classification and the Ubiquity of Standards.”
Mind, Culture, and Activity 7 (1–2): 147–163.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cunliffe, Ann L.
2016 “
Republication of ‘On Becoming a Critically Reflexive Practitioner’.”
Journal of Management Education 40 (6): 747–768.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cunliffe, Ann L., and Matthew Eriksen
2011 “
Relational Leadership.”
Human Relations 64 (11): 1425–1449.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Czarniawska, Barbara, and Carmelo Massa
2013 “
Consulting University: A Reflection from Inside.”
Financial Accountability & Management 29 (2): 124–139.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Garfinkel, Harold
1967 Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gill, Virginia Teas
1998 “
Doing Attributions in Medical Interaction: Patients’ Explanations for Illness and Doctors’ Responses.”
Social Psychology Quarterly 61 (4): 342–360.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goodwin, Charles
1994 “
Professional Vision.”
American Anthropologist 96 (3): 606–633.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goodwin, Charles
2000 “
Practices of Color Classification.”
Mind, Culture, and Activity 7 (1–2): 19–36.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heritage, John
2012 “
Epistemics in Action: Action Formation and Territories of Knowledge.”
Research on Language and Social Interaction 45 (1): 1–29.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heritage, John
2013 “
Epistemics in Conversation.” In
The Handbook of Conversation Analysis, ed. by
Jack Sidnell, and
Tanya Stivers, 370–394. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heritage, John, and Geoffrey Raymond
2005 “
The Terms of Agreement: Indexing Epistemic Authority and Subordination in Talk-in-Interaction.”
Social Psychology Quarterly 68 (1): 15–38.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Holmes, John, and Jay Woodhams
2013 “
Building Interaction: The Role of Talk in Joining a Community of Practice.”
Discourse & Communication 7 (3): 275–298.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Housley, William
2003 Interaction in Multidisciplinary Teams. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hughes, John A., Mark Rouncefield, and Peter Tolmie
2002 “
Representing Knowledge: Instances of Management Information.”
British Journal of Sociology 53 (2): 221–238.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Levinson, Stephen C.
2013 “
Action Formation and Ascription.” In
The Handbook of Conversation Analysis, ed. by
Jack Sidnell, and
Tanya Stivers, 103–130. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mondada, Lorenza
2016 “
Challenges of Multimodality: Language and the Body in Social Interaction.”
Journal of Sociolinguistics 20 (3): 336–366.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nevile, Maurice, Pentti Haddington, Trine Heinemann, and Mirka Rauniomaa
2014 “
On the Interactional Ecology of Objects.” In
Interacting with Objects: Language, Materiality, and Social Activity, ed. by
Maurice Nevile,
Pentti Haddington,
Trine Heinemann, and
Mirka Rauniomaa, 3–26. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nissi, Riikka
2015 “
From Entry Proposals to a Joint Statement: Practices of Shared Text Production in Multiparty Meeting Interaction.”
Journal of Pragmatics 791: 1–21.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nissi, Riikka, and Heidi Hirsto
2021 “
Policing Language in the World of New Work: The Commodification of Workplace Communication in Organizational Consulting.”
Applied Linguistics Review. Published Ahead-of-Print.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nissi, Riikka, and Esa Lehtinen
2016 “
Negotiation of Expertise and Multifunctionality: PowerPoint Presentations as Interactional Activity Types in Workplace Meetings.”
Language & Communication 481: 1–17.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pomerantz, Anita
1980 “
Telling My Side: “Limited Access” as a “Fishing” Device.”
Sociological Inquiry 50 (3–4): 186–198.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ryle, Gilbert
1946 “
Knowing How and Knowing That: The Presidential Address.”
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 461: 1–16.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sarangi, Srikant, and Christopher N. Candlin
2011 “
Professional and Organisational Practice: A Discourse/Communication Perspective.” In
Handbook of Communication in Organisations and Professions, ed. by
Christopher N. Candlin, and
Srikant Sarangi, 3–58. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sarangi, Srikant, and Celia Roberts
1999 “
The Dynamics of Interactional and Institutional Orders in Work-Related Settings.” In
Talk, Work and Institutional Order: Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings, ed. by
Srikant Sarangi, and
Celia Roberts, 1–57. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schegloff, Emanuel A.
2007 Sequence Organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slack, Roger, Mark Hartswood, Rob Procter, and Mark Rouncefield
2007 “
On Professional Vision and the Lived Work of Mammography.” In
Orders of Ordinary Action: Respecifying Sociological Knowledge, ed. by
Stephan Hester, and
David Francis, 175–193. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Svennevig, Jan
2011 “
Leadership Style in Managers’ Feedback in Meetings.” In
Constructing Identities at Work, ed. by
Jo Angouri, and
Meredith Marra, 17–39. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Von Platen, Sara
2018 “
Communication Consulting and Consultancies.” In
The International Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication, ed. by
Robert L. Heath, and
Winni Johansen. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Williams, Robin
2007 “
The ‘Problem of Dust’: Forensic Investigation as Practical Action.” In
Orders of Ordinary Action: Respecifying Sociological Knowledge, ed. by
Stephan Hester, and
David Francis, 195–210. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (2)
Cited by 2 other publications
Karvonen, Ulla & Riikka Nissi
2024.
Enabling participation in joint drumming within organizational workshops.
Multimodal Communication 13:2
► pp. 129 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Virtanen, Mikko T & Riikka Nissi
2024.
Negotiating joint commitment in collaborative work project: Focus on text-based requests and news deliveries in atypical work.
Discourse Studies 26:3
► pp. 402 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.