ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will attempt to develop the notion of discourse through engaging with the empirical research conducted within both Buzzbank and Lifelong Assurance. In the course of the research, I have paid particular attention to discourses in various forms, from the physical and structural to textual and verbal examples of discourses, which I understand here as a socially and historically specific system of assumptions, values and beliefs which materially affects social action and social structure. The intention below is to critically examine some of the more complex and contentious aspects oí discourse in the light of empirical work. This involves in the first place an examination of the number and scope of such discourses, distinguishing 'official' discourses, frequently aligned with an 'organisational ideology' (Kunda, 1992), from more unofficial or marginal(ised) discourses. This distinction is drawn, not as a taxonomic definition, but as an heuristic aid, of considerable relevance to the next section where I will discuss the relevance of 'culture management' initiatives, and what will be analysed here as the discourse of 'culture management'. Although there are indeed grounds for scepticism regarding much of the more managerialist writing on culture management, I suggest, following Willmott (1993) that the concept cannot be dismissed; instead, organisational 'culture' can be seen as dependent upon the constitution of oppositions through discourse (Parker, 1995). These 'oppositions' may be sanctioned and promoted by management or reproduced independently of managerial intentions; indeed, they may be in direct conflict with managerial objectives. Their importance, however, stems from their instrumental role in the construction of (relatively) stable workplace identities, in line with the relational concept of identity as outlined in Chapter 3.
