Discourse Analysis - Coursework Example

Dis Analysis Dis Analysis Dis s are concepts or ideas presented by in his/her own words. In simple terms, a dis is an understanding of the ideas and concepts inside an author or writer’s mind which penned down without major changes (Hatch, 1992). The major issue with discourse in that most of the times it is difficult for the reader to understand. Discourses are being studied for various reasons. The most important and useful study helps in understanding individual’s nature. As managers and business executives deal with different types or people every day, an understanding of discourse will greatly help in evaluating other people’s habits, level of sensitivity and thus will decrease the potential chances of organisational conflict. In the current study, discourse analysis has been done of a text on organisational objectives and strategic control options and opportunities (Witter-Merithew, 2002). The current text is written on the broader area of strategic control in an organisation. The text goes on describing the definitions of goals and objectives with respect to organisation and its shareholders. The text also describes various characteristics of goals and objectives. Further, it explains various types of control system within an organisation. The broader learning of the text is that it understands of the various control system which will help in achieving objectives and goals in the organisation. However, various discourses were identified within the text. These discourses were basically the author’s self explanation of the ideas and concepts and presented in a more informal format. The first prominent discourse was found within the initial description of objective in the given text. According to the author, “However, an objective needs to be more than relevant and measurable to be a good objective; it needs to provide a suitable REMIT for leader-managers to support what they are trying to achieve for their organizations.” In the above statement, the term ‘objective’ has been used twice in the same sentence, indicating that the author went slightly out of context. The words ‘needs’ and ‘more than relevant’ describes the author’s emotional volatility over the subject of objective achievement in an organization. A lack of cohesion is evident between the two sentences separated by a semicolon. While the author is trying to explain a necessity in the first sentence and subsequent solution through the next line; for a normal reader, the solution is still vague and incomplete. In general the word remit is used in financial statements or while explaining a lack of something. However, in the above discourse the author has written the word in bold letters, focusing on its importance in the text. In order to make the sentence more useful for the reader, additional information will have to be provided in the current discourse (Wodak and Meyer, 2001). An alternative discourse world have been more descriptive such as explaining what is measurable and relevant, as these words are frequently been used in the entire text. Also, in the second sentence, the author could have used more specific words such as ‘suitable action-plan’ for better understanding. It should also be noted that the word remit has a specific meaning pertaining to characteristics of a good objective. However, a clearer concept was provided during the later conversations in the text, creating an ambiguity over the exact meaning of remit in the first place. In an alternative discourse, the author should have clarified the meaning of ‘remit’ pertaining to the present study and then move on with the definition. The alternative discourse would have given a much clearer and quicker understanding of the characteristics of a good objective (Celce-Murcia and Olshtain, 2000). This would further enhance the overall capacity to learn the more complicated concepts. The second discourse was found while explaining the relevance and accuracy of the measures or path followed by managers or marketers while completing their goals and objectives. The example from the author can be considered as too uptight and lengthy, making it difficult for the author to relate the entire sentence. The choice of words such as dysfunctional behaviour and easy-to-visit can be considered as inappropriate with this context. Apart from that, the word measure has been used many times, indicating the author’s inclination towards a comparative analysis for objective completion. The statement can be considered as coherent as the inefficient act of sales manager will lead to a minimized result without fully capturing the untapped markets. The author is also trying to explain that in case such easy to visit outlets are very less in number, this will result in sales force avoiding most of the market area, which will not only decrease the opportunity of better sales but will also result in an un-motivational sales report . The cohesion of the text can be understood from the two words ‘relevant features’ and ‘completeness’. Here, a better explanation of the statement or a more relevant alternative discourse will be; organizational objective can only be achieved if the relevant features selected by the managers or marketers are appropriately measured. The alternative discourse is direct and cohesive to one another. It is also appropriate for the organizational situation which allows mangers to take self-decisions in order to make the objective more clear and achievable. Another discourse was found while explaining the basics of pro-active objective control. An example of pro-active control has been given by explaining the external heater system. The first part of the sentence denoted the term ‘facility’ and in the next sentence, a clear explanation is given. Thus coherency is maintained. The example given here is inter-textual, that is the reference of thermometer and house is outside the context. The message has been delivered consciously and deliberately. However, additional information might be required to make the statement more relevant with the pertaining context. For instance, an alternative discourse will add examples of how organizations can benefit from the pro-active approach. In an organizational setting, market research plays an important part and a clear understanding of the market trends and target consumer perceptions will help in better formulation of future objectives as well as subsequent action plans. The alternative discourse is a better explanation of the application of pro-active objective control as it is in line with the context of the study. Fourth prominent discourse was identified while studying assumption control. The statement can be described as cohesive, intentional and situational (Fairclough, 1993). In the statement, the utility of scenarios have been explained. Strategies are measured in terms of their robustness and different variables are considered while testing this strategy. The final objective is to make the strategy suitable for the achievement of the defined objective. The intention of the author behind this statement is to make the reader understand the concept of scenarios and what are the requirements for making a proper scenario. The author has also used words such as predetermined variables and strategic variables, which indicates the uncertainty of the strategies. An alternative discourse would have added an element of information in the given statement, to make more meaningful and understandable. For instance, instead of just viewing the variables, the leader- managers should analyse the variables. Also, the variables should be properly evaluated before putting them into different categories such as pre-determined and determined. While explaining assumption control, the author has given an example of the US government and the numerous variables and values associated with it. The discourse is intentional and describes the association between changes in the exchange rate and its direct influence on making strategic scenarios. The author has directly used the symbols of Euros and Dollars without written explanation. This explains the author’s inclination towards using more indicative sentences rather than describing them. An alternative discourse explaining the meaning of exchange rates as well as high level of protectionism world have increased the level of understanding, especially among weaker students. Another discourse was identified while explaining surveillance control. The author compared surveillance control as a warning control similar to picking bob on radar screen. Again an element of inter-text can be seen in this discourse (Burr, 2003). This suggests that though the author is writing about business strategy, this study is heavily influenced by scientific experiments meaning that the author in not judgemental. Rather, the author reasons every situation with appropriate facts and information and then only arrives to a situation terming it as a solution. However, for a reader, phrase might seem unrelated. An alternative discourse for this statement world includes direct explanation of surveillance control and defining it with respect to successful accomplishment of objective. It should be noted that the objective of surveillance control is to make strategic scenario for future. Another interpretation of the discourse statement which might go unnoticed by the reader is the association of surveillance control as a broad search which means requirement of more number of individuals or expert for completion of the task. In the entire study, the author has given examples related to only sales. Alternative discourses can include examples from different industries such as services, retail as well as other business formats. Reference List Burr, V., 2003. Social Constructionism. London: Routledge Celce-Murcia, M. and Olshtain, E., 2000. Discourse and context in language teaching: A guide for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fairclough, N., 1993. Critical discourse analysis. Discourse and Society, 4(2), pp. 133-68. Hatch, E., 1992. Discourse and Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Witter-Merithew, A., 2002. Understanding the Meaning of Texts and Reinforcing Foundation Skills through Discourse Analysis. [online] Available at; http://www.unco.edu/doit/articles/the%20meaning%20of%20texts.pdf [Accessed 14 February 2014]. Wodak, R. and Meyer, M., 2001. Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage. Read More