Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file.

The thesis re-presents the lived experience of cultural animation and policy production in postcolonial Zimbabwe, seeking to place these observations and theories in the domain of Cultural Policy Studies. The nation was in transition from oracy to literacy and from colonial control to socialist independence. Cultural workers in Bulawayo were very productive after Independence without apparently being aware of any policies. How, then, did things get done? The initial premise was that people living in oral cultures were always able to discuss plans and implement decisions, and that endogenous and exogenous influences (theorised as memes) were incorporated experimentally in a cultural bricolage. Part One introduces the pre-policy context of cultural change in precolonial and postcolonial situations, theorises cultural change at a micro level in terms of memetics and explains the methodology of multiple case studies. Part Two looks for origins of cultural concepts in 19th century white-authored journals and 20th century revolutionary texts and presents a critical analysis of formal documents controlling cultural policy since Independence. The importance of plurilingualism, translation and literacy in interactions between social actors is examined. Part Three provides empirical evidence to refine the original proposition in a detailed synchronic study of local cultural praxis. Discourse analysis of conflict and consensus operating at grassroots level is followed by accounts of the increasing management capacity of some groups as they become professional performers in international arenas. Contrasting instances of individual and communal animation are found in the development of institutions. Part Four discusses the role of dynamic oral policies in cultural action both in a pre-policy situation and in the implementation of documented policy in a democratising polity. The thesis also has potential for its theoretical findings to be applied in different national contexts of development and beyond cultural policy to other spheres where an increasing volume of policy initiatives challenges the people charged with their implementation.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-135). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

This dissertation is a qualitative discourse analysis study. The study seeks to understand roles of organizational discourse and management discourse in stimulating strategic organizational change, and facilitating organizational culture dynamics and identity development. Specifically, this study examines how The Haier Group Company has constructed, disseminated and entrenched its corporate public discourse (CPD) as a symbolic and rhetorical means for stimulating organizational change in the context of global challenges. Theoretical positions guiding this study are: globalization, the nexus of the global and local, glocalization, transculturation and hybridity, as well as organizational communication, organizational discourse study, organizational discourse analysis, and corporate public discourse. Methodologically, to better reveal the impact of globalization on organizational communication in a primarily non-Western context, this study adopts an interpretive-oriented approach, and adds a critical element from the language- ideology-power perspective. The data for this study is composed of a multiplicity of corporate public discourses (including print, online, audio-visual forms of texts, and artifacts) primarily produced by Haier between 1984 and 2004. In analyzing Haier's main CPD, this study examines how Haier has strategically constructed, disseminated, and entrenched the organization's culture, ideology, identity, and brand building. It also analyzes and demonstrates how Haier has, discursively and strategically, cultivated an organizational environment that fostered strategic organizational change. As the data set is diverse and large, the textual analysis and discussion depends on a combined use of organizational rhetorical analysis and storytelling analysis. To conclude, broadly, this study of Haier's corporate public discourse demonstrates China's current position within the historical phenomenon of globalization. More specifically, it shows that through constructing and communicating a specific organizational discourse about globalization and Haier's place in it, the Haier CEO and management is creating a reality that is challenging the dominant West- and U.S.-centric interpretations of globalization. This discourse challenges the notion that globalization is a new phenomenon, and that certain established and powerful global economic players will forever remain in positions of dominance. It frames globalization as a fluid phenomenon involving cultural fusion. This study is significant in at least two aspects. First, it demonstrates the impact of global mobility and interconnectivity upon a non-Western business corporation's communication strategies thereby adding to the scant numbers of empirical studies on this topic. Also, it differs from the extant studies on Haier, which are primarily case studies conducted by MBA scholars and practitioners of business and management, and provided an intercultural and organizational communication perspective. Second, this study demonstrates the utility of specific globalization concepts such as the global-local dialectic, glocalization, as well as some international/intercultural concepts such as transculturation and hybridity in studying organizational communication in a transnational context. One contribution of this study is its "insider" Chinese view of how Confucianism has shaped organizational communication practices in P. R. China. Another contribution is the "insider-outsider" perspective adopted in examining Haier's strategic communication about organizational change in an age of globalization. This `straddling' position is helpful in achieving an interpretive understanding of the impact of globalization upon organizational communication as it is situated in a mainly non-Western context.

The following thesis explores construction policy discourses within the context of the United Kingdom (UK). The research was deemed both important and necessary as the construction sector represents a major portion of the UK economy, accounting for approximately seven per cent of GDP, and employing millions (Rhodes: 2015). Adopting an ontology of becoming and an interpretive epistemological perspective, it is argued that construction policy documents are best characterised as crystallised snapshots of a community s attempts at meaning making in time. Utilising a qualitative methodology, the thesis primarily achieves its aims through the textual analysis of three prominent construction policy documents ( Rethinking Construction - the Egan report, the Government Construction Strategy , and the Industrial Strategy: Construction 2025), as well as informational interviews with eleven contemporary, senior construction policy stakeholders, from nine different organisations. The empirical element was inspired by interpretive approaches to policy analysis, and in particular the works of Yanow (2000; 2003; 2007) and drew upon the Hermeneutical approach repopularised by Taylor (1971), and Gadamer (1975). Four primary discourses were discovered, these being: The discourse of the need to be competitive ; The discourse of the essentialness of efficiency ; The discourse of unfulfilled potential ; The discourse of fear of not being Modern . The analysis suggests that construction policy discourses at the time of writing are predominantly influenced by the dominant cultural trends known as neoliberalism and the enterprise culture , but that these too must be seen as emerging from, and as informed by, the super-ideology of political declinism (Tomlinson: 2000). It is from these cultural sources that the pools of meanings articulated in the texts are drawn (Marton: 1986). Furthermore, tracing the etymology of the word policy , it is suggested that construction policy documents police behaviour by shaping it towards particular directions in keeping with specific normative visions concerning the good life policy elites have. The findings are important as they suggest that contemporary construction policy discourses are in danger of becoming increasingly myopic, with alternative perspectives and visions increasingly marginalised, and so any potential for the flexible adaptation or reimagining of future policies is reduced. As a result, the thesis argues for greater involvement from a broader spectrum of social actors in all stages of construction policy, to both contribute to strengthening citizenry and democracy in the UK, whilst reducing the potential for myopia amongst policy elites.

Studien har som syfte att undersöka hur framgångsrika ledare framställs idag och till vilken utsträckning samt i vilka situationer de brukar ett auktoritärt ledarskap. För att uppfylla studiens syfte har dagsaktuella ledarskapstrender samt fiktiva ledare i aktuell populärkultur analyserats genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar att vissa egenskaper är gemensamma hos framgångsrika ledare i såväl trender som hos fiktiva ledare. Det råder delade meningar samt avsaknad av en nyanserad förklaring av vad som är ett auktoritärt ledarskap. Genom att sätta ihop en samlad bild av ett auktoritärt ledarskap går det att urskilja hur vissa situationer efterfrågar och förväntar ett auktoritärt ledarskap. / The purpose of this study is to examine how successful leaders are portrayed today and to what extent as well in which situations they practice authoritarian leadership. To fulfill the purpose of the study have current leadership trends and fictitious leaders in recent popular culture been analyzed through a qualitative content analysis. The results indicate that some characteristics are mutual for successful leaders in trends as well as fictitious leaders. There is a disagreement and a lack of nuanced definition of an authoritarian leadership. Creating a collective definition of an authoritarian leadership makes it possible to discern how certain situations demand and expect authoritarian leadership.

Temporary migrant workers and circular migration constitute a growing global phenomenon as the management of migration becomes increasingly important to policymakers. This thesis takes academic discussions on citizenship and migration as its starting point, and examines the role of employers in terms of defining temporary migrant workers and their role in the Swedish labour market. The concept of moral economy is applied in particular to analyse the justifications and negotiations through which working conditions of migrant workers, and their role in local and transnational economies, are established and contested. The role of capital in migration management is studied through ethnographic fieldwork and through interviews with managers in the Swedish wild berry and IT industries; two very different industries that are, however, both shaped by particular structures of seasonal labour and international outsourcing and that increasingly rely on temporary foreign workers from Thailand and India respectively. The conceptualisation of supply chains in these industries offers a particular framework through which relations, as well as management discourses, can be analysed. The study explores how notions of circularity, nation, cultural difference, and transnational economic difference, are managed by private sector actors. It also explores how managers relate to public discourse and emotions in the face of global economic restructuring and changing citizenship, which situates temporary migrants as part of, yet different from, Swedish labour. / Temporära migrantarbetare och cirkulär migration utgör ett växande globalt fenomen till följd av intresset bland regeringar och myndigheter att styra genom sk ”managed migration”. Denna avhandling tar avstamp i forskning om medborgarskap och migration för att undersöka vilken roll arbetsgivare får när det gäller att definiera tillfälliga migrantarbetare och deras roll på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Begreppet moralisk ekonomi används för att lyfta fram och analysera de praktiker genom vilka migrantarbetarnas arbetsvillkor förhandlas och rättfärdigas, samt hur deras roller i lokala och transnationella ekonomier befästs eller förändras. Ekonomins roll i migrationshantering studeras i denna avhandling genom etnografiskt fältarbete och intervjuer med chefer inom den svenska bärindustrin samt IT industrin; två mycket olika industrier som dock båda struktureras av säsongsarbete respektive internationell outsourcing, och som alltmer använder tillfällig utländsk arbetskraft från Thailand respektive Indien. Genom begreppet utbudskedjor (supply chains) möjliggörs en analys av de relationer, samt de managementdiskurser, som påverkar dessa industrier. Avhandlingen utforskar hur föreställningar om cirkularitet, nation, kulturella skillnader, samt transnationella ekonomiska skillnader, förhandlas av aktörer inom näringslivet. Vidare diskuteras hur chefer relaterar till de diskurser och emotioner som en global ekonomisk omstrukturering och ett förändrat medborgarskap ger upphov till, vilket positionerar tillfälliga migrantarbetare som en del av, men ändå annorlunda än, svensk arbetskraft.