This dissertation is a microanalytic investigation of professional communication in beauty salons in the United States and Japan. In particular, it centers on the analysis of a common, yet very important occurrence found in cosmetology sessions: what I call the "service-assessment sequence", in which service-provider and client determine whether or not the completed work in a given session is adequate. This is a crucial moment in the haircutting activity (and in other fields of the service industry) in order to bring a satisfactory closure to the session, as well as maintain a healthy relationship for future sessions, retain clients in general, and ensure client satisfaction overall. Using the methodological frameworks of microethnography and conversation analysis, I examine the moment-by-moment unfolding of interaction, focusing on how participants smoothly conduct the service-assessment sequence and how they achieve the successful completion of a service encounter through a number of tactics. The findings include: the participants' systematic coordination of talk and physical inspection through multiple second pair parts; the participants' coordination of talk and action to negotiate sequence closure; the participants' professional use of head nods in the middle of physical inspection and at sequence completion during service encounters in Japan; and the participants' employment of a unique combination of verbal and embodied actions to transform the event of revision into a mutual decision. These findings suggest several important aspects of professionalization in beauty salons. Notably, the professionals' ability to harmonize talk and action is a special trait. Also, despite the fundamental regularities, the service-assessment sequence is frequently adapted to specific circumstances of each beauty salon that may vary across different services and cultures. Finally, the production of professional assessments and agreements are achieved by the participants' constant work on dramatization through the use of various communicative resources. The study is applicable not only to the field of cosmetology, but to a range of professional-client interactions where people evaluate the quality of service with their subjective perspectives, enhancing our understanding of negotiation-in-interaction in the workplace and what it means to professionalize communication in such situations. / text

This master thesis investigates how independent coworkers, such as entrepreneurs and freelancers, develop their entrepreneurial competencies through social and professional interactions in a coworking space. Since its early beginnings in 2005, coworking spaces have grown to a global phenomenon. Hence, a continually increasing number of individuals work from these spaces. The reason for this is, that coworking spaces help people to feel more socially integrated and to get social and professional support. In the empirical part, this thesis focuses on coworking spaces of mid-sized cities in Sweden. By conducting a qualitative research, we identify professional developments that can be clustered in different entrepreneurial competencies. As stated in the findings, these competencies particularly develop through a combination of the following three theories: (1) experiencing a social community, (2) receiving professional knowledge, and (3) exchanging professional knowledge. In more detail, five types of entrepreneurial competencies have been found: (A) openness, (B) being socially inclined, (C) entrepreneurial thinking, (D) planning, and (E) self-selling. Professionals from 5 different coworking spaces participated in the empirical study. The findings are a result of a research method based on social constructionism with 13 qualitative, semi-structured interviews. In addition to presenting empirical findings and a conclusion, the thesis has a thorough discussion by highlighting theoretical and managerial implications, and the influence of coworking spaces for society and its potential future developments. Moreover, limitations of this study and areas for future research are outlined at the end.