Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - On the force potential of strategy texts
T2 - a critical discourse analysis of a strategic plan and its power effects in a city organization
AU - Vaara, E.
AU - Sorsa, V.
AU - Palli, P.
PY - 2010/11
Y1 - 2010/11
N2 - Despite increasing interest in the discursive aspects of strategy, few studies have examined strategy texts and their power effects. We draw from Critical Discourse Analysis to better understand the power of strategic plans as a directive genre. In our empirical analysis, we examined the creation of the official strategic plan of the City of Lahti in Finland. As a result of our inductive analysis, we identified five central discursive features of this plan: self-authorization, special terminology, discursive innovation, forced consensus and deonticity. We argue that these features can, with due caution, be generalized and conceived as distinctive features of the strategy genre. We maintain that these discursive features are not trivial characteristics; they have important implications for the textual agency of strategic plans, their performative effects, impact on power relations and ideological implications.
AB - Despite increasing interest in the discursive aspects of strategy, few studies have examined strategy texts and their power effects. We draw from Critical Discourse Analysis to better understand the power of strategic plans as a directive genre. In our empirical analysis, we examined the creation of the official strategic plan of the City of Lahti in Finland. As a result of our inductive analysis, we identified five central discursive features of this plan: self-authorization, special terminology, discursive innovation, forced consensus and deonticity. We argue that these features can, with due caution, be generalized and conceived as distinctive features of the strategy genre. We maintain that these discursive features are not trivial characteristics; they have important implications for the textual agency of strategic plans, their performative effects, impact on power relations and ideological implications.
KW - critical discourse analysis
KW - deonticity
KW - discourse
KW - force potential
KW - ideology
KW - plan
KW - power
KW - strategy
KW - text
KW - textual agency
U2 - 10.1177/1350508410367326
DO - 10.1177/1350508410367326
M3 - Journal article
VL - 17
SP - 685
EP - 702
JO - Organization
JF - Organization
SN - 1350-5084
IS - 6
ER -