The Library

'You have to be adaptable, obviously' : constructing professional identities in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong

Tools

Schnurr, Stephanie and Zayts, Olga. (2012) 'You have to be adaptable, obviously' : constructing professional identities in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong. Pragmatics, Vol.22 (No.2). pp. 279-299. ISSN 1018-2101

Preview

Text
WRAP_Schnurr_Schnurr Zayts_submission_pdf.pdf - Submitted Version
Download (441Kb) | Preview

Official URL: http://ipra.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=*HOME&n=1452

Abstract

In spite of the increasing globalisation of the work domain and the mobilization of the workforce (Wong et al. 2007) only very little attention has been paid to the interplay between culture and professional identities in workplace contexts. This paper addresses this gap by exploring some of the ways through which professionals are required to construct and negotiate their various identities in increasingly multicultural contexts where notions of culture may become particularly salient.
We focus on multicultural workplaces where, we believe, the intricate and complex relationship between culture and identity is particularly well reflected: In these contexts members are on a daily basis exposed to culture-specific perceptions, assumptions, expectations, and practices which may ultimately be reflected in workplace communication, and which impact on how professional identities are constructed.
Drawing on a corpus of more than 80 hours of authentic workplace discourse and follow-up interviews conducted with professionals we explore how expatriates who work in Hong Kong with a team of local Chinese construct, negotiate and combine aspects of their professional and cultural identities in their workplace discourse. Our particular focus is on two issues that have been identified in participants’ interviews: Sharing decision making responsibilities and negotiating a work-life balance. Our analysis of these two aspects illustrates the complex processes of identity construction from two different but complementary perspectives: i) the ways in which participants portray themselves as adapting to, negotiating or rejecting the new culture in which they work and live; and ii) the ways in which these perceived identity construction processes are actually reflected in participants’ workplace discourse.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Subjects:

B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics

Divisions:

Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Applied Linguistics

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):

Corporate culture -- Hong Kong (China), Identity (Psychology), Diversity in the workplace -- Hong Kong (China), Aliens -- Hong Kong (China)

Journal or Publication Title:

Pragmatics

Publisher:

International Pragmatics Association

ISSN:

1018-2101

Official Date:

June 2012

Dates:

Date	Event
June 2012	Published

Volume:

Vol.22

Number:

No.2

Number of Pages:

Page Range:

pp. 279-299

Status:

Peer Reviewed

Publication Status:

Published

Access rights to Published version:

Open Access

References:

Angouri, J. and M. Marra, Eds. (fc). Constructing Identities at Work. Houndmills, Palgrave.
Brooks, A. (2004). Changing work identities for professional women in Hong Kong. Old challenges, new strategies : women, work, and family in contemporary Asia L. L. Thang and W.-H. Yu. Leiden ; Boston Brill: 145-162.
Chan, A. (2005). Managing business meetings in different workplace cultures. Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Chee, H. and C. West (2004). Myths about Doing Business in China. Houndmills, MacMillan.
Cheng, W. (2003). Intercultural Conversation. Amsterdam, Benjamins.
Collier, M. J. (2005). Theorizing cultural identifications. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication. W. Gudykunst. London, Sage: 235-256.
Collier, M. J. and M. Thomas (1988). Cultural identity. Theories of Intercultural Communication. Y. Y. Kim and W. Gudykunst. Newbury Park, CA, Sage: 99-120.
Cullen, J. B. (1999). Multinational Management. A Strategic Approach. Cincinnati, Ohio, South-Western Publishing.
Cupach, W. and T. T. Imahori (1993). Identity management theory. Intercultural Communication Competence. R. Wiseman and J. Koester. Newbury Park, CA, Sage: 112-131.
Du-Babcock, B. and R. Babcock (1996). Patterns of expatriate-local personnel communication in multinational corporations. The Journal of Business Communication 33(2): 141-164.
Dwyer, J. (1993). The Business Communication Handbook. New York, Prentice Hall.
Ellemers, N., A. Haslam, et al. (2003). Social identity at work: developments, debates, directions. Social Identity at Work: Developing Theory for Organizational Practice. A. Haslam, D. van Knippenberg, M. Platow and N. Ellemers. New York and Hove, Psychology Press: 3-28.
Fairhurst, G. T. (2007). Discursive leadership: in conversation with leadership psychology. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications, Inc.
Fougere, M. (2009). Adaptation and identity. Culturally Speaking. Managing Rapport Through Talk Across Cultures. H. Spencer-Oatey. London, Continuum: 187-203.
French, J. and B. Raven (1959). The bases of social power. Studies in Social Power. D. Cartwright. Ann Arbour, The University of Michigan.
Fung, L. and R. Carter (2007). Discourse markers and spoken English: Native and learner use in pedagogic settings. Applied Linguistics 28(3): 410-439.
Glenn, P.G. (2003). Laughter in interaction. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Gudykunst, W., C. Lee, et al. (2005). Theorizing about intercultural communication. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication. W. Gudykunst. London, Sage: 3-32.
Guirdham, M. (2005). Communicating across cultures at work (ed.). New York, Palgrave Macmillan.
Hall, C., S. Sarangi, S. Slembrouck. (1999). The legitimation of the client and the profession: Identities and roles in social work discourse. Talk, Work and Institutional Order. Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings. S. Sarangi and C. Roberts. Berlin, deGruyter: 293-321.
Hall, S. (2000). Who needs identity? Identity: A Reader. P. Du Gay, J. Evans and P. Redman. London, Sage: 15-30.
Hall, S. and P. du Gay, Eds. (1996). Questions of Identity. London, Sage.
Hecht, M. (1993). 2002 - A research odyssey toward the development of a communication theory of identity. Communication Monographs 60: 76-82.
Hecht, M., J. Warren, E. Jung, J. Krieger. (2005). The communication theory of identity. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication. W. Gudykunst. London, Sage: 257-278.
Hofsted, Geert (1980). Cultures and Organizations. International Studies of Management & Organizations 10(4): 15-41.
Hofstede, Geert (1995). The business of international business is culture. In Cross-Cultural Management, Terence Jackson (ed.), 150-165. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Holliday, A. (2010). Complexity in cultural identity. Language and Intercultural Communication 10(2): 165-177.
Holmes, J. (2000a). Doing collegiality and keeping control at work: small talk in government departments. Small Talk. J. Coupland. London, Longman: 32-62.
Holmes, J. (2000b). Women at work: Analysing women's talk in New Zealand workplaces. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 22(2): 1-17.
Holmes, J. and M. Stubbe (2003). Power and Politeness in the Workplace. A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Talk at Work. London, Longman.
House, R., P. Hanges, et al., Eds. (2004). Culture, Leadership, and Organizations. The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks. CA, Sage.
Imahori, T. T. and W. Cupach (2005). Identity management theory. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication. W. Gudykunst. London, Sage: 195-210.
Jefferson, G., J.M. Atkinson, and J. Heritage (1984). Structures of social action. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Kendall, S. and D. Tannen (1997). Gender and language in the workplace. Gender and Discourse. R. Wodak. London, Sage: 81-105.
Kidd, W. (2002). Culture and Identity. Houndmills, Palgrave.
Kim, Y. Y. (2007). Ideology, identity, and intercultural communication: An analysis of differing academic conceptions of cultural identity. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 36(3): 237-253.
Lytra, V. (2009). "
Marra, M. and J. Holmes (2008). Constructing ethnicity in New Zealand workplace stories. Text & Talk 28(3): 397-419.
Nair-Venugopal, S. (2009). Interculturalities: Reframing identities in intercultural communication. Language and Intercultural Communication 9(2): 76-90.
Ng, W. and S. Bernier (2009). The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, Community Business.
Northouse, P. (1997). Leadership. Theory and Practice. London, Sage.
Ochs, E. (1993) Constructing social identity: a language socialization perspective. Research on Language and Social Interaction 26(3): 287-306.
Portes, A. (2003). Conclusion: theoretical convergencies and empirical evidence in the study of immigrant transnationalism. International Migration Review 37: 874-892.
Redding, S. G. (1990). The Spirit of Chinese Capitalism. Berlin and New York, Mouton de Gruyter.
Schnurr, S. and O. Zayts (fc). Be(com)ing a leader: a case study of co-constructing professional identities at work. Constructing Identities at Work. J. Angouri and M. Marra. Houndmills, Palgrave.
Selmer, Jan and Corinna de Leon (2003). Culture and management in Hong Kong SAR. In Culture and Management in Asia, Malcolm Warner (ed.), 48-65. London: Routledge Curzon.
Sunderland, Jane and L. Litosseliti (2002). Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam, John Benjamins.
Ting-Toomey, S. (1993). Communicative resourcefulness: an identity negotiation theory. Intercultural Communication Competence. R. Wiseman and J. Koester. Newbury Park, CA, Sage: 72-111.
Ting-Toomey, S. (2005). Identity negotiation theory: crossing cultural boundaries. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication. W. Gudykunst. London, Sage: 211-233.
Vernon, K. (2009). Work-Life Balance: The Guide. Hong Kong, Community Business.
Westwood, Robert I. (1992). Culture, cultural differences, and organisational behaviour. In Organisational Behaviour: Southeast Asian Perspectives, Robert I. Westwood (ed.), 27-62. Hong Kong: Longman.
Wong, J., P. Wong, L. Heng. (2007). An investigation of leadership styles and relationship cultures of Chinese and expatriate managers in multinational companies in Hong Kong. Construction Management and Economics 25: 95-106.