Displaying Group Cohesiveness: Humour and Laughter in the Public Lectures of Management Gurus

Abstract

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Laughter in university lectures

“…BASE lecturers often produce laughspeak or single non-continuous laughs, and these can influence the audience's attitude towards whatever is being said (Partington, 2006:18), and thus often encourage audience laughter in response. Most student laughter is choral and continuous, confirming the sociological principle that people prefer to act like those around them (Greatbatch &Clark, 2003: 1520. Of course, this raises quantification issues, because in particularly laughter-filled lectures one instance of laughter merges into the next.…”

“…Few studies of laughter in monologue exist, and most of these focus on public speaking as opposed to lecture discourse. Greatbatch and Clark (2003), for example, examined the speeches of 'management gurus', finding that laughter plays an important role in the expression of group cohesion and solidarity and heightens audience attentiveness, making the gurus' messages more memorable. Politi (2009) used Politeness Theory to examine 'onesided laughter', where only the speaker and not the audience laughs, recording the way that an experienced conference speaker used laughter to handle tricky questions, establish common ground with his audience, and enhance his positive face.…”

Humor como Estratégia Discursiva na Compreensão da Dinâmica do Espaço Organizacional

“…A base desse humor está no discurso oficial de trabalho dito por um líder em que as mesmas palavras, expressões, serão, posteriormente, utilizadas em piadas. Por meio do humor, uma comunidade autônoma foi criada e sustentada como uma forma de resistência contra os efeitos da alienação (Greatbatch & Clark, 2003). Pode-se observar, no estudo de Korczynki (2011), que o humor presente na fábrica pesquisada na Grã-Bretanha significava uma forma de resistência, que contribuiu para a criação de uma cultura com atos de resistência coletivos os quais foram motivados pelo processo de trabalho repetitivo a que os funcionários estavam expostos.…”

“…O humor tem por objetivo primeiro divertir, mas também realiza diversas outras funções (Roth & Vivona, 2010;Schnurr, 2008;Holmes, 2007;Lynch & Schaefer, 2009;Heiss & Carmack, 2011;Kidd, Miller, Boyd, & Cardeña, 2009 (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Greatbatch & Clark, 2003;Kidd, Miller, Boyd, & Cardeña, 2009;Santos, 2003), Estresse (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Heiss & Carmack, 2011;Greatbatch & Clark, 2003;Marmo, 2010;Duarte & Duarte, 2009, Santos, 2003, Comunicação (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Marmo, 2010;Santos, 2003), Criatividade (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006, Santos, 2003, Cultura organizacional (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Holmes, 2009;Santos, 2003) e Liderança (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Holmes, 2009). …”

Irony as Discipline: Self-Help and Gender in the Knowledge Economy

“…Companies sometimes use what Bolton and Houlihan refer to as 'packaged fun' as a means to appease employees and generate a sense of inclusiveness (2009: 557, see also Fleming, 2007), while Greatbatch and Clark (2003) show how humour can be used strategically by managers to influence their employees (see also Kahn, 1989). Cooper (2005 argues that convincing people to go along with new initiatives can be greatly helped when change managers use humour.…”