“How to Do Things With Words”: Mechanisms Bridging Language and Action in Management Research

Abstract

We review the past quarter century of literature linking language and action in management research published from 1993 through 2017. Different from recent in-depth reviews that focus narrowly on particular forms that words take, we look across these different kinds of word assemblages to uncover broad themes and mechanisms that link words with action outcomes in organizational settings. Classifying common conceptual approaches and prominent outcomes, we systematize and synthesize existing work on how to do things with words, identifying points of tension or contradiction as well as consistencies or overlaps across areas of research and methodologies. In addition, we go beyond typologies of how words are constructed to unearth how words function in the service of action; in so doing, we articulate three underlying mechanisms that connect words to action—resonance, enactment, and power—and discuss each. We end with a discussion of promising avenues for future research.

Self-categorization as a nonmarket strategy for MNE subsidiaries: Tracking the international expansion of an online platform

“…In particular, we show that the effect of self-categorization is not merely the building of a consensus with institutional authorities to protect the subsidiary's business; it is also the creation of meaning to support institutional changes consistently with the firm's strategic evolutions. Previous research has highlighted how words, and more broadly rhetorical framing, are used to create resonance with an audience and facilitate organizational action, or to directly influence practices in a process of enactment (Giorgi, 2017;Lockwood, Giorgi, & Glynn, 2019). Our findings show that through selfcategorization processes, MNE subsidiaries are able to deliver both resonance and enactment.…”

Collaborating in a health-care process: partner, not customer

“…In summary, in the effort to manage the entire system and achieve integration, word choice can be a powerful tool for creating action, consensus and collaboration (Lockwood et al , 2019). In contrast, concepts that describe relationships can objectify the relationship and visualize the power relationship and as a result, possibly influence the collaboration (McLaughlin, 2009).…”

Bridging Cultural Holes in Organizations: The Dynamic Structure of Social Networks and Organizational Vocabularies Within and Across Subunits

“…Classic and more recent research has investigated the role of vocabularies in the social construction of organizational structure (e.g., Berger andLuckmann 1966 andOberg et al 2017). By "expressing communal values, evoking past experiences, providing seed beds for human action," vocabularies represent "a vehicle for achieving practical effects" (Pettigrew 1979, p. 575) that may affect patterns of organizational action and interaction (Lockwood et al 2019). Sharing vocabularies within and across social settings helps coordination between interacting individuals (Bechky 2003).…”