The politics of smiling: the interplay of emotion, power and discourse in sensegiving and sensemaking

Abstract

PurposeThis research investigates the politics of smiling as a central driver for employees to navigate power dynamics within the prevailing discourse at a Japanese retailer in Hong Kong. Existing critical management studies emphasize power in organizational language, often neglecting the role of employees’ emotions in sustaining discourse. This paper examines employees’ smiles as tools for legitimizing (sensegiving) and interpreting (sensemaking) discourse. It explores how the use of their emotional display influenced the outcome of the company’s attempt to legitimize discourse. This research divides the discourse process into five phases: formation, codification, implementation, monitoring and adaptation.Design/methodology/approachUsing the critical sensegiving and sensemaking approach, this paper discusses how employees’ interpretations of corporate policies shape the perpetuation of dominant discourse and outcomes. Data were collected through the author’s long-term participant observation in the Hong Kong branches of Japanese retailers.FindingsThe formation phase discusses the emergence of a dominant discourse favoring Japanese practices in the company’s Hong Kong operations. Codification involves the conceptualization of standard smiles in customer service policies. In practice (implementation, monitoring and adjustment), employee smiles serve as tools for negotiating power—shaping careers, earnings and shift preferences. This paper argues that this discourse shapes organizational norms while employees’ sensemaking influences the discourse implementation. Furthermore, this paper highlights the transnational impact of Japanese culture in Hong Kong, which has shaped the way Japanese top management and local employees interpret the dominant discourse.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates the importance of discussing the display of emotions and employees’ intentions to understand their impact on the outcome of discourse implementation. This study also reiterates the significance of discussing the influence of one culture on another to understand the broader social context that affects the perpetuation of discourse.

Guest editorial: New directions in workplace ethnography

“…While this methodological approach is not new, the innovative aspect of the article is found in what the author uncovers by employing these well-established ethnographic qualities, in particular the role of emotions in processes of discourse perpetuation. Zooming in on the act of smiling, Zhu (2024) examines how emotional display is shaped by dominant discourses and, as such, comes to play an important role in organizational politics.…”

“…In addition, the authors uncover the ways in which professionals' spatial conceptions shape their narratives, which, in turn, drive the implementation of ABWs, a process that has been neglected in research to date. Zhu (2024), in her article "The politics of smiling: the interplay of emotion, power and discourse in sensegiving and sensemaking," investigates the "politics of smiling" as a central driver for employees to navigate power dynamics within the prevailing discourse at a Japanese retailer in Hong Kong. The article demonstrates ethnographic craftswomanship, in which immersionas an intern, working alongside the employees under studyand longterm engagement through participant observation figure prominently and which merges indepth micro experiences with meso-and macro-contextual considerations, thus uncovering cultural and political complexities in a multinational organization.…”

“…It reveals the complexities of collaboration and navigating social dynamics (as Trifan et al ., 2024). A focus on positionality , power , and politics (see Nooij et al ., 2024; Skovgaard-Smith, 2024; Stefan et al ., 2024; Trifan et al ., 2024; Zhang, 2024; Zhu, 2024). From an interpretivist perspective, knowledge of workplaces is not “out there” to be discovered but generated in the interaction between researcher and research participant (Ybema et al ., 2009).…”

“…Lastly, a focus on positionality also uncovers how research participants maneuver politically charged and hierarchy-inflicted organizational contexts. This may take the form of the “politics of smiling” as a tool for employees to negotiate corporate discourse and shape their careers (as Zhu, 2024). The increasing relevance of ethnographers’ engagement with the field indicates a shift away from the “ivory tower” of higher education institutions towards occupying physical (e.g.…”

“…Lastly, a focus on positionality also uncovers how research participants maneuver politically charged and hierarchy-inflicted organizational contexts. This may take the form of the “politics of smiling” as a tool for employees to negotiate corporate discourse and shape their careers (as Zhu, 2024).…”