The Textualization of Problem Handling

Written Communication Jul 2016

The Textualization of Problem Handling

Anna-Malin Karlsson ; Zoe Nikolaidou Södertörn University

Abstract

This article reports on research addressing the role of incident reporting at the workplace as a textual representation of lean management techniques. It draws on text and discourse analysis as well as on ethnographic data, including interviews, recorded interaction, and observations, from two projects on workplace literacy in Sweden: a study in an eldercare facility and a study in a large factory. Analysis of the data set demonstrates striking similarities, both in the way incident reporting texts are structured and worded and in the literacy practices that contextualize them. Dominant characteristics in the texts are the absence of actors and the structured, process-based approach of problems and problem handling. The forms often generate conflicts in the ways workers are asked to textually represent an incident. In this article, we argue that lean thinking has penetrated texts and literacy practices of two considerably different workplaces, and this has a large impact on the way workers are instructed to think and act with regard to problem handling techniques.

Journal: Written Communication
Published: 2016-07-01
DOI: 10.1177/0741088316653391
Open Access: Closed
Topics: discourse analysis multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

Kalman et al. (2023)

“Don’t Tell Them What You Told Me”: Negotiating Paperwork in Mexico City

Written Communication
Nissi et al. (2022)

Digital Documenting Practices: Collaborative Writing in Workplace Training

Written Communication
Corbel et al. (2022)

Gig Expectations: Literacy Practices, Events, and Texts in the Gig Economy

Written Communication
Lillis et al. (2020)

Time, the Written Record, and Professional Practice: The Case of Contemporary S…

Written Communication

Cites in this index (2)

Karlsson (2009)

Positioned by Reading and Writing

Written Communication
Brandt (2005)

Writing for a Living

Written Communication

Also cites 11 works outside this index ↓

10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.000423

↗
10.4324/9781410609779

↗
10.1111/1468-0408.00163

↗
10.1080/17457820801899132

↗
Karlsson A.-M. (2011)

10.1558/japl.v8i2.123

Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice ↗
10.1136/qshc.2009.037986

↗
10.37514/PER-B.2012.0452.2.28

↗
10.1515/TEXT.2009.026

↗
10.1111/j.1467-9841.2007.00341.x

↗
10.1515/text.1.1998.18.2.301

↗
10.5130/lns.v15i2.2202

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 14 View in citation network →