Discourse, Communicationa and the Enterprise: Developments and Issues. An Introduction

This Chapter is the Introduction to the volume “Discourse, Communication and the Enterprise: Where Business Meets Discourse”, which collects research studies that investigate various aspects of corporate communication from the viewpoint of language and discourse, giving special attention to emerging issues and recent developments in times of rapid sociotechnical evolutions. “Discourse, Communication and the Enterprise (DICOEN)” is the denomination of a global informal research network, comprising scholars from all continents working in a variety of disciplines – linguistics, discourse analysis, communication studies, organisation and management studies, economics, marketing, accounting, etc.– who are interested in the relevance of discourse and communication to the world of business and organizations. Researchers belonging to this informal network meet every two years to discuss the results of their investigations, exchange views on research methods and analytical tools in light of the latest developments, pinpoint topical issues and research themes to which the attention of the discipline is currently addressed, and debate them collaboratively. The chapters of this book are loosely based on a selection of the papers presented at the DICOEN VI Conference, held in Naples in June 2015. This introductory Chapter outlines the rationale underlying the topic and structure of the book and illustrates the contribution to the overall design of the collection given by the various Chapters, all set in a discourse-analytical framework and sharing the ultimate purpose of providing new insights into the evolution of communication and discourse practices in the corporate environment, taking account of the most important issues that have attracted researchers’ interest and are still open to debate.