RUNNING HEAD: DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY 1

Discourse Community Ethnography on Calvin Klein

Fabian A Cano-Romero

University of Texas at El Paso

DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHOGRAPHY ON CALVIN KLEIN 2

DISCOURSE COMMUNITY ETHNOGRAPHY ON CLAVIN KLEIN

Calvin Klein is an American Retailer founded by the fashion designer Calvin Klein in

1968. It is currently owned by PVH (International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 55. St.

James Press, 2003). There are locations worldwide, and a wide range of people make up its work

force. Therefore, there is reason to believe that its a discourse community otherwise it wouldnt

be able to operate as efficiently as it has for many years. As John Swales (1990) has stated there

are six characteristics that a community must meet to be considered a discourse community. We

will focus in a local retail store in El Paso, TX to make our analysis. The first requirement is that

they must have agreed sets of common public goals. Calvin Klein stores have many goals the

first of many would be to sell a set amount of merchandise to the costumers. Otherwise known as

a sales goal to not have one means that, you are flying blind (Jordan Zimmerman, 2017 August

31). This all boils down to the idea that making a profit is the most important role to any retailer

out there including Calvin Klein. When asking a local manager of any goals in place she

responds with, Making money (M Gallegos, Personal communication, September 23, 2017).

There are also many other goals in play for example employees are tasked with selling a brand.

This is done by implementing a dress code that only allows Calvin Klein attire.

The second point is fulfilled by the many ways the team communicates these goals not

only among themselves but with corporate as well. These mechanisms include email where

managers receive information and guidelines on how to run the store by corporate. There is also

the use of radio one for each associate. These are used to make workflow more efficient by

sharing information among the managers and sales associates. When asking a manager on the

topic of communication she responds by saying, with ought it this place would be a mess (M
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Gallegos, Personal Communication, September 23, 2017). In addition, there is also a monthly

newsletter that is called the sentinel it contains many things about the company and how the store

is doing overall. It also contains information on how to spot shoplifters more easily and how to

deal with these said situations. Its a monthly update on the company, and the Sentinel is a way

to deliver these messages. This is all nicely wrapped up in the store thread where you can find

this information and more witch can be accessed by anyone in the store and in any other

worldwide.

Next, we must talk about whether it uses its members to provide feedback and

information (John Swales, 1990). After a year involved with this establishment it is clear to see

that yes, its members do in fact provide information and feedback primarily to its members

which consists of sales associates, lead cashiers, managers, and a store manager as well to its

many costumers. First of lets explain how information is given to the costumers that walk into

the store. A usual costumer experience usually starts with them receiving a warm welcome from

the team as soon as they enter the store. They then procced to the important part they approach

the costumer and give them information about the store. Information like the sales that are going

on that day and special programs that they could apply to get extra discounts. Much more

information is given out if the costumer reciprocates like the type of material that is used in the

types of underwear that they sell and a brief explanation of the many styles that are available.

Next, we analyze the team itself on the subject at hand. Information in the store has a hierarch. It

is first received by the store manager which passes it down to the assistant manager and then to

the rest of the team. Feedback also plays an important role on the team. The upper management

team is constantly giving feedback to its lower members on their performance. According with
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The Daily Muse (2017) by recruiting and developing staff This helps keep the store running at

its best.

Next point is cleared because the team uses these tools to expand in the way they talk to

each other and communicate. They also must constantly learn about new information and topics.

Primarily when a new item is shipped to the store they must learn everything they can about it

and become experts on it. There are new branches of information created for the easy flow of the

new knowledge. For example, if one of the managers job is to specialize in mens underwear. It

is her duty to become the leader and teach the rest of the team.

Swales 5th point explains that a community must have its own speech patterns that only

members understand for example the Calvin team uses acronyms. This idea is reinforced when

new members of the team have a hard time assimilating into the work environment and

understanding their coworkers fully. Words and verbal patters that are unique to the Calvin team

would be that they refer to the front of the store as the floor. They also have many other words

that are mostly known to the team like all the styles of underwear witch people are often in awe

of. These include low rise briefs, briefs, low rise trunks, trunks, boxer briefs, and many more.

We also use some acronyms like POS which means point of sale.

The last point that swales makes (1990) is that Discourse communities have changing

memberships. People that first get a job here are in fact a novice. They are called sales

associates. The more senior members would be all managers and especially the store manager.

There is also a certain amount of people that there must be on the team. Also, labels are often

changing within the group like people being promoted and such. There is always a 1 to 1 ratio a

novice and a more veteran member during the day of operations in the store. This helps the store

run smoothly by someone doing the grunt work and another dealing with more complicated
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problems. As I had stated before it is a hierarchy that is needed for the team to function at its

utmost capacity to complete its goals. These roles are fulfilled by a sales associate and a floor

supervisor. There is also only two ways of leaving and that is resigning from your job or being

fired.

In conclusion, this business is clearly a discourse community. It has cleared all of John

Swales points. Many with different examples. This is a community with a broadly agreed set of

public goals, it has mechanisms to communicate with its members, it provides information and

feedback, it has its unique grammar and language patters, and it has a built-in hierarchy for its

members.
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References

Daily Muse. (2017) Lead Cashier Calvin Klein. Retrieved September 19, 2017, from
https://www.themuse.com/jobs/pvh/lead-cashier-calvin-klein-0d6503

Daily Muse. See Inside the Office of PVH. (2017). Retrieved September 19, 2017, from
https://www.themuse.com/jobs/pvh/assistant-manager-calvin-klein-84e71a

Byrnes, T. (2016, August 31). Why You Need to Set Sales Goals. Retrieved September 24, 2017,
from https://www.entrepreneur.com/video/281041#

Funding Universe INC. (2017). Calvin Klein, Inc. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/calvin-klein-inc-history/

Swales John, (1990), The Concept of Discourse Community. Retrieved September 24, 2017,
from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/778e/5c87e6041903980d25449c9a2972947a351e.pdf