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ANNA DANIELEWICZ-BETZ

COMMUNICATING

IN DIGITAL AGE

CORPORATIONS
Communicating in Digital Age Corporations
 Anna Danielewicz-Betz

Communicating
in Digital Age
Corporations
Anna Danielewicz-Betz
Ludwig-Maximilians University
Munich, Germany

ISBN 978-1-137-55812-1 ISBN 978-1-137-55813-8 (eBook)

DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-55813-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957841

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

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The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London
To Słonik and Francesca
 Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who saw me

through this book for more than a year; to all those who provided sup-
port, offered time to talk things over, read, wrote, offered comments and
assisted in the editing, proofreading and design of the book.
Specifically, I would like to thank all the anonymous ‘industry insid-
ers’ who provided me with the empirical data and spent numerous hours
with me so that I would be able to obtain the broad ethnographic back-
ground necessary, especially for the email corpus interpretation. They also
allowed me to draw on their hands-on knowledge of the IT industry, and
the sales division in particular, in the data analysis.
Moreover, I wish to express my thanks to Hiro Tanaka for his insight-
ful comments, especially on an earlier draft of Chapter 4, and his general
encouragement.
Some valuable feedback and ideas that directed me toward the success-
ful completion of Chapter 3 were provided by David Seidl, to whom I
am also grateful.
I would also like to acknowledge Bradius V. Maurus III, who patiently
proofread the whole book and offered some helpful remarks, leading to
stylistic and other improvements in the text.
Last but not least, I wish to mention my husband, Christian, without
whom the book project would never have been completed. I would like
to thank him for all the insights, support, encouragement, motivation
and assistance in shaping the book into its final form.

vii
 Contents

1 Key Concepts: An Overview 1

2 Enterprise Software or Tools: Terminology

and Communication Processes 55

3 A Sociological Perspective on Corporations

and Tool-Mediated Business Communication 81

4 Empirical Data Analysis: The Email Corpus 139

5 External Corporate Communication: Quarterly

Earnings Conference Calls 277

6 Final Reflections: Patterns of Communication

in Digital Age Corporations 309

Glossary 349

Bibliography 353

Index 395
ix
 List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Channels of digital communication in business 27

Fig. 2.1 Tool-related communication 58
Fig. 2.2 Tool functionality (IT and processes) 59
Fig. 2.3 Process overview: from identifying a business opportunity
to quarterly earnings disclosure 62
Fig. 2.4 Most common tools in Sales 66
Fig. 2.5 Communication flow from a Sales person’s perspective 69
Fig. 2.6 Communication by means of tickets 73
Fig. 3.1 Organisational complexity: an exemplary structure of a
transnational corporation 85
Fig. 3.2 The CRM tool as a sub-system of enterprise software 87
Fig. 3.3 Changing communication patterns in a Sales team 89
Fig. 3.4 Homoeostatic behaviour: adjustment of tools 92
Fig. 3.5 Differentiation, system-environment: tools as
communication and as part of the environment 105
Fig. 3.6 Proof of concept 111
Fig. 3.7 Tool communication: tools = communication 113
Fig. 3.8 Communicative action versus colonisation of the lifeworld 118
Fig. 4.1 Frequency of top ‘urgency’ codes 175
Fig. 4.2 Frequency of ‘tool’ codes 179
Fig. 4.3 Frequency of ‘Sales’ codes 186
Fig. 4.4 Top codes in the ‘bad news’ category 190
Fig. 4.5 Top ‘good news’ categories 192

xi
xii List of Figures

Fig. 4.6 Most frequent ‘clarifying/follow-up’ codes 197

Fig. 4.7 Directive tool-related meta-discourse: basic structure 204
Fig. 4.8 ‘Directive’ codes: frequency of occurrence 205
Fig. 4.9 Most frequent ‘thanking’ codes 218
Fig. 4.10 Most frequent ‘greeting’ codes 226
Fig. 4.11 Most representative ‘ending’ codes 228
Fig. 4.12 (a) Relevance of top codes in top-down
communication in English.
(b) Relevance of top codes in top-down
communication in German 235
Fig. 4.13 Relevance of top codes in bottom-up
communication in English 236
Fig. 4.14 (a) Relevance of top codes in horizontal
communication in English.
(b) Relevance of top codes in horizontal
communication in German 237
Fig. 4.15 Relevance of top codes in external
communication in German 239
Fig. 4.16 (a) Prominent words and categories
in top-down communication in English.
(b) Prominent words and categories in top-down
communication in German 240
Fig. 4.17 Prominent words and categories in bottom-up
communication in English 240
Fig. 4.18 (a) Prominent words and categories in horizontal
communication in English.
(b) Prominent words and categories in horizontal
communication in German 242
Fig. 4.19 Prominent words and categories in tool
comments in English 243
Fig. 4.20 Prominent words and categories in external
communication in German 244
Fig. 4.21 Comparison of keyword frequency with three
reference corpora 247
Fig. 4.22 Most frequent words in the email corpus 263
Fig. 4.23 Keyword frequency in the email corpus 268
Fig. 5.1 Most frequent words in the transcript corpus 287
Fig. 5.2 Keywords in the transcript corpus 291
 List of Figures xiii

Fig. 5.3 ‘Positive-strong’, ‘business’, ‘financial disclosure’, ‘IT’, and

‘value creation’ domains (group 1): salience comparison 295
Fig. 5.4 ‘Connection-movement’, ‘time’, ‘continuity-stability’, and
‘negative-weak’ domains (group 2): salience comparison 296
Fig. 5.5 ‘Miscellaneous’, ‘future’, ‘uncertainty’, ‘emotion’, and ‘rare’
domains (group 3): salience comparison 296
Fig. 5.6 Keywords per 170,211 words: comparison with
reference corpora 304
Fig. 5.7 Most frequent words: transcripts corpus vs. email corpus 305
Fig. 5.8 Keywords: transcripts corpus vs. email corpus 306
Fig. 6.1 Organisational complexity: an exemplary structure of a
transnational corporation with the focus on Sales 317
Fig. 6.2 (a) An email from manager A to the whole Sales team A,
(b) An email from manager A to one member of Sales
team A; cc-ing the rest of team A,
(c) An email from EMEA manager to teams A and B,
cc-ing managers at levels L2 and L1 318
Fig. 6.3 (a) An email from team member A1 to manager A;
cc-ing the UK manager,
(b) An email from Pre-Sales team member to manager A;
cc-ing Sales team A 318
Fig. 6.4 (a) An email from Sales team member to a
Pre-Sales team member,
(b) An email from one Sales team member to another,
(c) An email from one Sales team member to the
rest of the team 320
Fig. 6.5 (a) Relaying a message from L3 by L2 to all the
Sales teams, cc-ing the respective managers at L1,
(b) Forwarding an email from L2 addressed to L1 to
the whole Sales team 321
Fig. 6.6 Multi-perspective on business communication:
simplified picture 344
Fig. 6.7 Multi-perspective on business communication:
more complex (yet still incomplete) picture 345
 List of Tables

Table 2.1 Detailed overview of opportunity management

(win probability and forecast relevance) 64
Table 4.1 ‘Directive’ codes in managerial discourse 155
Table 4.2 Personal pronouns across the email cases 165
Table 4.3 ‘Acknowledgement/rapport’ coding categories across cases 170
Table 4.4 ‘Urgency’ code categories across cases 174
Table 4.5 Frequency of ‘urgency’ keywords 176
Table 4.6 Keyword ‘Q’ in context 176
Table 4.7 Examples related to the most frequent ‘urgency’ codes 178
Table 4.8 Most frequent ‘tool’ codes across cases 179
Table 4.9 ‘Tool’ and ‘CRM’ term frequency across cases 179
Table 4.10 ‘Tool’ related meta-discourse: selected examples 180
Table 4.11 ‘Authorisation’ code frequency 181
Table 4.12 Frequency of the terms ‘approval’ and ‘Genehmigung’
across cases 181
Table 4.13 ‘Product/solution’ code frequency 183
Table 4.14 ‘Partners/customers’ coding frequency 183
Table 4.15 ‘Licences’ coding frequency 184
Table 4.16 Key ‘Sales’ codes across cases 185
Table 4.17 Frequency of key ‘Sales’ terms 185
Table 4.18 ‘Sales’ related key terms 185
Table 4.19 Top ‘bad news’ codes across cases 187
Table 4.20 ‘Bad news’ related word frequencies 188
Table 4.21 Top ‘good news’ codes across cases 192
xv
xvi List of Tables

Table 4.22 Distribution of the positive attribute ‘great’ 192

Table 4.23 ‘Promise of action/repair’ codes across cases 194
Table 4.24 Frequency of ‘will’ and ‘try’ 195
Table 4.25 Most frequent ‘will’ bigrams 196
Table 4.26 Distribution of most frequent ‘clarifying/follow-up’ codes 199
Table 4.27 Distribution of interrogative pronouns and ‘yes/ja/no’
across cases 200
Table 4.28 Frequency of some lexical items associated with
‘clarifying/follow-up’ 200
Table 4.29 ‘Directive’ codes across cases 203
Table 4.30 Distribution of ‘if ’, ‘would’, and ’wenn’ [when/if ]
across cases 208
Table 4.31 ‘Please’ bigrams 212
Table 4.32 Frequency of directive terms across cases 215
Table 4.33 Distribution of ‘thanking’ codes across cases 220
Table 4.34 Frequency of ‘thanks’, ‘(vielen) Dank’ and ‘Danke’
across cases 222
Table 4.35 Distribution of most frequent ‘greeting’ codes across cases 225
Table 4.36 Word frequencies for ‘all’, ‘hi’, ‘team’, and ‘hallo’ 225
Table 4.37 Distribution of ‘attachments’ codes across cases 226
Table 4.38 ‘Apology’ codes across cases 227
Table 4.39 ‘Ending’ codes across cases 228
Table 4.40 Distribution of key ‘complimentary close’
terms across cases 228
Table 4.41 Email terms as distributed across cases 229
Table 4.42 Email terms and abbreviations: frequency 230
Table 4.43 Frequency of business terms across cases 230
Table 4.44 Frequency of business/IT terms 231
Table 4.45 Social media tool: most frequent words 233
Table 4.46 Critical analysis versus lexico-grammatical/frequency
markers 234
Table 4.47 Original frequency of keywords in the reference corpora 246
Table 4.48 Frequency of keywords per 140,193 words
(email corpus size) 247
Table 4.49 ‘I’ bigrams 264
Table 4.50 ‘YOU’ bigrams 264
Table 4.51 ‘WE’ bigrams 264
Table 4.52 ‘TO’ bigrams 266
Table 4.53 ‘THIS’ bigrams 266
Table 4.54 ‘FOR’ bigrams 266
 List of Tables xvii

Table 4.55 Distribution of EMPLOYEE, MANAGER and

MITARBEITERNAME in the email corpus 269
Table 4.56 Frequency of the key clusters in the email corpus 271
Table 4.57 Most frequent codes [per number of words] 273
Table 4.58 Most frequent codes: case 3 vs. case 6 274
Table 4.59 Most frequent codes: case 5 vs. case 9 275
Table 4.60 Most frequent codes: case 1 vs. case 4 vs. case 10 275
Table 5.1 ‘TO’ bigrams 287
Table 5.2 ‘WE’ bigrams 288
Table 5.3 ‘OUR’ bigrams 288
Table 5.4 ‘YEAR’ bigrams 291
Table 5.5 ‘QUARTER/Q’ bigrams 292
Table 5.6 ‘REVENUE’ bigrams 292
Table 5.7 ‘MORE’ bigrams 293
Table 5.8 ‘GROWTH’ bigrams 294
Table 5.9 Most frequent words in domain group 1 297
Table 5.10 Most frequent words in domain group 2 298
Table 5.11 Most frequent words in domain group 3 299
Table 5.12 Number of elements and their frequency for
group 1 domains 300
Table 5.13 Number of elements and their frequency for
group 2 domains 300
Table 5.14 Number of elements and their frequency for
group 3 domains 300
Table 5.15 Most frequent verbs in the transcripts corpus
(domain independent) 301
Table 5.16 Original frequencies of keywords in the reference
corpora and per 1m words 303
Table 5.17 Keyword frequency per 170,211 words in
reference corpora 304
Table 6.1 Potential hedging terms in the email corpus 330
Table 6.2 Selected frequent clusters from the email corpus 334
Table 6.3 Most frequent ‘if ’ clusters 335
Table 6.4 Most frequent boosters in the email corpus 337
Table 6.5 Most common transition markers in the email corpus 338
Table 6.6 Frame and time markers in the email corpus 339
Table 6.7 Endophoric markers ‘anbei’ [attached] and ‘below’
in the email corpus 340
Table 6.8 Two most frequent evidentials in the email corpus 340
 1
Key Concepts: An Overview

1.1 Introduction: Why This Book?

Many books have been written about business communication so why
bring out yet another one? The reason is that I think I can contribute to
the discussion in a meaningful way.
This book grew out of the need to extend the existing concepts of
business communication and to put them into a more complex interdis-
ciplinary perspective.
It is an interdisciplinary endeavour incorporating insights from such
fields of research and application as organisational behaviour, business
and management studies, organisation and management, interdisciplin-
ary linguistics, information technology and software engineering, and
sociology.
My intention is to show how—in concrete terms—communication
takes place in a corporate environment and what kind of meaning it car-
ries, as well as what impact and ramifications the way one communicates
has on a given company.
Bargiela-Chiappini (2012) writes that ‘[w]ithout spoken and written
data there would be no business discourse … Personal contacts appear to

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 1

A. Danielewicz-Betz, Communicating in Digital Age Corporations,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-55813-8_1
2 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

be the most effective way of gaining access [to business data]. Business
discourse relies on collaborative understanding between researchers and
their corporate partners, which entails mutually agreed terms and shar-
ing of findings’ (p. 72). The intention behind this statement might be
right, but business discourse has existed, and will exist, without linguists
and other researchers interested in investigating it from their respective
perspectives. What should be said is that to reflect on and interpret accu-
rately what is going on in business and how it is communicated, one
requires a certain understanding of business processes, access to primary
spoken and/or written data and then analysing it in collaboration with
corporate insiders.
This book makes such an attempt, based on an empirical data analy-
sis and know-how shared by first-hand users of enterprise software, to
understand and analyse the concept of business communication and to
show it from a new perspective. Ultimately, this can lead to the extension
and exposure of the multi-layered nature of such communication, gener-
ally seen as contributing to corporate growth.
The discussion of communication in digital age corporations is posi-
tioned against the background of some influential work on the topic, so
the aim is not to offer an exhaustive review of the relevant literature, but
to present the key concepts in a comprehensive way.

1.1.1 A Comment on Terms and Definitions

The terms and concepts referred to in this book are defined for an accu-
rate understanding and to avoid any misunderstanding by clarifying how
I use and apply them. Generally speaking, in my view, one should not
perceive definitions as restricting and bounding, but comprehend con-
cepts from perspectives relevant to a given subject investigation.
Consequently, definitions in this book are not provided as ultimate and
unquestionable statements and, in some cases, may have been constructed
as working concepts in the process of exploring the topics at hand. Having
said that, does one need a/the definition of business communication? Is pro-
viding such a definition even possible and does it make sense? I shall come
back to these questions in the concluding part of the book (see Chap. 6).
 1 Key Concepts: An Overview 3

1.1.2 Fuzziness of Definitions of Business Discourse

‘Weil Business Discourse jedoch seinerseits diskursiv—synonym: kommu-

nikativ—hervorgebracht wird, ergibt sich ein Konstrukt, das auf den ersten
Blick ebenso zirkulär wie paradox anmuten könnte und das sich unter
Verwendung des Terminus “Emergenz” so verdichten lässt:
“Business Discourse” emergiert aus “Business Discourse”, damit
“Communication Excellence” emergiert.’ (Wolf 2010, p. 127)

[‘Because business discourse is produced, however, for its part in a discur-

sive—synonym: communicative—way, this results in a construct that
might seem at first glance as circular and paradoxical, and which can be
compactly applied using the term “emergence” as:
“Business discourse” emerges from “business discourse” so that “com-
munication excellence” emerges.’ (translation mine)]

One of the motivators for this book has been my personal dissatisfac-
tion with the encountered (linguistically motivated) approaches to busi-
ness discourse, perceived as rather generalised, generic and incomplete.
They are, moreover, frequently not grounded in analyses of larger sets of
empirical data originating in business rather than educational environ-
ments, one of the main reasons being that researchers have no access to
such primary data.
One cannot claim to be analysing business discourse when only the
official, publicly available glimpse of the surface of business activities is
accessible for description.
In reality, business discourse is induced by power mechanisms—
enabling, restricting or controlling exchange of and access to corporate
information—and one of the hurdles in investigating primary corporate/
business communication is that outsiders are normally not party to it
all. That is why it is difficult to conduct empirical analysis and to obtain
further insights into this type of communication. Interestingly, one can
come up with new observations when considering the cybernetic and
sociological perspectives (see Chap. 3).
Having said that, let us take a look at selected definitions of business
discourse.
4 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

Bargiela-Chiappini and Nickerson (1999, p. 2) define business

discourse as ‘[t]he interaction which takes place between individuals
whose main activities are located within business and whose contact is
motivated by matters relating to their respective businesses’. It is ‘a pro-
cess of talk and writing between individuals whose main work activities
and interests are in the domain of business and who come together for
the purpose of doing business’.
The concept of business discourse is then elaborated further as ‘contex-
tual and intertextual self-reflexive and self-critical discourse, although not
necessarily political, founded on the twin notions of discourse as situated
action and of language as work’ (Bargiela-Chiappini and Nickerson 2002,
p. 277). Bargiela-Chiappini et al. (2007, p. 3) see business discourse,
moreover, as ‘social action in business contexts’ that is ‘all about how
people communicate using talk or writing in commercial organisations’.
‘Organisational actors operate in communication and through dis-
course’, state Schmisseur et al. (2009). Bargiela-Chiappini (2009b, p. 2)
sees discourse in the organisational context as ‘the process of meaning
making in organisational interaction’, whereby (p. 3): ‘“Discourse” con-
structs and maintains relationships (of power and control) with real
consequences for people’s lives as well as, presumably, for the economic
performance of the organisation.’ She also seems to be preoccupied with
the distinction between intercultural business communication and inter-
cultural business discourse (p. 4).
Further examples of fuzziness (and occasional tautology) are provided
below.
Zorn and Simpson (2009, p. 32), for instance, take the view that ‘busi-
ness discourse in New Zealand and Australia is an inherently communica-
tive category belonging to and deriving from the social domain activities
within business settings (broadly interpreted) which are contexutualised
further by values, power and ideologies’.
Apparently, European research, on the other hand, is concerned with
how organisational, that is to say sociocultural, context impacts on the
discourse used in business. In North American research, by contrast,
business discourse as a term implies a linguistic approach to the topic,
which examines the shaping of discourse communities through shared
values and codes. The other terms often take the shape of modifiers of
 1 Key Concepts: An Overview 5

communication: professional, management, organisational, business,

technical, corporate (Andrews 2009, p. 43).
Iedema and Scheeres (2003) and Iedema et al. (2004) focus on the
discursive dimensions of work within organisational change resulting in
the ‘textualisation’ of the workplace (cited in Zorn and Simpson 2009,
p. 35). Iedema and Scheeres (2009, p. 83) report on ‘traces’ of increasing
frequency and intensity of communication in the contemporary business
workplace and mention ‘new’ business practices, without, however, justi-
fying the statement or providing examples.
Daniushina (2010, p. 241), referring to the Critical Discourse Analysis
tradition, rather cryptically states, ‘following the concepts of discourse by
van Dijk (2007), Fairclough (2001a), and Wodak and Chilton (2005),
one can define business discourse as the verbalisation of business mental-
ity, realised in the form of an open multitude of thematically correlated
texts on a wide range of business issues, considered in combination with
their extra-linguistic contexts’.
As can be seen, commonly cited linguistically motivated definitions
and descriptions of business discourse appear rather general and ‘fuzzy’,
and as detached from the reality of primary business discourse and what
‘doing business’ is, in fact, about.
It also appears that the right questions are not asked and/or answers
are missing. What are the drivers of business communication? How does
business communication take place and why? How does it relate to the
nature of the information society and characteristics of the digital age
corporation? How has it been impacted by new digital technologies?
These are just examples of questions to be raised.
Another problem seems to be that what such descriptions of business
discourse attempt to encompass can only be achieved, as stated before,
via direct access to primary business discourse, in other words, empiri-
cal data. It is not sufficient to obtain ‘official’ glimpses of the surface via
officially disclosed documents, such as annual reports, letters from CEOs
and the like, followed by generalisations.
Handbooks of business discourse often mention the interdis-
ciplinary nature of business discourse studies and talk about close
examination of aspects of business practice in a variety of settings
across disciplines, without providing concrete examples. Their aim
6 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

still remains unfulfilled however, namely, ‘to compare various types

of interactions across cultural contexts, and to show the intimate
connections between language, culture and business organisation’
(Brummans et al. 2009, p. 53).
Koester (2010) attempts to differentiate between workplace, insti-
tutional, professional and business discourse. She sees business dis-
course as a specific kind of workplace discourse that occurs in the
commercial sector and distinguishes between a broader definition
that includes company internal communication (apparently not
always recognised as business discourse), and a narrower view of com-
pany-to-company and supplier-to-customer communication via, for
instance, commercial correspondence or business negotiations only,
which, in my opinion, unnecessarily complicates and limits the con-
ceptualisation of business discourse.
In my view, the concept of business discourse should not be limited
in any such way and ought to encompass internal business discourse,
since it constitutes a crucial and integral part of business communica-
tion and impacts on ‘doing business’ in a direct way. In this book, I shall
make no distinction between business discourse and the other forms of
work-related discourse mentioned above, such as professional or work-
place discourse.
As for methodological limitations of studying business discourse,
Cap (2009, pp. 3–4) rightly points out that, unfortunately, results of
business discourse studies are often disappointing because access to
organisations can be rather difficult, limited further by confidentiality
constraints on publishing the data, which differ not only across organ-
isation types, but also across countries (Bargiela-Chiappini et al. 2003;
Spencer-Oatey and Franklin 2009). In response to such restrictions,
researchers frequently complement their studies with simulated data
(i.e. collected from ‘participants’ in a ‘business setting’, who receive
instructions to play a specific role; see e.g. Planken 2002), but then
there is no guarantee that the simulated data mirror the reality of busi-
ness practice. In this sense, the use of simulated data can produce a
mismatch between analytic expectations and the actual time and place
functions of business discourse.
 1 Key Concepts: An Overview 7

Thus, it becomes apparent that an interdisciplinary approach to busi-

ness communication, grounded in business know-how and an interpreta-
tion of primary empirical data is called for.

1.1.3 In the Book, What Is Meant by a Company?

There are various types of organisations: small companies, franchise net-

works, mid-sized companies or company chains and large, global/trans-
national corporations. They can be privately owned or listed on the stock
exchange, thus owned by their shareholders. They are mostly ‘for-profit’
commercial organisations.
‘Not-for–profit’ organisations (e.g. health, welfare, arts) comprise
a large variety of organisations, including charities, clubs, co-operative
firms/social enterprises and public sector organisations. Governmental/
public sector organisations are owned, funded and run by central or local
government. They include public hospitals, the military, public schools,
universities and government departments.
In this book I look mainly at publicly listed, global or transnational
corporations—with shareholders expecting shareholder value genera-
tion and investors expecting a return on investment (ROI). In legal
terms, a transnational, or multinational, corporation has its headquar-
ters in one country and operates wholly or partially owned subsidiaries
in one or more other countries that report to the central headquarters.
Furthermore, these corporations are ‘for profit’ commercial organisa-
tions and have to generate sufficient funds from their activities to sustain
themselves on a continuing basis. They also exhibit hierarchical organ-
isational structures. Interestingly, the hierarchy model was first adopted
by the military as a way to show a chain of command. Hierarchy, bureau-
cracy and control are, however, not necessarily seen as negative, but as
contributing to reducing the complexity and channelling of communi-
cation (see Chaps. 2 and 3).
In particular, based on access to industry informants and their experi-
ence with enterprise software and software-mediated communication (see
Chap. 2 on tools), and primary data in the form of emails (see Chap. 4),
the focus is placed on publicly listed, globally operating IT corporations
and their sales divisions.
8 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

1.1.4 What This Book Is Not

This book does not claim to offer any in-depth insights in a sociological
sense, rather my intention is to provide some new ideas in relation to
sociological theories (cybernetics, Luhmann, etc.), with the potential for
the sociological aspects touched upon to be addressed further in a follow-
up volume.
As mentioned before, I do not intend to offer a comprehensive review
of the literature, especially on business discourse from the linguistic per-
spective or on sociology. Furthermore, an unquestionable expertise in the
fields discussed is not claimed. The book does not purport to offer abso-
lute standpoints, but a variety of perspectives and possible application
scenarios. In addition, it is not a self-help book on effective or successful
communication in a business context.
Many publications on business discourse mention as their main
investigation goal ‘improvement of business communication’ or ‘more
effective communication’. But what does that, in fact, imply? How does
effectivenes’, meant linguistically above all, relate to the reality of business
communication? Giving advice on successful business communication is
not the purpose of this book.
Perkins (2010) argues that effective communication relies on positive
thoughts, and is open to differing perspectives; it is problem-centred, offer-
ing a co-operative approach, motivating language and willingness to listen to
identify the needs and desires of others. It is aimed at building healthy rela-
tionships, with feedback constituting the best part of interpersonal exchange.
The main part of the book deals with an empirical, mixed quantita-
tive and qualitative analysis of primary business data in the context of
sociological theories and critical organisational studies. In the corpus col-
lected for the present analysis, little rapport building, acknowledgement,
or praise have been detected, with negative news communication in the
form of frequent negative statements, reprimands, threats, reminders of
deadlines, applying pressure, stressing urgency and the like dominating
over positive news in mostly one-way, top-down communication. Instead
of positive/supportive communication, defensive communication has
been observed, which is blame-centred and competitive, resorting to
multiple directives.
 1 Key Concepts: An Overview 9

From the methodological point of view, as far as the empirical data

analysis is concerned, a reservation has to be made, namely that one
could easily jump to conclusions as the problem of induction (cf. Hume
1748) occurs. One has to note at this stage, therefore, that communica-
tion patterns/communicative behaviour in other enterprises are not taken
into consideration here and can look totally different. The findings (see
especially Chap. 4) are based on communication in three selected global
IT corporations—in their sales divisions in particular—and should be
interpreted as such.
The remainder of this chapter clarifies the concepts and terms relat-
ing to enterprise software and the title of the book—Communicating in
Digital Age Corporations—namely: communication, especially in a busi-
ness context (including discourse); the digital age; corporations in the
digital age; and globalisation, with its impact on business communication.

1.2 Enterprise Software

Generally, enterprise software is used here to refer to enterprise appli-
cations that map business processes in a uniform way. Such business
processes cover areas such as sales, customer relationship management,
service and support, marketing, business intelligence and accounting.
Although the term tool is commonly used in different contexts I use it in
this book exclusively and synonymously to refer to enterprise software.
It is not only transnational corporations that use enterprise software,
small to medium sized businesses can no longer afford to operate without
it. Ever shorter innovation cycles, coupled with an ever shorter time to
market, with increasingly fierce competition, not only nationally, but also
internationally, require professional handling of internal business pro-
cesses. Without the use of enterprise software organisations like trans-
national corporations cannot survive, and are highly unlikely to achieve
corporate objectives and continuous growth. Conversely, such enterprise
software is taken for granted in the growth of enterprises and such eco-
nomic sectors as the automotive, machinery, aerospace and pharmaceu-
tical industries. A mutually conditional relationship exists: enterprise
software enables growth and goal attainment and, vice versa, there is no
10 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

growth and no goal attainment without the use of enterprise software.

I address these issues in more detail in Chap. 2.
Since, for obvious reasons, it has not been possible to access data
entered in actual enterprise software/tools, I look at emails that consti-
tute—to a large extent—communication about tools and tool entries,
which I refer to as tool-related meta-communication (see Chap. 4). In
Chap. 5, I discuss the, so-called, earnings conference calls delivered on a
quarterly basis by CEOs and other top executives. The discussion is based
on the analysis of transcripts of calls originating from selected multina-
tional corporations representing the IT industry and directed at potential
investors and business analysts (made accessible by Seeking Alphaα).

1.3 Communication
‘“Kommunikation” is schon seit langem zu einem Ausdruck geworden, der
praktisch alles und gar nichts heißt. …Teilweise lässt sich jedoch der
Verdacht nicht ablegen, dass es auch um das Reklamieren und Behaupten
der Deutungshoheit geht. Motto: Wer die Definition hat, hat recht.’ (Wolf
2010, p. 55)

[‘“Communication” has long become an expression which practically means

everything and nothing. … However, to a certain extent one cannot reject the
suspicion that it is also about claiming and asserting the prerogative of inter-
pretation. Motto: Who has the definition, is in the right.’ (translation mine)]

Communication can mean different things in different contexts and

numerous attempts have been made to define it. There are 126 definitions
of communication listed in Dance and Larson’s (1976) The Functions of
Human Communication (cf. Littlejohn and Foss 2010).
The term communication is derived from the Latin communicatio, noun
of action from the past participle stem of communicare, to share, divide
out; communicate, impart, inform; join, unite, participate in, which lit-
erally translates as to make common (common, in Latin communis).
Being able to communicate is frequently linked with success: only
those demonstrating communicative competence can thrive and climb
 1 Key Concepts: An Overview 11

the career ladder. Dance (1970) identifies three points of ‘critical con-
ceptual differentiation’ which may help clarify the concept of commu-
nication: (1) level of observation or abstractness, where adistinction is
made between broad/inclusive and restrictive definitions; (2) intention-
ality, which concerns inclusion or exclusion of an intention to affect the
receiver’s behaviour by the message sent; and (3) normative judgement,
in other words, whether a statement of success, effectiveness or accuracy
is included or not (cited in Littlejohn and Foss 2010, p. 4).
In general, communication is a complex process associated with
sending, receiving and interpreting messages created in a certain social
context, such as a business environment, whereby, so-called, noise can
obstruct the quality of mutual understanding. It comprises a series of
interactions—either purely informative or persuasive—over a period of
time that result in changes in those involved.
Cooren (2000, 2015) defines communication rather broadly and com-
prehensively as the establishment of a link (via written or spoken words,
gestures, voice intonation and so on), connection or relationship through
something as diverse as a piece of information, a feeling or a speech act.
Communicating agents are not only human individuals, but also architec-
tural elements, artefacts, documents and even principles, ideas or values.
For the purpose of this book communication will be seen, broadly speak-
ing, as a goal-orientated, mainly human act (but also human–machine,
machine–machine) in which a message transmission is purposeful and results
in certain effects. The empirical data analysed in Chaps. 4 and 5 consist of
mediated communication messages and are restricted to verbal written and
spoken (transcribed)—as opposed to non-verbal—communication.
From the business standpoint specifically, one can study communica-
tion from multiple perspectives, briefly presented below.

1.3.1 Organisational Communication

Organisational communication is often defined as a process by which the

activities of a society are collected and co-ordinated to achieve the goals
of both individuals and the collective group (see, e.g., businessdictionary.
com). Deetz (2001) refers to organisational communication as the pro-
cess through which an organisational stakeholder/group of stakeholders
12 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

attempts to stimulate meaning in the mind(s) of (an)other organisational

stakeholder(s) through the intentional use of verbal, non-verbal, and/or
mediated messages. Mumby (2013) defines organisational communica-
tion as the process of creating and negotiating collective and co-ordinated
systems of meaning through symbolic practices orientated toward the
achievement of organisational goals. As Mumby (2015, p. 25) further
puts it, ‘communication becomes a key element in the production and
reproduction of value in capitalism’. It co-constructs (unstable) profes-
sional identities in the workplace through employees’ communicative
performance, whereby ‘organisations discursively construct company
brands, workplace cultures, and measures of performance that employees
must negotiate’. Moreover, communication is crucial for the cycle of pro-
duction and consumption.
A company also serves as a source of communication, as illustrated
in the analysis of earnings call transcripts in Chap. 5. In external com-
munications with investors, for example, top executives send out mes-
sages to represent a group rather than an individual, with those directly
involved in crafting and filtering the message standing for themselves and
the organisation as a whole, since anything said is also attributed to the
organisation that represents its employees.
For Miller (2004, p. 1) organisational communication seeks to under-
stand how the context of the organisation influences communication
processes, and Tourish and Hargie (2004, p. 10) add the aspect of how
meanings are distorted when messages are exchanged in both formal and
informal networks.
Strategic communication in organisations can be observed from various
perspectives, such as corporate communication, marketing, advertising,
public relations, business communication skills and organisational behav-
iour (cf. Hallahan et al. 2007). Organisational communication researchers
tend to focus nowadays on the ‘communication theory of organisation’
(Deetz 2001, p. 5). This idea is represented by the CCO (communication
constitutes organisation) approach to organisations, in which communi-
cating activities define the essence of organisational life (Ashcraft et al.
2009; Putnam and Nicotera 2009; Mumby 2013). As Mazzei (2014) points
out, the CCO concept derives from Weick’s (1979) notion of ‘process of
organising’ as opposed to a static organisation, whereby the relevance of
 1 Key Concepts: An Overview 13

language and the contribution of collective sense-making communication

processes to the creation of organisation are highlighted. A related concept
is that of the ‘expressive organisation’ (Schultz et al. 2000).

1.3.2 Corporate Communication

Van Riel (2003b) defines corporate communication as ‘the orchestration

of all the instruments in the field of organisational identity (communi-
cations, symbols and behaviours of organisational members) in such an
attractive and realistic manner as to create or maintain a positive reputa-
tion for groups with which the organisation has an interdependent rela-
tionship’ (p. 21).
Van Riel (1995, p. 26) sees ‘corporate communication as an instrument
of management by means of which all consciously used forms of internal
and external communication are harmonised as effectively and efficiently
as possible, so [as] to create a favourable basis for relationship with groups
upon which the company is dependent'. Goodman and Hirsch (2010,
p. 1) state that ‘the term [is] used to describe a variety of management
functions, depending on the organisation, including public relations,
crisis and emergency communication, corporate citizenship, reputation
management, community relations, media relations, investor relations,
employee relations, government relations, marketing communication,
management communication, corporate branding and image building,
and advertising’. Cornelissen (2008, p. 5) refers to corporate communi-
cation as ‘a management function that offers a framework for the effective
coordination of all internal and external communication with the over-
all purpose of establishing and maintaining favourable reputations with
stakeholder groups upon which the organisation is dependent’.
Based on such definitions, following Frandsen and Johansen (2013),
three common features of prevailing definitions of corporate communi-
cation can be detected (cf. also Mazzei 2014, pp. 222–223). Firstly, cor-
porate communication can be seen as a strategic management function/
approach to communication activities, tied to the overall strategy of the
company. Secondly, it integrates external and internal communication
activities spread across organisational practices of creating, maintaining,
14 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

changing and/or repairing a company’s image or reputation. Thirdly, all

these activities are related to relationship building with the external and
internal stakeholders of the company. Overall, corporate communication
tends to be increasingly used interchangeably with business communica-
tion, indicating both internal and external corporate communication.
In more general terms, corporate communication can further be
defined as the set of activities involved in managing and orchestrating
all internal and external communications aimed at creating favourable
starting points with the stakeholders on whom the company depends. It
consists of the dissemination of information by a variety of specialists and
generalists in an organisation, with the common goal of enhancing the
organisation’s ability to retain its licence to operate (Midden et al. 2007).
Louhiala-Salminen (2009, p. 305) sees corporate communication as
encompassing both management and employee communication. At the
micro-level, business communication has the same focus as business dis-
course, which is how people communicate to get their work done. From
the macro-perspective, on the other hand, the focus is on how companies
reach their targets through communication. Corporate communication
is said to target a wider range of textual and contextual issues, while busi-
ness discourse focuses more directly on text and uses context to explain
linguistic phenomena.
Reinsch and Turner (2006, p. 307) observe that corporate communi-
cation is increasingly conducted in cross-cultural and/or virtual environ-
ments, further noting the impact of current business trends on corporate
communication research. Advancing technology, as the authors note,
(ibid, p. 309) does not alter the ways in which business communication
is conducted; rather, it changes the actual communication and affects the
organisation itself.
Managing external corporate communication can be rather complex
and challenging. Especially in post-merger situations when CEOs and
top executives face, apart from cultural issues, very diverse types of stake-
holders with different, often diverging or even competing agendas. To
defend their causes all these groups (or individuals from within) make
ample use of the media, who thus carry, distribute, amplify and acceler-
ate discourse (Fendt 2007). True or false media reports increase the pres-
sure on top management to act fast as they can provoke such reactions
 1 Key Concepts: An Overview 15

as walkouts, share price drops and/or key talent defection, low morale
and low productivity (Napier 1989; Schweiger and DeNisi 1991).
Consequently, immediate correction of corporate communications and/
or managerial action is necessary. In such situations of extreme external
pressure and high stakes, what is communicated publicly may become
‘tenacious justifications’, difficult for the organisation to discard or deny
(Weick 1988). Thus, as Fendt (2007) illustrates, the original purpose of
the discourse, often depicted by a metaphor—such as, marriage of equals,
marriage made in heaven in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) con-
text—can turn sour and go out of control. The original metaphor is then
taken up again and again in all manner of directions (for instance, by
turning marriage of equals/marriage made in heaven into shot gun mar-
riage or marriage with the devil).
In for-profit organisations, communication takes place in alignment
with organisational goals. As already pointed out by Blau and Scott
(1962, pp. 43–49), the dominant problem of business concerns is to
maximise operative efficiency—the achievement of maximum gain at
minimum cost— to further survival and growth in a competitive envi-
ronment. This, naturally, is reflected in corporate communication.

1.3.3 Discourse and Its Relation to Business

Communication

A more academically, in particular linguistically, skewed term related to

communication is discourse, often defined as language in use, where lan-
guage is applied to enact something and create something meaningful;
that is, discourse refers to language produced and interpreted in a real-
world context. A discourse is an instance of language use whose type
can be classified on the basis of such factors as grammatical and lexi-
cal choices and their distribution in a given (spoken or written) text. In
principle, discourse analysis can deal with socially situated language use
in any channel or medium and involves reflecting on its meaning and
significance.
Social theorists may argue that reality is discursively constructed by
the discourses people have access to. Foucault defined discourses as
16 Communicating in Digital Age Corporations

‘practices which systematically form the objects of which they speak’

(1977, p. 49), and the type of analysis associated with his work is usu-
ally that of Discourse. This reflects the fact that some organisational
discourse theorists make a distinction between ‘Discourse(s)’ and ‘dis-
course’ (cf. Gee 1990, 1999; Alvesson and Kärreman 2000; Jian et al.
2008a, b), with a Discourse having ‘the what’ form of content and its
typical context of production (‘who said it in what context’), as well as
representing the discursive forms of specific historical periods and fields
(e.g. medicine, law or education). A discourse, in contrast, is ‘language-
in-use or stretches of language like conversations and stories’ (Gee 1999,
p. 17, cited in Cooren 2015). Thus, the object of analysis in this case is
a particular interactional event itself.
In organisational critical studies—a non-linguistic approach to dis-
course, as Deetz and McClellan point out (2009, p. 120)—researchers
tend to focus on both discourse as it occurs in organisations and Discourse
at the larger, social level, taking into account the ways in which discur-
sive formations are articulated by individuals within organisations and
exploring how larger discursive formations are reflected within organisa-
tional talk.
In a general way, the term discourse can be defined as a set of state-
ments that bring social objects into being (Parker 1992). For further
discussion related to discourse and discourse analysis see Schiffrin (1994),
Mill (1997), van Dijk (1997), Jaworski and Coupland (1999), Cameron
(2001), Gee (2005), Paltridge (2006), Johnstone (2008) or Bhatia et al.
(2008).

1.3.3.1 Organisational Discourse

Organisational discourse is a growing area of study featuring the role

of discourse and communication in organisational dynamics (Jian et al.
2008a). It is often referred to as that which people produce when talk-
ing, writing or otherwise interacting with regard to organisational mat-
ters, such as strategic issues (cf. Vaara and Whittington 2012) or routine
operations (cf. Feldman 2000; Feldman and Pentland 2005). Grant
et al. extend the term to ‘a wide variety of visual representations and
Another random document with
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had to do on the introduction of this system, viz. shut up shop and
take to something else to earn his living by.
People often marvel at the great cost of carriages, but when they
have read of the numberless processes each vehicle has to go
through there will be no longer food for surprise, but wonder that
they do not cost more.
After a carriage is purchased a knowledge of how to preserve it
from the various atmospheric and other influences, and how best to
keep it in good order, is very necessary; for if great care is not
exercised in the housing and cleaning of a vehicle its beauty will be
utterly destroyed. In order to attain this knowledge it is requisite to
remember of what the vehicle is composed—as wood, metal,
leather, hair, cotton, silk, linen, paint, varnish, &c.
The ordinary atmospheric influences of our climate, sun, frost,
dust, rain, and mud, all exercise a deteriorating influence on the
vehicle. The general temperature most congenial to the durability of
the carriage is that of the workshop in which it is constructed. In
atmospheric air containing a certain amount of moisture, wood
possesses a certain standard of bulk. If it be subjected to the
influence of an atmosphere containing a greater amount of moisture
it increases in bulk, or, as it is popularly termed, it swells; in a drier
atmosphere it shrinks and is apt to crack. To resist these evil
influences all the wood used in carriages is well covered with paint,
the surface of which will resist moisture. If this operation is well and
carefully done it is very successful, but woe betide slop-work, though
in no trade is there so little room for a scamping workman to flourish.
The result of bad painting is that moisture sooner or later finds its
way into the wood and spoils the glossy appearance, and if it be
placed in a very dry situation the panels will split, just as ships’ decks
would leak if not wetted several times a day during the heat of the
sun. This might be applied in a modified degree to carriages, more
especially to the wheels.
If due allowance be made for expansion and contraction, the
metal-work of carriages, as springs, suffers very little from heat or
cold, but moisture is apt to work a very destructive influence upon it,
especially where the paint is worn away by friction. There the rust
seizes hold of it and gradually insinuates itself beneath the whole
covering of the paint, which strips off in flakes. Beneath the surfaces
of the spring-plates also rust is continually working damage, and
disfiguring the appearance with dirty brown lines of oxide of iron on
the exterior. Brass and plated work also are considerably affected by
damp.
Leather suffers greatly from heat and damp; but, like timber, more
especially when subjected to alternations of heat and moisture.
Toughness and tenacity are the chief qualities required for leather for
carriages, and these qualities depend chiefly on the presence of a
certain quantity of oil or fatty matter which the leather imbibes like a
sponge. On this matter the oxygen of the air acts strongly, and at
length consumes it; and if it be not renewed the leather cracks. If the
leather be exposed to wet and damp this process is more rapid, but
when the leather is frequently oiled it is apt to look dull and occasion
much trouble to the coachman, who most likely will prefer blacking it,
but the materials of which blacking is composed tend to the
decomposition and destruction of the leather. Leather which is
painted or japanned possesses little or no tenacity, and is never
oiled. The patent grained elastic leather, which is so very much in
use for hoods and knee-flaps, is a very beautiful substance to the
eye, and is quite waterproof so long as it is free from cracks; but
dryness and heat are liable to cause it to crack. Also, if one portion
of the surface be kept in contact with another portion during warm
weather, it is liable to stick and strip away when pulled apart. When it
cracks and water gets in, it decays rapidly. Generally speaking, it is
preferable to use oiled leather for heads, if ordinary care and
attention be bestowed upon it; for though its durability is not so great,
there is a saving of labour in keeping it tidy, and it has a very good
appearance.
The cloth, silk, and lace composing the lining, &c., and used in
combination with wool, hair, cotton, and linen, suffer from the rays of
the sun by losing their rich colours, and from the damp by becoming
mildewed and rotten. Cloth, hair, and wool also suffer from another
cause, viz. moths. In open carriages this is a very serious evil.
Hammercloths are protected by a patent india-rubber cloth being put
over them; cedar shavings also exercise a destructive influence on
moths. The india-rubber cloth is as good as anything where the smell
is not objected to, but this in warm weather is very strong and
unpleasant. However, it would be a very good thing to introduce
some cedar shavings in the stuffing of linings, and this might to some
extent get rid of the troublesome pest.
Simple damp does not cause much damage to paint and varnish
unless it contains saline matter, then it is very destructive; but heat,
especially the strong rays of the sun, is very destructive. The colours
change, and the lustre of the varnish disappears, and a multitude of
intersecting cracks make their appearance; and to restore the
original beauty there is no remedy but repainting. Another
mischievous influence, acting on the paint and varnish, is the various
gaseous vapours to which they are exposed. It is customary, for the
sake of convenience, to stand carriages close to the horses’ stables,
generally in a mews, where large muck heaps are piled up in all
stages of fermentation. During this process various gases are
evolved, which act on the varnish just in the same manner that
strong acids act on metals—by corroding or eating it away. The most
destructive of these is the ammoniacal gas evolved from the urine.
It is evident that the ordinary coach-house is not the best that
could be used for the purpose. The materials of a carriage are as
delicate, and require as much care, as the furniture of a drawing-
room, and therefore they should be as carefully preserved from
stable contact as the satin couches of the drawing-room. After the
carriage has been out, whether in the sun or rain, it should be
carefully washed, and, above all, dried, taking care to wet the leather
as little as possible during the operation. It is a common practice to
wash the carriage and then leave the water to drip away. After
drying, the leather should be carefully rubbed with an oiled rag, to
restore the oily matter consumed by the vehicle being used. The
carriage should then be placed to stand in a dry, well ventilated
apartment with a boarded floor, leaving a clear passage for the air
beneath it, and if by any means convenient, let a current of warm air
be passed through to insure its dryness. Above all it should be away
from all stables, dung heaps, cesspools, or open drains. A
gentleman should avoid placing his carriage in any situation where
he would not wish to put his wardrobe; and with regard to the interior
lining he should treat it in the same manner. If the carriage be laid by
for a time it should occasionally be brushed out, and have a current
of warm air passed through it. Cedar shavings should also be placed
in it. If an open carriage it will require more care than a close one.
The hammercloth (if there be one) should be covered with a
waterproof india-rubber material, and cedar shavings interposed
between the two. The blacking should also be rubbed off the leather-
work, and a composition of oil and tallow rubbed in to preserve it.
The ironwork should be painted where any bare portions show
themselves, caused by the rubbing of some other part against them.

Directions for keeping Carriages clean, &c.

Washing.—When a carriage is much used in the summer season

use water freely, so as to remove dust or mud before using the
sponge or chamois skin. The varnish of a carriage is often ruined
through a want of attention to this matter, for the sharp particles of
dust, which are chiefly silica, when by means of the leather forced
over the surface of the varnish, act like diamonds on glass and score
it in all directions. Mud should not be allowed to dry on the varnish if
it can be avoided. The English varnishes take a long time to dry, and
if mud gets on it before it is perfectly dry a permanent stain is left,
which cannot be removed except by re-varnishing.
In winter time it is not a good thing to wash off the mud when it is
so cold that the water freezes during the operation. Warm water
should never be used in winter time, as it is apt to cause the varnish
to crack and peel off.
Greasing.—For axles and wheel-plates the best lubricating
material is castor oil. It is not necessary to apply a great deal at a
time—little and often should be the rule; for when there is an excess
of oil it oozes out and finds its way on to the stock, and from thence
is thrown over the wheels while the vehicle is in motion. The grease
is then liable to be taken up on to the sponge when washing, and
also on to the leather, which will cause a great deal of trouble and
vexation. The wheel-plate should be particularly looked after, and not
allowed to become dry.
The Leather.—Enamelled leather should be kept soft and pliable
with sweet oil or sperm oil. It will only be necessary, while the leather
is new, to cleanse the top and curtains from dirt and rub them with a
greased rag. When the leather shows signs of drawing up and
becoming hard and lifeless, wash it with warm water and Castile
soap, and with a stiff brush force the oil into the leather until all the
pores are filled.
Sponges and Chamois.—Two of each of these should always be
kept on hand, one of each for the body and the same for the under-
carriage. The reason for this is, that after a carriage has been used
there is a liability to get grease on the sponge and chamois after
cleaning the wheels and wheel-plate mechanism. Another reason of
some importance is that the sponges are soon destroyed by being
used for cleaning the under-carriage, which renders them unfit for
use for large panels.
The Cover.—When a vehicle has been washed and housed, it
should be covered with an enamelled cloth cover, fitted to it so as to
keep it free from dust inside and out. To preserve the wood and save
expense it should be re-painted or varnished once a year. There is
no economy in saving a few shillings this year if such saving will
necessitate an expenditure of three times the amount next year.
 INDEX.

Advantages of dishing wheels, 56

American carriages, 144
Argand lamp, 100
Are they competent judges? 158
Ash timber, 29
Axle-boxes, 69
Axles, earliest forms of, 70
„ conical, 72
„ Collinge, 73
„ conditions necessary for perfection in, 76
„ faggoting, 71
„ mail, 72
„ setting, 78
„ welding steel, 76

Beading, metal, 99
Beech, 30
Birch, American, 31
Body, parts comprising, 40
 „ its construction, 42
Bolts, various, 97
Brake retarders, 52
Britchka, 14
Brougham, first, 18
„ doctor’s, 27
Buggy, 146

Cab Phaeton, 18
Cant-board, 41
Carriage parts, 48
Carriage parts, framing together, 50
Carmine, 108
Carts in France, 145
C spring, 86
Centring square, 59
Chiaro-oscuro, 104
Chrome yellow, 107
Clips, 97
Coach of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 12
Coach operatives, 142
Colour, principles of, 102
Colours, 107
Colouring of the body, 116
„ carriage parts, 117
Combustion, principles of, 100
Complementary colours, 103
Compound colours, 108
Constructing a wheel, 57
Crests, to paint, 127
Curricle, 14

Deal, 31
Difficulty of making light carriage wheels, 60
Disadvantages in making wheels, 66
Directions for keeping carriage clean, 183
Dog-carts, 16
Door fall, 134
Double-elbow spring, 87
Double brougham, 140
Drawing instruments, 22
Draught, preparation of, 25
„ opinions on, 150
Droitska or Droskey, 18
Dropping of felloes, 61

Egyptian chariots, 4
Egyptians, and introduction of wheels, 3
Elliptic springs, 87
„ „ invention of, 13
„ „ weight of, 89
Elm, 30
Faggoting iron axles, 71
Felloes, number in a wheel, 56
Felloes, fitting, 60
„ connecting, 61
First carriages, 8
„ coach in England, 9
Filling up, 112
„ permanent wood, 113
Fitting hot iron to woodwork, 45
Flat tints, 104
Flying coach, 11
Fore axletree bed, 51
Fore-carriage light, 94
„ with open futchells, 95
„ for hard service, 95
Futchells, 51, 92

Gigs for travellers, 17

Glue, 46
„ waterproof, 47
Grinding colours, 119

Hackney coaches first used, 19

Hair, 33
Hansom cab, 20
Hardening springs, 83
Heraldic bearings, to paint, 127
Hobson’s improvements, 16
Hoops, 97
Hides, 31
Horse litter, 7

Indian red, 107

Indian coach-building, 155
Initial letters, to paint, 125
Invention, remarks on, 168
Iron, 33
„ weight of round, 80
„ „ square, 81

Jacks, 98
Japanners’ gold size, 110
Joints, 98

Lamps, 99
Landaus, 12, 28
Landaulets, 12, 13
Landau back, quarter, and fall, 133
Lancewood, 31
Leather, laying on, 14
„ parts, priming, 112
Length of front and hind axletree, 148
Leverage power of a wheel, 149
Lining and trimming, 132
Locking, the theory of, 91
Loops, 96

Machinery, 148
Mahogany, 30
Marking out the stuff, 43
McNeile’s patent wheel, 65
Materials used in coach-building, 29
Mathematical instruments, 25
“Middling” springs, 83
Monograms, to paint, 123
Morocco, 32
Mortises in stock, 58

Nutcracker spring, 87

Oak, 30
Offord’s brougham, 151
Oil, its use as a lubricant, 74
„ linseed, 109
Omnibus, first, 21
Opposition to coaches, 10
Origin of word coach, 1
Ornamental painting, 123
Oxidation of iron, to prevent, 85

Painting, 102
Painting the coach, 110
Painting the carriage part, 115
Paint shop, 105
Panels, to bend, 44
Persian chariots, 5
Perches, 52
Plates, 97
Pompeian wheels, 6
Pony phaeton, 17
Priming, or “slushing,” 110
Principles of combustion, 100
Public carriages, 19
Putting on the tire, 61
Puttying, 113

Queen Elizabeth’s coach, 9

Raw umber, 108

Remarks on the trade, 142
Remarks on keeping carriages, 178
Roman chariots, 5
Rough stuff, 111
Rubbing down, 114
Rust, to guard against, 98

Sand-papering, 114
Scythian chariots, 5
Sedans, 10
Setting axles, 78
„ and tempering old springs, 86
Short and easy turning, 90
Shackles, 98
Side-cant, 41
Single-elbow spring, 87
Skins, 32
Skeleton boot, 153
Slushing, 110
Solid centre wheel, 65
Splinter-bar, rule for, 38
Spokes, driving in, 58
Springs, various substances used for, 82
„ their manufacture, 83
„ hardening, 83
„ middling, 83
„ setting, 84
„ spiral, 85
„ tempering, 83
Stanhope, 15
Stage coaches in 1755, 19
Stays, 97
Steel, 34
Steps, 98
Straining drawing paper, 23
Stock, improved form of, 69
Striping colours, 118
Sway-bar, 51

Tandem-carts, 16
Taste, observations on, 161
Telegraph spring, 87
Templates, or patterns, 43
Tempering springs, 83
Tenons on spokes, 58
„ „ opinions on, 59
Tilbury, 15
Timber, its seasoning, 39
Tire, putting on, 61
„ to take out imperfections in, 64
„ welding, 63
Training of apprentices on the Continent, 143
Treads, 98
Trimming doors, 135
„ general directions, 136
Turn-under, 41
Ultramarine blue, 108
Use of cars prohibited, 9

Varieties of springs, 86
Varnish, 110
Varnish, irregularities in, 120
Varnishing a body, 116
Verdigris, 108

Welding tire, 63
Welding steel axles, 76
Weight of elliptic springs, 89
„ round iron, 80
Weight of square iron, 81
Wheels, Pompeian, 6
„ advantages and disadvantages of dishing, 56
„ to construct, 57
„ dishing of, 36
„ early examples, 54
„ extreme sizes, 55
„ in seventeenth century, 55
„ height of, 35
„ size of hind, 56
Wheel-plates and fore-carriages, 90
Whip spring, 86
Wool, 33
 THE END.

PRINTED BY J. S. VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, CITY ROAD, LONDON.

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