<strong>Talking culture - </strong>a study of discursive constructions of culture and their effect on interaction in professional settings

The aim of this research project is to consider the ways in which management and staff in public and private organisations construct and enact culture in their daily work practices; and to investigate the effect which these constructions and enactments have on behaviours, actions, and attitudes in intercultural encounters in the workplace. The project is case-based, and takes its point of departure in five different companies and organisations, which are characterised by a culturally-diverse staff and/or a staff that faces the challenges of doing business in the global market place on a daily basis. Using ethnographic research methods to collect the documentation necessary for further analysis, this research project uses both written and oral data to uncover how companies and organisations ‘do culture’ on a daily basis, while at the same time exploits the synergies involved in combining theory and practice to create a new platform for ‘talking about’ and, consequently ‘doing culture' to the benefit of practitioners, research communities and the general public. The project makes use of a wide range of dissemination methods which cater for the broad target group of the project; including ‘end-of project’-seminar with practitioners, publications in peer-review journals and a project website with information about the project to the general public.