PhD defence: Xia Zhang

This study investigates how Chinese, Danish and British business professionals keep face and maintain interpersonal harmony in both mother tongue (L1) and English as a lingua franca (ELF) contexts in the communicative situations of “cancellation of an obligation”. The findings point to fundamental cultural differences with respect to obligations and face orientation, though there was also a convergent trend as a result of the institutional context. It is the first systematic study to combine the notions of obligation, face, and facework in a cross-cultural comparative context. The findings of this study will offer some fresh insights into politeness, trust-building and relationship management in intercultural business communication contexts.

Primary Supervisor:
Professor Per Durst-Andersen
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School

Secondary Supervisor:
Evidence and research specialist Laura Winther Balling
Widex A/S

Secondary Supervisor:
Associate Professor Maribel Blasco
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School

Assessment Committee:
Associate Professor Alex Klinge (Chair)
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School

Professor Mira Bergelson 
School of Philology
Higher School of Economics / Moscow 

Professor Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen
Linguistics and English Language
University of Manchester

Thesis:
The thesis will be available here

Reception:
The Doctoral School of Organisation and Management Studies will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence in the West wing on the ground floor. 

Organised by: The Doctoral School of Organisation and Management Studies
Date: 27 May 2019
Time: 10:00 - 12:00
Location: Copenhagen Business School, Dalgas Have 15 (DSØ089), 2000 Frederiksberg