This article examines how communication contributes to the achievement of spatio-temporal closures through the interactional enactment of sequences called ‘schemata.’ Human and nonhuman interactants not only bring into being but also contribute to the opening, development and closing of organizational sequences, which constitute and circumscribe what gets done collectively. Timing and spacing thus consist of creating and sometimes interrupting what could be called organizational closures, that is, spatio-temporal limits that indicate when and where specific organizational episodes are initiated, fulfilled and sanctioned. Organizational spaces and times are thus achieved and delineated through interactions, a phenomenon that will be illustrated through the in-depth analysis of a radio transmission that involved police officers trying to locate and rescue one of their colleagues.
Abelson, R. F. (1981) ‘Psychological Status of the Script Concept’ , American Psychologist36: 715-729 .
2.
Alvesson, M. and Kärreman, D. (2000a) ‘Taking the Linguistic Turn in Organizational Research’ , Journal of Applied Behavioral Science36: 136-158 .
3.
Alvesson, M. and Kärreman, D. (2000b) ‘Varieties of Discourse: On the Study of Organizations through Discourse Analysis’ , Human Relations53: 1125-1149 .
4.
Atkinson, J. M. and Heritage, J. , eds (1984) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
5.
Austin, J. L. (1975) How to Do Things with Words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
6.
Boden, D. (1994) The Business of Talk: Organizations in Action. Cambridge: Polity Press .
7.
Buckley, W. (1967) Sociology and Modern Systems Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall .
8.
Callon, M. (1986) ‘Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: The Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay’, in John Law (ed.) Power, Action and Belief, pp. 196-233. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
9.
Callon, M. and Latour, B. (1981) ‘Unscrewing the Big Leviathan: How Actors Macro-Structure Reality and How Sociologists Help Them To Do So’, in A. V. Cicourel and K. Knorr-Cetina (eds) Advances in Social Theory and Methodology: Towards an Integration of Micro- and Macro-Sociologies, pp. 277-303. Boston, MA: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
10.
Cooren, F. (1997) ‘Actes de langage et sémio-narrativité. Une analyse sémiotique des indirections’ , Semiotica116(2/4): 229-273 .
11.
Cooren, F. (1999) ‘Applying Socio-Semiotics to Organizational Communication: A New Approach’ , Management Communication Quarterly13(2): 294-304 .
12.
Cooren, F. (2000) The Organizing Property of Communication. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins .
13.
Cooren, F. (2001a) ‘Acting and Organizing: How Speech Acts Structure Organizational Interactions’ , Concepts and Transformation6(3): 275-293 .
14.
Cooren, F. (2001b) ‘Translation and Articulation in the Organization of Coalitions: The Great Whale River Case’ , Communication Theory11(2): 178-200 .
15.
Cooren, F. (2004) ‘Textual Agency: How Texts Do Things in Organizational Settings’ , Organization11(3): 373-393 .
16.
Cooren, F. and Fairhurst, G. (2002) ‘The Leader as a Practical Narrator: Leadership as the Art of Translating’, in D. Holman and R. Thorpe (eds) The Manager as a Practical Author. London: Sage .
17.
Cooren, F. and Fairhurst, G. T. (forthcoming) ‘Dislocation and Stabilization: How To Scale up from Interactions to Organization’, in L. L. Putnam and A. M. Nicotera (eds) The Communicative Constitution of Organization: Centering Organizational Communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
18.
Cooren, F. and Taylor, J. R. (1997) ‘Organization as an Effect of Mediation: Redefining the Link between Organization and Communication’ , Communication Theory7(3): 219-260 .
19.
Cooren, F. and Taylor, J. R. (2000) ‘Association and Dissociation in an Ecological Controversy: The Great Whale Case’, in N. W. Coppola and B. Karis (eds) Technical Communication, Deliberative Rhetoric, and Environmental Discourse: Connections and Directions, pp. 171-190. Stamford, CT: Ablex .
20.
Derrida, J. (1988) Limited Inc.Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press .
21.
Fairhurst, G. T. (forthcoming) Discursive Approaches to Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
22.
Fairhurst, G. T. and Cooren, F. (2004) ‘Organizational Language in Use: Interaction Analysis, Conversation Analysis and Speech Act Schematics’, in D. Grant , C. Hardy , C. Oswick , N. Phillips and L. L. Putnam (eds) Handbook of Organizational Discourse, pp. 131-152. London: Sage .
23.
Fairhurst, G. T. and Putnam, L. L. (2004) ‘Organizations as Discursive Constructions’ , Communication Theory14(1): 5-26 .
24.
Filliettaz, L. and Roulet, E. (2002) ‘The Geneva Model of Discourse Analysis: An Interactionist and Modular Approach to Discourse Organization’ , Discourse Studies4(3): 369-392 .
25.
Follett, M. P. (1941) Dynamic Administration. London: Cassell .
26.
Garfinkel, H. (1967) Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall .
27.
Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society. Cambridge: Polity Press .
28.
Gioia, D. A. and Poole, P. P. (1984) ‘Scripts in Organizational Behavior’ , Academy of Management Review9: 449-459 .
29.
Gioia, D. A. , Donnellon, A. and Sims, H. P., Jr (1989) ‘Communication and Cognition in Appraisal: A Tale of Two Paradigms’ , Organization Studies10: 503-530 .
30.
Grant, D. , Keenoy, T. and Oswick, C. (1998) ‘Organizational Discourse: Of Diversity, Dichotomy and Multi-Disciplinarity’, in D. Grant , T. Keenoy and C. Oswick (eds) Discourse and Organization, pp. 1-13. London: Sage .
31.
Greimas, A. J. (1983) Structural Semantics. An Attempt at a Method. Lincoln/London: University of Nebraska Press .
32.
Greimas, A. J. (1987) On Meaning: Selected Writings in Semiotic Theory. London: Frances Pinter .
33.
Greimas, A. J. (1988) Maupassant. The Semiotics of Text: Practical Exercises. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins .
34.
Greimas, A. J. and Courtés, J. (1982) Semiotics and Language: An Analytical Dictionary. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press .
35.
Groleau, C. and Cooren, F. (1998) ‘A Socio-Semiotic Approach to Computerization: Bridging the Gap between Ethnographers and System Analysts’ , Communication Review3(1-2): 125-164 .
36.
Hawes, L. C. (1974) ‘Social Collectivities as Communication: Perspectives on Organizational Behavior’ , Quarterly Journal of Speech60: 497-502 .
37.
Heritage, J. (1984) Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press .
38.
Jefferson, G. (1984) ‘On Stepwise Transition from Talk about a Trouble to Inappropriately Next-Positioned Matters’, in J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies of Conversation Analysis, pp. 191-222. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
39.
Keenoy, T. , Oswick, C. and Grant, D. (1997) ‘Organizational Discourses: Texts and Contexts’ , Organization4(2): 147-157 .
40.
Latour, B. (1986) ‘The Powers of Association’, in J. Law (ed.) Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge?, pp. 264-280. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul .
41.
Latour, B. (1987) Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
42.
Latour, B. (1993) We Have Never Been Modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
43.
Latour, B. (1994) ‘On Technical Mediation: Philosophy, Sociology, Genealogy’ , Common Knowledge3(2): 29-64 .
44.
Latour, B. (1996a) Aramis or The Love of Technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
45.
Latour, B. (1996b) ‘On Interobjectivity’ , Mind, Culture, and Activity3(4): 228-245 .
46.
Latour, B. (1999a) Pandora’s Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
47.
Latour, B. (1999b) Politiques de la nature. Comment faire entrer les sciences en démocratie. Paris: La Découverte .
48.
Latour, B. (2002) ‘Gabriel Tarde and the End of the Social’, in P. Joyce (ed.) The Social in Question: New Bearings in History and the Social Sciences, pp. 117-132. London: Routledge .
49.
Levinson, S. C. (1983) Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
50.
McPhee, R. D. and Zaug, P. (2000) ‘The Communicative Constitution of Organizations: A Framework for Explanation’ , Electronic Journal of Communication / La revue électronique de communication10(1/2): 1-16 .
51.
Mandler, J. M. (1984) Stories, Scripts and Scenes: Aspects of Schema Theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
52.
Martin, J. (1982) ‘Stories and Scripts in Organizational Settings’, in A. Hastorf and A. Isen (eds) Cognitive Social Psychology, pp. 255-305. New York: Elsevier .
53.
Pomerantz, A. and Fehr, B. J. (1997) ‘Conversation Analysis: An Approach to the Study of Social Action as Sense Making Practices’, in T. A. van Dijk (ed.) Discourse as Social Interaction, pp. 64-91. London: Sage .
54.
Putnam, L. L. and Fairhurst, G. T. (2001) ‘Discourse Analysis in Organizations: Issues and Concerns’, in F. M. Jablin and L. L. Putnam (eds) The New Handbook of Organizational Communication, pp. 78-136. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
55.
Reed, M. (2000) ‘The Limits of Discourse Analysis in Organizational Analysis’ , Organization7: 524-530 .
56.
Robichaud, D. (1998) ‘Textualization and Organizing: Illustrations from a Public Discussion Process’ , Communication Review3(1-2): 103-124 .
57.
Sacks, H. (1972) ‘An Initial Investigation of the Usability of Conversational Data for Doing Sociology’, in D. Sudnow (ed.) Studies in Social Interaction, pp. 31-74. New York: Free Press .
58.
Sacks, H. (1992) Lectures on Conversation, Vols. 1 and 2. Oxford: Blackwell .
59.
Sacks, H. and Schegloff, E. (1979) ‘Two Preferences in the Organization of Reference to Persons in Conversation and Their Interaction’, in G. Psathas (ed.) Everyday Language: Studies in Ethnomethodology, pp. 15-21. New York: Irvington Press .
60.
Schank, R. C. and Abelson, R. A. (1977) Scripts, Plans, Goals and Understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
61.
Schegloff, E. (1972a) ‘Sequencing in Conversational Openings’, in J. J. Gumperz and D. H. Hymes (eds) Sociocultural Dimensions of Language Use. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston .
62.
Schegloff, E. (1972b) ‘Notes on Conversational Practice: Formulating Place’, in D. Sudnow (ed.) Studies in Social Interaction, pp. 75-119. New York: Free Press .
63.
Schegloff, E. A. (1991) ‘Conversation Analysis and Socially Shared Cognition’, in L. B. Resnick , J. L. Levine and S. D. Teasley (eds) Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition, pp. 150-171. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association .
64.
Schegloff, E. and Sacks, H. (1974) ‘Opening up Closings’, in R. Turner (ed.) Ethnomethodology, pp. 233-264. Harmondsworth: Penguin .
65.
Schegloff, E. , Jefferson, G. and Sacks, H. (1977) ‘The Preference for Self-Correction in the Organization of Repair in Conversation’ , Language53: 361-382 .
66.
Searle, J. R. (1969) Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. London: Cambridge University Press .
67.
Searle, J. R. (1977) ‘Reiterating the Differences: A Reply to Derrida’ , Glyph1: 198-208 .
68.
Searle, J. R. (1979a) Expression and Meaning. Studies in the Theory of Speech Acts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
69.
Searle, J. R. (1979b) ‘What Is an Intentional State’ , Mind88: 74-92 .
70.
Searle, J. R. (1989) ‘How Performatives Work’ , Linguistics and Philosophy12: 535-558 .
71.
Searle, J. R. (1995) The Construction of Social Reality. New York: Free Press .
72.
Smith, R. C. (1993) ‘Images of Organizational Communication: Root-Metaphors of the Organization-Communication Relation’ , paper presented at the meeting of the International Communication Association Annual Conference, May, Washington, DC.
73.
Taylor, J. R. (1993) Rethinking the Theory of Organizational Communication: How to Read an Organization. Norwood, NJ: Ablex .
74.
Taylor, J. R. and Lerner, L. (1996) ‘Making Sense of Sensemaking: How Managers Construct Their Organization through Their Talk’ , Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies2: 257-286 .
75.
Taylor, J. R. and Van Every, E. J. (1993) The Vulnerable Fortress. Bureaucratic Organization and Management in the Information Age. Toronto: University of Toronto Press .
76.
Taylor, J. R. and Van Every, E. J. (2000) The Emergent Organization: Communication as Site and Surface. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
77.
Vanderveken, D. (1990-1) Meaning and Speech Acts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
78.
Van Dijk, T. A. , ed. (1997) Discourse as Social Interaction. Discourse Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction. London: Sage .
79.
Weick, K. E. (1979) The Social Psychology of Organizing. New York: Random House .
80.
Weick, K. E. (1995) Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
81.
Weick, K. E. and Sutcliffe, K. M. (2001) Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in an Age of Complexity. San Francisco: Jossey Bass .
82.
Weick, K. E. , Sutcliffe, K. M. and Obstfeld, D. (1999) ‘Organizing for High Reliability: Processes of Collective Mindfulness’ , Research in Organizational Behavior21: 81-123 .
83.
Wetherell, M. (1998) ‘Positioning and Interpretive Repertoires: Conversation Analysis and Post-Structuralism in Dialogue’ , Discourse and Society9: 387-412 .
84.
Woodilla, J. (1998) ‘Workplace Conversations: The Text of Organizing’, in D. Grant , T. Keenoy and C. Oswick (eds) Discourse and Organization, pp. 31-50. London: Sage .
