P.F. Chang's Discourse Community
I have chosen P.F. Chang's China Bistro as my company because I used to work there as a hostess and server. So the P.F. Chang's employees are my discourse community.
Instructions:
How does your company communicate with its discourse community? How does your company communicate with those external to its discourse community?
Report on your findings in a 10-page paper. Include in-text citations and a full reference list at the end of your paper, in APA format.
Formatting: Double spaced, 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins
1) Introduction - Begin by discussing the company you selected, what its purpose is, and why you chose it. Create a thesis statement that identifies how your company communicates with members of its discourse community (employees, clients, customers, suppliers, vendors).
2) Research five different genres from the company you selected. Genres could include: examples of emails, memos, business letters, job ads, websites, brochures, mission statements, social media feeds, advertisements, etc...
3) Identify each type of genre. What genre is it? What are the general conventions associated with this genre? In other words, what expectations do we have surrounding this communication?
4) Why does your discourse community adopt this genre for the purposes of spreading information to members? How do they exploit this genre when communicating with its discourse community?
5) What is the purpose of the piece? Who is the target audience? What information does it present? How do we know it is part of your discourse community - jargon, content, or both?
6) Perform a rhetorical analysis of each genre. Use Swales 2017 for reference. Provide textual evidence with in-text citations (quotes, paraphrasing, etc.) to support your analysis.
7) Find a source that was written about your selected company by those external to the discourse community (News story, competitor, etc.). What genre is it? Where did you find the piece? What is the purpose of it? What information does it present? Who is the target audience? Perform a rhetorical analysis of the piece using textual evidence to support your analysis.
8) In your conclusion, reflect on how your company is communicating with its discourse community using the questions above. How does the source you identified in Question 7 communicate about the company? Does it reinforce what the company communicates about itself?
P.F. Chang’s Discourse Community
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
P.F. Chang’s Discourse Community
In writing this assignment, I chose P.F. Chang’s China Bistro as the ideal company for analysis. I chose this organization because I used to work there as a hostess and attendant. According to John Swales (2017), discourse communities consist of groups that share similar goals or purposes and use communication to attain them. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro’s primary purpose is to offer clients an outstanding experience each time they visit the restaurant to celebrate life with family or friends. Besides, the organization’s vision is to continue serving others by enhancing their lives through delicious, made-from-scratch food and joyful hospitality. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro uses various communication techniques to interact with employees, clients, vendors, and suppliers, leading to its growth.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro utilizes different communication models when interacting with various stakeholders. For example, some of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro’s communication channels to interact with employees include emails, memos, and phone calls. Conversely, the organization uses mission statements, websites, brochures, social media feeds to communicate with clients. Consequently, the company utilizes business letters, job ads, advertisements, and social media feeds to communicate with vendors supplying goods. Although P.F. Chang’s China Bistro uses different communication channels to interact with the various communities, it remains steadfast to its purpose and goals. The aim of utilizing all the mentioned above communication models is to ensure that all stakeholders feel engaged and part of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro success.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro uses emails to communicate with its employees because of the various advantages. For example, communication through emails is cheap, and the management can send them at any time. Every business aims to reduce operating costs and maximize revenue collection. With such as strategy in place, the organization deems emails as the ideal communication channel that favors them. Besides, it is possible to send emails to various people, which saves time. Emails are easier to reference, which enhances the exchange of information between employees and the administration. Although every form of communication has its disadvantages, research suggests that its advantages outweigh its relatively minor shortcomings.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro also uses memos to communicate with employees. The organization uses memos to brief employees about upcoming meetings or important announcements and changes within the organization. Because P.F. Chang’s China Bistro has many employees, the organization prefers memos because it allows them to convey information in a detailed and logical manner. Like emails, memorandums can reach a large number of people simultaneously, making them cheaper and appropriate for organizations. Memos can resolve disputes in organizations because they contain reference numbers, promoting healthy relationships between employees and employers.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro relies on brochures to market its services to customers. Besides, the restaurant uses brochures or leaflets because of their high ability to hit the intended target. Research illustrates that organization uses brochures since they are cost-effective and capable of illustrating what the customer will experience by visiting the place. For example, flyers contain images of foods and buildings found in the restaurant. Notably, leaflets contain valuable information, which helps customers know what to expect. Incorporating adverts, such as foods and drinks in flyers, is appropriate since it makes customers yearn to visit the restaurant. Accordingly, leaflets play a vital role in ensuring they grab the customer’s attention, making them appropriate for P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.
Conversely, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro utilizes social media feeds and advertisements to communicate with vendors and suppliers. Social media feeds can reach a large number of people, making them appropriate for restaurant businesses. Through social media feeds, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro can connect with credible suppliers making it easy for them to outsource the services they require. One of the social media platforms the organization uses is Facebook. During recruitment exercises, the organization uses job ads and advertisements to connect with qualified professionals. Using advertisements helps the company market and communicate its intended message to a large population.
As a former employee of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, we used some of the abovementioned communication strategies to interact. Communication among employees is vital and relevant towards the delivery of optimum services. Besides, the platforms helped us create healthy bonds, which promoted productivity. Some of the common platforms we used include emails and phone calls. The application of modern communication channels helped us brief each other about shifts and discuss incentives to grow. My discourse community (employees) adopted this genre because of its ability to surpass the existing geographical barriers. Besides, the employees adopted this genre because it was convenient, and people did not have to meet physically to interact with each other.
The community exploited this genre by adopting the six propositions by Swales. In his writing, Swales asserts that a discourse community must agree on various common goals. Besides, the community had set the appropriate intercommunications among its members. During my tenure as an employee, the discourse community utilized participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback. The feedback is given through the communication forums laid out helped employees plan and cope with their challenges. Accordingly, the discourse community used language to accomplish the objectives set by the company. For example, the employees would maintain a friendly tone when addressing customers, making them feel enthusiastic about visiting the restaurant.
The purpose of this piece is to demonstrate the vital role that language plays in the development process. Besides, discourse encourages the acquisition of language. This piece in my discourse community reveals how language exchange helped enhance the relationship between customers, employees, and...