Standardising Fatherhood across Cultures

Abstract

A current trend in multinational corporations (MNCs) is a strong focus on diversity management in order to attract andretain talent. The present study investigates the linguistic manifestation and justification of a very recent company policyintended to facilitate this trend, viz., global paternity leave. The study aims to contribute to the linguistic turn inorganisational studies. As a theoretical point of departure, Corporate Communication, and specifically links betweenCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Diversity Management communication are discussed. Concepts and tools fromtext linguistics are then applied to investigate the communication strategies employed when introducing the new familyleave policy in four MNCs headquartered in the UK and Norway, respectively. The material consists of a set of texts onglobal parental leave produced by the four companies. The linguistic analysis identifies similarities as well as differencesbetween the British and Norwegian companies in how the new global leave policy is presented. The findings alsodemonstrate a tension between focussing on the CSR efforts gender equality and inclusion in the justification of the newmeasure intended to support the MNCs’ diversity management efforts.

Keywords

• diversity management; gender equality; diversity, equity and inclusion; parental leave; paternity leave; strategic ambiguity; discourse analysis; corporate communication