Management and formatting of disagreements in the professional exchanges during the implementation of a concert

Abstract

Within the field of psychosociology and management of organizational behaviors, the analysis of interactions around disagreements in the workplace is a central topic. This article presents a case study connected to the situation of a concert’s preparation during which musicians and technicians meet for the organization and the technical implementation of a show. Our main objective is to analyze the disagreements which emerge from the point of view of their form, structure and meaning, as well as to identify the positioning of the interactants within their professional group (respectively, the musicians and the stage managers). On this respect, a qualitative analysis (discursive and argumentative) was conducted. The results show the emergence of various modalities in the management of disagreements during the observed exchanges in the workplace, as well as elements of belonging to the groups involved in the conflicts. This case study shows the potential of the analysis of interactions in a workplace to better understand the linguistic phenomena that are related to the participants’ conversational behaviors and to their production-mobilization-circulation of knowledge connected to situated practices.