Abstract

This chapter engages with some of the issues and challenges raised by a new body of research on interactional practices in business contexts in East and Southeast Asia, which has been conveniently subsumed under the banner of Asian business discourse(s)—or ABDs. The discussion first situates the development of the ‘new discourses’ both historically and geographically, and then moves on to identify some salient debates that ABDs have brought to the attention of interpretive researchers and business practitioners. It will be argued that the multi-perspectival nature of business discourse (analysis) benefits from an intersubjective epistemology, according to which interpretation of the manifold relations informing business practice can eventually only emerge through deployment of several analytical tools and in dialogue with a number of co-interpreters, situated practices and ideological traditions. An illustration of the interpretive processes involved in the analysis of a Japanese business is offered before concluding the chapter with reflections on future directions.