Business genres and their corporate context

This paper presents a model designed to analyze written business genres within their business context. Within a context specified at the levels of organization, business sector and business community, business genres are studied with respect to writing, distribution and reading practices. As such, the model extends beyond generic textual features and allows analyses of individual and collective writing activities and textual choices writers make (i.e., writing practices), the selection of particular channels and text formats for generic textualizations (i.e., distribution practices), and the way recipients read genre texts and make choices based on their readings (i.e., reading practices). In the model, the actual analysis of textual features of genre texts is clearly embedded in a wider situational framework. This paper argues that such a framework is a prerequisite for a proper understanding of textual realizations of business genres. Moreover, it provides business professionals with a tool to design texts that are effective responses to specific communicative needs.