The relevance of applied linguistic and discourse research: on the margins of a failed communication consultancy

Professional communication consultancy work which examines business processes and organisational realities through the lens of language is gaining legitimacy. In this chapter I examine the tensions these new kinds of professional-academic collaborations may create. Using examples from my recent consultancy projects, and drawing on existing scholarship theorising these issues in management and business studies, I explore whether—and how—it is possible to produce relevant results and remain academically rigorous at the same time. I focus on issues that arise from clients’ needs for immediate problem-solving through research practices and theory-building that are accepted by a research community, especially in the type of interdisciplinary work where discipline-boundary-crossing leads to scepticism and questioning of academic rigour. Thus, this chapter aims to expose and acknowledge unavoidable tensions between academic and consultancy work in the hope that we will not compromise our academic integrity and rigour, nor the potential for future impact outside academia.