'We must be more productive': global discourse, local strategies

By analysing a selection of productivity reports from four different countries (New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada) over a ten year period (2000-2009), we map the discursive representations of the concept “productivity” in order to gain insights into local strategies and global similarities in approaches to generating productive change. Using Leximancer we analysed five matched reports for each country, and argue that the reports contain a range of subtle and not-sosubtle nuances in the productivity discussions of each country. Despite this wide variation in local themes, we propose that the rhetorical strategies employed are evidence of significant mimetic isomorphism, driven by the uncertainty surrounding the notion of productivity.