Conceptual Metaphor: Its Applications And Implications In Business Environment

Contrary to the traditional view that metaphor is a figure of speech, linguists Lakoff and Johnson, in Metaphors We Live By, argue that metaphor is also a figure of thought and figure of speech is just a surface manifestation of such metaphorical figure of thought. They believe that language can reflect the conceptual system of its speakers.Lakoff and Johnson thus speak of conceptual metaphor, suggesting that metaphor is a matter of understanding one thing in terms of another. The typical form is TARGET-DOMAIN IS SOURCE-DOMAIN, or alternatively, TARGET-DOMAIN AS SOURCE-DOMAIN. Lakoff and Johnson have coined the term metaphorical expression for the surface manifestations of conceptual metaphor. Lakoff and Johnson also note how metaphor can be misleading through its ability to highlight some features of reality and hide others. Hence they present the idea of entailments of metaphors. It is the entailments of a metaphor—the relationships and concepts that the metaphor brings to mind—that determine its power and richness. Following the theory of conceptual metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson and based on research on the works of many business scholars, the thesis suggests five conceptual metaphors for business by categorizing the relevant metaphorical expressions in Iacocca-the autobiography of Lee Iacocca: BUSINESS IS A JOURNEY, BUSINESS IS A GAME, BUSINESS IS A WAR, BUSINESS IS AN ORGANISM, and BUSINESS IS A SOCIETY. Then the thesis explores their possible sources in art, literature, or philosophy in an attempt to prove the legitimacy of the conceptualization. After that the thesis develops the influence of each conceptual metaphor on business practice. Then the thesis focuses on their implications by exploring the key entailments of each conceptual metaphor and their strengths and weaknesses in business environment.