Complex Prepositions in Executive Communication

• Complex prepositions add formal precision to executive design discourse. They allow design leaders to frame strategic context, legal standing, and relational alignment succinctly.
• Preposition
• Primary Function
• Example in a Merger Context
• In light of
• Causation / New information
• In light of the Seattle acquisition, we must revise our design tokens.
• With regard to
• Topic introduction
• With regard to leadership selection, Sarah will represent London.
• By virtue of
• Inherent cause / Authority
• By virtue of her title, she chairs the brand architecture committee.
• Notwithstanding
• Concession / Despite
• Notwithstanding the corporate restructure, the user testing must proceed.
• Remember
• Always follow complex prepositions with a noun phrase, a pronoun, or a gerund clause.
• Do not attach 'of' to prepositions that do not require it, such as 'notwithstanding'.
• Use these prepositions to replace clunky subordinate clauses in formal merger memos.
• Examples
• In view of the recent merger, the Boston studio adopted the new guidelines.
• On behalf of the Chicago design team, Arthur submitted the consolidated roadmap.
• In the wake of the acquisition, several redundant roles were eliminated in Austin.
• Common mistakes
• In light of that we are merging, the design system changes.
• In light of the merger, the design system changes.
• Notwithstanding of the culture clash, morale remained high.
• Notwithstanding the culture clash, morale remained high.

Complete the sentences

• ___ [light] (light) ____ the recent acquisition in Seattle, we must merge our design systems.
• The London studio prevailed ___ [virtue] (virtue) ____ its superior enterprise maturity assessment.
• ___ [wake] (wake) ____ the merger announcement, leadership selection became our top priority.
• We made great progress ___ [regard] (regard) ____ harmonizing the disparate brand portfolios.
• ___ [standing] (standing) ____ the severe culture clash, the Chicago team delivered day-one readiness.
• Arthur spoke ___ [behalf] (behalf) ____ the entire Manchester design consultancy during the negotiation.

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