Organization Studies (organization + studies)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Intersections: The Simultaneity of Race, Gender and Class in Organization Studies

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2010
Evangelina Holvino
This article argues for a reconceptualization of the intersections of race, gender and class as simultaneous processes of identity, institutional and social practice in order to redress the lack of attention to these intersections in feminist organization studies. Grounding my argument on a brief critique of white liberal feminism from the perspective of women of colour, I examine other feminist frameworks beyond the dominant liberal paradigm and identify their possible contributions to the study of intersections in organization theory and practice. Specifically, I propose theoretical and methodological interventions for researching and practicing more forcefully and intentionally the simultaneity of race, gender and class in organizations, including researching and publicizing the hidden stories at the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, class, nation and sexuality; identifying, untangling and changing the differential impact of everyday practices in organizations and identifying and linking internal organizational processes with external societal processes. I conclude with some reflections on the possible implications of these proposals for each of us, scholars and practitioners of gender and organization. [source]


Analysing Texts in Context: Current Practices and New Protocols for Critical Discourse Analysis in Organization Studies

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 6 2010
Shirley Leitch
abstract Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in organization studies would be strengthened by an increased focus on a central CDA tenet that texts should be analysed in context. Context has, for the most part, been afforded a taken-for-granted status that is misplaced because of the diverse ways in which it may be defined and applied. These generally unacknowledged differences relate to whether context is treated as space, time, practice, change, or frame. The result is a confusing array of studies claiming some degree of CDA status without core agreement , or acknowledgement of disagreements , about what is meant by context or how it should be linked to texts. To remedy this situation we identify in this Point article nine methodological protocols related to conceptual definitions, data selection, and data analysis which we argue benefit the consistency and rigour with which CDA in organization studies is applied. Use of these protocols may also serve as criteria against which the rigour of CDA research papers may be assessed. [source]


Intersections: The Simultaneity of Race, Gender and Class in Organization Studies

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2010
Evangelina Holvino
This article argues for a reconceptualization of the intersections of race, gender and class as simultaneous processes of identity, institutional and social practice in order to redress the lack of attention to these intersections in feminist organization studies. Grounding my argument on a brief critique of white liberal feminism from the perspective of women of colour, I examine other feminist frameworks beyond the dominant liberal paradigm and identify their possible contributions to the study of intersections in organization theory and practice. Specifically, I propose theoretical and methodological interventions for researching and practicing more forcefully and intentionally the simultaneity of race, gender and class in organizations, including researching and publicizing the hidden stories at the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, class, nation and sexuality; identifying, untangling and changing the differential impact of everyday practices in organizations and identifying and linking internal organizational processes with external societal processes. I conclude with some reflections on the possible implications of these proposals for each of us, scholars and practitioners of gender and organization. [source]


,Have You Got a Boyfriend or are You Single?': On the Importance of Being ,Straight' in Organizational Research

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2006
Attila Bruni
The article focuses on heterosexuality as a covert feature of organization studies as well as of organizational research. In fact, while organization studies have discussed the gendered and the gendering aspects of organizational practices and organizational theory, the implication of heterosexuality has yet to receive intensive analysis in these fields. And while the mutual and reflexive constitution of the observer and the observed has been the topic of a considerable amount of research, the dimension of (heterosexual) desire in this process of mutual constitution is still largely unexplored. Referring to three different episodes that occurred while the author was doing organizational ethnography, the article suggests that a heterosexual model of desire is called into action both in organizational and research activities and that focusing on it can be an occasion to question not only the gender (and heterosexual) biases of organizational practices but also the way in which gender and sexuality are mobilized while doing research. In particular, on the basis of the concept of cathexis, the article shows how heterosexuality is learnt and enacted as a situated practice and through a variety of processes: performing power, negotiating and displaying that one belongs to an organizational culture, obscuring the hetero-normativity of professional identities and neglecting the emotional engagement that characterizes research activities and that exposes the researcher to an otherwise vulnerable position. [source]


,Over the Pond and Across the Water': Developing the Field of ,Gendered Organizations'

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2002
Patricia Yancey Martin
This article is concerned with the development of gendered organizations as a field of study. It begins by exploring some of the factors that militate against integrating organization studies and gender studies and gendered organizations scholarship over national/continental divides. Increasingly doubtful about whether traditional (mainstream and critical) organization theories will or can adequately address gender, we contend that scholars of gendered organizations should ,strike out' on our/their own, ,boldly going' into unfamiliar territory to create new, innovative theories, concepts and ideas. We make various suggestions about possible future directions for theorizing and research. [source]


Organizational failure: a critique of recent research and a proposed integrative framework

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 1 2004
Kamel Mellahi
There is a long-running debate in the business literature on the causes of organizational failure. On the one hand, classical industrial organization (IO) and organization ecology (OE) scholars have typically assumed a deterministic role of the environment and argued that managers are constrained by exogenous industrial and environmental constraints leaving them with little real strategic choice, and hence managers' role should be ignored. On the other hand, the organization studies (OS) and organizational psychology (OP) literature takes a more voluntaristic perspective and argues that managers are the principal decision makers of the firm and, consequently, their actions and perceptions are the fundamental cause of organizational failure. This paper addresses the major deficiencies observed in the diverse body of literature covering this field, suggests an integrative framework and identifies the specific theoretical and methodological challenges ahead for researchers seeking to advance knowledge in the field of organizational failure. [source]


Researching human resource development: emergence of a critical approach to HRD enquiry

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2006
Claire Valentin
This paper argues that mainstream research in management and human resource development (HRD) is dominated by a positivist paradigm. In a theoretical discussion and review of literature on management, human resource management, HRD and organization studies, it explores critical perspectives in research, which draw on postmodernism and critical theory. It examines how they have contributed to the emergence of a critical HRD and discusses the features of a critical HRD research. [source]


Analysing Texts in Context: Current Practices and New Protocols for Critical Discourse Analysis in Organization Studies

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 6 2010
Shirley Leitch
abstract Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in organization studies would be strengthened by an increased focus on a central CDA tenet that texts should be analysed in context. Context has, for the most part, been afforded a taken-for-granted status that is misplaced because of the diverse ways in which it may be defined and applied. These generally unacknowledged differences relate to whether context is treated as space, time, practice, change, or frame. The result is a confusing array of studies claiming some degree of CDA status without core agreement , or acknowledgement of disagreements , about what is meant by context or how it should be linked to texts. To remedy this situation we identify in this Point article nine methodological protocols related to conceptual definitions, data selection, and data analysis which we argue benefit the consistency and rigour with which CDA in organization studies is applied. Use of these protocols may also serve as criteria against which the rigour of CDA research papers may be assessed. [source]


Places and Spaces: The Role of Metonymy in Organizational Talk

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 8 2004
Gill Musson
abstract Cultural meaning making as reflected in, and constituted by, organizational talk is an established field of interest in organizational analysis. However, the discursive mechanics of the process whereby this cultural meaning making is created and maintained are less well understood. The premise of this paper is that taken-for-granted assumptions embedded in organizational talk can be explored through the analysis of metonymy, a trope which is under explored in the linguistic turn in organization studies. This lack of focus on metonymy is, we believe, related to the fundamentally conventional nature of the trope in use, which expresses ideas, values and relationships that seem natural, normal and routine but which are culturally bound. We address this gap and carry out a metonymical analysis of organizational talk about physical places and spaces in one organization, to show how cultural norms and meanings are reflected, maintained, and potentially changed in these figures of speech. We show how metonymic chains based on buildings can reflect, reify and simplify the symbolic order of the organization, how these symbolic meanings can be transferred on to other inanimate objects and the constructions thereby spread, how people can be constructed within this symbolic chain, and how these metonymic chains can be invoked to potentially confirm, challenge or change the organizational order. [source]


From Dramaturgy to Theatre as Technology: The Case of Corporate Theatre*

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 1 2004
Timothy Clark
ABSTRACT This article examines a piece of corporate theatre. Although theatre has entered organization studies through the dramatistic writing of Kenneth Burke and the dramaturgical writings of Erving Goffman, this article is concerned with an approach variously described as organizational, radical, situation or corporate theatre that treats theatre not primarily as a resource, an ontology or a metaphor but as a technology. This approach involves the deployment by an organization of dramatists, actors, directors, set designers, lighting specialists, and musicians to put on performances in front of audiences. Using frameworks derived from studies of theatre a particular piece of corporate theatre is described and analysed. It is argued that this form of theatre appears to be used to contain reflection and to promote the views of a particular group within an organization. It does not confront an audience but subtly suggests alternative ways of evaluating, construing and understanding issues. This may be achieved by anaesthetizing audience reaction by encouraging imaginative participation in the performance so that cherished beliefs and values do not appear to be directly challenged. [source]


Career communities: a preliminary exploration of member-defined career support structures

JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2004
Polly Parker
This paper explores the concept of career communities: social structures that provide career support and frequently transcend the boundaries of any single organization. The theoretical background notes the convergence of a number of different perspectives from both career development and organization studies, pertaining to the social contextualization of careers. The methodology involved eliciting expressions of the (individual) subjective career from the members of three potential career communities, and then exploring (communal) inter-subjective interpretations in focus groups. Our results suggest that career communities typically involve a hybrid of types rather than any one pure type. Preliminary support is found for the view that career communities facilitate career support, sensemaking and learning. The results invite further research into career communities and have implications for organizational behavior and human resource management, suggesting greater appreciation of the extra-organizational as well as intra-organizational communities in which careers develop. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Brain drain in declining organizations: toward a research agenda

JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2001
Zehava Rosenblatt
Brain drain (BD) is one of the more detrimental implications of organizational decline and crisis, yet it has only been fleetingly addressed in organization studies. In light of this lacuna, the current paper introduces a conceptual framework of BD during decline. A model featuring both BD antecedents (predictors) and consequences is presented, including an analysis of leavers' behavioral characteristics. The paper offers a set of research propositions and concludes with directions for future study. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]