EXPRESS: Becoming visible: Uncovering hidden entanglements of power, performativity and becoming subjectivities in a global bank

2021 ◽  
pp. 017084062199760
Author(s):  
Katie Beavan
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Senior Executive ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Gendered Power ◽  
Feminist Inquiry

This paper explores entanglements and flows of power, performativity and related becoming subjectivities, in a rich thicket of lived experience in a global bank. The inquiry focuses on an affective auto/ethnographic field text of a mundane, cross-continent, telephone meeting between a senior executive colleague and myself. Experimenting with post-qualitative, transversal, feminist inquiry ‘I’ deliberately plug into multiple, criss-crossing, philosophical concepts of gendered power, performativity and subjectivity. ‘I’ playfully–vulnerably assay with new ways of doing processual organizational research and making knowing–as–action, including with potential readers. ‘I’ write differently, aiming to enact and exemplify the post-qualitative organization studies terrain as unsettled, unsettling and unpredictable. In a processual, abductive interpretation of my field text ‘I’ uncover agential subjectivities emerging from unconscious affective entanglements travelling across continents and disjunctive temporalities and between human and non-human entities. ‘I’ conclude by reflecting on the contributions of my paper and the implications of this inquiry for my practice as an organization studies practitioner–researcher.

Philosophical Organization Theory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haridimos Tsoukas
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Organizational Life ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Organizational Behaviour ◽  
Organization And Management ◽  
Reflection In Action ◽  
Complex Forms

When it comes to the field of organization and management theory, a philosophical perspective enables us to conduct organizational research imbued with the attitude of “wonder”; it helps researchers question dominant images of thought underlying mainstream thinking, and provides fresh distinctions that enable the development of new theory. In bringing together a collection of key essays by Haridimos Tsoukas, this volume explores fundamental concepts, such as organizational routines, that have gained currency in the field, as well as revisiting traditional concepts such as change, strategy, and organization. It discusses organizational knowledge, judgment, and reflection-in-action, and, at the meta-theoretical level, suggests complex forms of theorizing that seek to reflect the complexity of organizations. The conceptual attention throughout is on process and practice, underlain by performative phenomenology and an emphasis on agents’ lived experience. This provides us with the language to appreciate the dynamic character of organizational behaviour, the embeddedness of action, and the complexity of organizational life. The theoretical claims presented in this volume have important implications for scholarly practice, insofar as they help retrain our attention: from seeing structures and individuals, we can now appreciate processes, experiences, and practices. A phenomenological attitude makes organization theory more open, more creative, and more reflexive, and this book will be essential reading for researchers and students in the field of organization studies.

Experience Sampling Methodology: A Systematic Review and Discussion for Organizational Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozge Can
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
Workplace Relationships ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Sampling Methodology ◽  
Experience Sampling Methodology ◽  
Current State ◽  
Methodological Aspects

In organizational research, growing attention has been given to the dynamic nature of workplace relationships and how such dynamic processes shape key behavioural outcomes. Experience sampling methodology (ESM) brings more opportunity than any other research option to examine such fluctuations and relevant causal relationships. ESM can be described as a quantitative method which allows individuals to assess discrete evaluative states on multiple events by combining three distinct elements; person, variables and occasion. Despite its increasing prevalence and popularity, however, there has been only a few attempts to investigate the most appropriate design, measurement and analysis choices for experience sampling data. Even though ESM has been utilized in organizational research for some time, systematic investigations regarding how these issues have been addressed and how the method has been applied to specific organizational topics are limited. This study provides a systematic and critical assessment of the use of ESM in current organizational research (2010‑2020) by reviewing a random sample of 50 ESM studies indexed in ISI Web of Science with the aim of identifying the current state of practice. The selected studies were analysed based on several methodological aspects including the type of ESM protocol applied, sample characteristics, data sources, specified interval and total duration of data collection, structure and properties of designated measures, analytic strategy, and the research model to be tested. Findings show that organization studies vary considerably based on how they design and implement ESM. Moreover, despite the availability of good practices, many studies fail to attain recommended standards about sample size, data collection procedures, data characteristics and measurement quality. As such, this paper offers several insights regarding how time‑based within‑person frameworks can be improved in future studies to account for dynamic organizational phenomena.

scholarly journals It takes two to tango: Theorizing inter-corporeality through nakedness and eros in researching and writing organizations

Organization ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 135050842095632
Author(s):  
Emmanouela Mandalaki ◽  
Mar Pérezts
Keyword(s):  
Embodied Knowledge ◽  
Sexual Stereotypes ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Dance Floor ◽  
Phenomenological Experience ◽  
Vulnerability To Stress

Dance with us, on the dance-floor and with words, as we reenact our individual and shared tango autoethnographic experiences to develop an understanding of field inter-corporeality as a phenomenological experience of nakedness empowered by the transformational potential of eros. We write as we dance to discuss how eroticizing through the other’s presence our embodied nakedness, beyond sexual stereotypes, pushes us to meta-reflect on ourselves as organizational ethnographers and writers to reinvent our field and writing interactions as inter-corporeally relational and intersubjective. We problematize the sexual gaze that traditionally associates nakedness with shame and objectified vulnerability to stress the capacity of eroticizing our academic nakedness to enable free, embodied knowledge stripped of the traits of the dominant masculine academic order. In so doing, we join burgeoning autoethnographic and broader debates in the field of organization studies calling for the need to further unveil the embodied, erotic, and feminine aspects of organizational research and writing. Shall we dance?

scholarly journals An Introduction to Video Methods in Organizational Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curtis LeBaron ◽  
Paula Jarzabkowski ◽  
Michael G. Pratt ◽  
Greg Fetzer
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
The World ◽  
Methodological Tool

Video has become a methodological tool of choice for many researchers in social science, but video methods are relatively new to the field of organization studies. This article is an introduction to video methods. First, we situate video methods relative to other kinds of research, suggesting that video recordings and analyses can be used to replace or supplement other approaches, not only observational studies but also retrospective methods such as interviews and surveys. Second, we describe and discuss various features of video data in relation to ontological assumptions that researchers may bring to their research design. Video involves both opportunities and pitfalls for researchers, who ought to use video methods in ways that are consistent with their assumptions about the world and human activity. Third, we take a critical look at video methods by reporting progress that has been made while acknowledging gaps and work that remains to be done. Our critical considerations point repeatedly at articles in this special issue, which represent recent and important advances in video methods.

Why I think shadowing is the best field technique in management and organization studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Czarniawska
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Settings ◽  
Field Technique

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of shadowing as a field technique. Design/methodology/approach – This piece takes the form of a viewpoint. Findings – Barbara Czarniawska describes the methodological journey that led her to the adoption of shadowing approaches in her organizational research. Originality/value – This invited commentary is informed by extensive experience of using shadowing to gather data in organizational settings.

The Grounded Theory Methodology in Organization Studies Within Qualitative Research

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Practical Research ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Development Practice

It is believed that the grounded theory (GT) approach works best for researchers who are concerned about the gap between academic and practical research because of the importance they place on applied research. The chapter aimed to explain the GT methodology and identify its application in organizational research context. In this regard, the theory-research-development-practice cycle, the factors affecting the choice of organization research methodology, and the types of qualitative research methods have been studied by comparing four qualitative methods of case study, GT, phenomenological study, and content analysis. Also, in this regard, the four main GT schools including Glaserian classic GT, Straussian GT, Charmazian constructivist GT, and Clarkeian situational GT, as well as the GT process involving the phases of data collection, coding, memo-ing, sorting, and validation are discussed in detail.

Time, Temporality, and History in Process Organization Studies

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Juliane Reinecke ◽  
Roy Suddaby ◽  
Ann Langley ◽  
Haridimos Tsoukas
Keyword(s):  
Central Element ◽  
Processes Of Change ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Precise Relationship ◽  
Organizational Study ◽  
Organizational Scholarship ◽  
Relationship Of

Time and history have emerged as prominent subjects of interest in organization studies. This volume stands testament to the recent foregrounding of time and history as focal objects of organizational study and scholarship. The precise relationship of temporality and history to processes of change remains under-theorized, and we lack a coherent set of conceptual tools that can be applied to ongoing research directed to addressing the puzzle. The chapters in this volume, devoted to understanding temporality and history as a central element of process, offer a glimpse of both a defining puzzle and a set of emergent conceptual tools that might be useful for scholars engaged in historical and temporally sensitive organizational research. Before elaborating their contribution to the emergent theoretical scaffolding of historical and temporal organizational scholarship, this chapter presents the puzzle and its evolution in prior literature.

Anecdotal evidence: understanding organizational reality through organizational humorous tales

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 539-561
Author(s):  
Dariusz Jemielniak ◽  
Aleksandra Przegalińska ◽  
Agata Stasik
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Anecdotal Evidence ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Humor Studies

Abstract In the paper, we propose a new focus in qualitative organization studies, which we call organizational anecdotal evidence. The novelty of our method is in linking storytelling, studies of organizational anecdotes, and humor studies. We claim that organizational anecdotes, jokes, and short fictional stories should become a core object of organizational culture analysis, rather than be refuted as unimportant. This is so because the study of organizational anecdotes and fictional stories shared by the social actors is more meaningful and gives more insight into their culture than establishing mere facts. In the article, we briefly relate the limitations of factual studies in many areas of organizational research, describe the theoretical background of our method (coming from humor studies, storytelling, and organizational anecdotes analysis), and propose their combination as a new approach for organization scholars, namely, organizational anecdotal evidence research. The utility of the proposed methodological approach is demonstrated based on original research conducted in a public administration organization.

scholarly journals Towards an Articulation of the Material and Visual Turn in Organization Studies

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 597-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Boxenbaum ◽  
Candace Jones ◽  
Renate E. Meyer ◽  
Silviya Svejenova
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Organizational Theory ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Visual Artifacts

Contemporary organizations increasingly rely on images, logos, videos, building materials, graphic and product design, and a range of other material and visual artifacts to compete, communicate, form identity and organize their activities. This Special Issue focuses on materiality and visuality in the course of objectifying and reacting to novel ideas, and, more broadly, contributes to organizational theory by articulating the emergent contours of a material and visual turn in the study of organizations. In this Introduction, we provide an overview of research on materiality and visuality. Drawing on the articles in the special issue, we further explore the affordances and limits of the material and visual dimensions of organizing in relation to novelty. We conclude by pointing out theoretical avenues for advancing multimodal research, and discuss some of the ethical, pragmatic and identity-related challenges that a material and visual turn could pose for organizational research.

scholarly journals On guilt and the depoliticization of downsizing practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 156-180
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Karfakis ◽  
George Kokkinidis
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Existing Structures ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
Collective Resistance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical conceptualisation of guilt and the depoliticization of downsizing practices. The authors begin with a critical review of the relevant management literature aiming to establish the discursive normalization and individualization of (un)employment. The authors then use secondary sources to reflect on the downsizing process. A process that, as the authors argue, is distinguished into three separate but interconnected phases: corporate memos (phase 1), termination scripts (phase 2) and the role of outplacement services (phase 3). By examining this process, the aim is to point to the mechanisms through which downsizing practices are neutralized and depoliticized. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual work that provides a systematic overview of the existing management literature on downsizing and guilt. Use of other secondary sources (corporate memos and termination scripts) is also employed to draw links between the discursive normalization of downsizing as identified in the relevant literature and the specific organizational processes and practices implemented by corporations during downsizing. The authors identify common ideas and themes that cut across the relevant literature and the secondary sources and aim to offer a theoretical conceptualisation of guilt and the depoliticization of downsizing practices. Findings This paper argues that downsizing discourses and practices contribute to the feelings of personal responsibility and self-blame, reinforcing an individualistic understanding of work and unemployment that excludes more structural ones, and that it helps in reproducing the existing structures of power. Research limitations/implications The study recognizes that employees’ reactions are not only unpredictable but also constantly evolving, depending on personal and social circumstances. The authors also recognize that the work is based on secondary sources much of which talk about practices in US companies, and thus the authors are and should be cautious of generalizations. The authors hope, however, that the authors will encourage further empirical research, particularly among organization studies and critical management scholars, on downsizing practices and guilt. For the authors’ part, the authors have tried to offer a critical reflection on how guilt is produced through corporate discourses and practices, and the authors believe that further empirical investigation on the three phases of the downsizing process (as identified in our work) and the lived experience of (un)employment is needed. As corporate downsizing discourses and practices frame (un)employment in strictly individualist and behavioral terms, the authors wish to emphasize the need for further theoretical investigation and political contestation. The authors, therefore, hope that the work will contribute to the relevant literature on downsizing practices and open up the discussions around layoff policies and the structural conditions of (un)employment. Originality/value The paper shows that downsizing practices and feelings of guilt are strongly linked to and exemplify the “individualization” of social and political issues such as work and unemployment. The authors suggest that individualization signifies, in some sense, a retreat from organized collective resistance and mobilization based upon class and that the prevalence of the ideology of individualism (and its correlative, meritocracy), over alternative explanations and solutions to such public issues, helps in reproducing existing structures of power and inequity.

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