Kenimani-Kenimatoni Organisational Practice : An Africanised Construct of Superordinate-Subordinate Relationships in a University System

This theoretical formulation responded to the quest for Africanised epistemic space to construct the hidden indigenous practices into the world of knowledge. Kenimani (that others may not have) and Kenimatoni (that others may not reach up to one’s status), a Yoruba language, one of the African languages was rationalised as an organisational theory of relationships capable of understanding and interpreting people’s actions, and inactions in organisations. The exploration was guided by examining how the underlying meaning and principles of Kenimani-Kenimatoni can be exemplified to the leadership and followership syndrome of organisational relationships. The article was designed using inductive and deductive experiential exploration to present the argument. Yoruba and its beauties were examined to open a linguistic permutation for the analysis. The two Yoruba words ‘kenimani’ and ‘kenimatoni’and their conjunctional framing as peculiar to university community were elucidated to reflect university organisational relationships. The dilemma of positivism and the negativism and the principles embedded in the Kenimani-Kenimatoni organisational practices were uncovered. The Kenimani-Kenimatoni epistemic standpoint was also exemplified with the conclusion that African society is rich in knowledge and practices. Therefore, an Africanised practice like Kenimani- Kenimatoni can explain relationship dynamics in organisations, though this is open to further scholastic discourse.

Shaping migration at the border: the entangled rationalities of border control practices

This article analyses how border guards as members of a state organisation shape the movement of non-nationals into the territory of a nation state. Based on ethnographic fieldwork on the Swiss Border Guard (SBG), it explores the rationalities—understood as stabilised ways of reasoning and acting—that characterise practices within this state organisation. Combining organisational and structuration theory with a street-level bureaucracy perspective allows for a differentiated analysis of the various facets of border guards’ everyday work. Four rationalities of border-control practices are identified and compared: security, humanitarian, cost-calculation, and pragmatic rationality. I argue that, by considering both the specific goals and imperatives of border control and the characteristics of street-level bureaucrats acting within a state organisation, these entangled logics explain the complex and incoherent social reality of border control. More generally, the results contribute to organisational theory by pointing to the importance of taking into account that multiple entangled rationalities structure the practices of an organisation’s members.

MEASURING HUMAN RESOURCE ATTITUDE USING ORGANISATIONAL THEORY OF RELATIONSHIP: THE WAY FORWARD

This paper argues that classical socialisation theories generally discuss the organisational structures rather than the newcomer’s psychology of relationships in any organisation and contributes to the socialisation stage model. In doing so, this research proposes an Organisational Theory of Relationship (OTR) for understanding the relationships of human resources in any organisation in four stages, namely fascination, contention, adaptation and adoration. The four stages have been examined in an empirical setting based on the data collected from 270 participants. Using the structural equation modelling, the measurement model validity was ascertained and several hypotheses were tested. The findings reveal that all employees in any organisation, intentionally or unintentionally, undergo some or all of the four stages. This model can provide a better insight into the organisational socialisation and individualism of its human resource. It also recommends the organisations to adopt the best possible strategies for uplifting employees’ psychological engagement to utilise their full potentials. The findings of the study can help to understand socialisation in relation to interpersonal relationships and provide a foundation for making socialisation in the organisation better.

Nachhaltigkeit in Banken

Sustainability has arrived on the financial market and in banks. The sustainability debate conveys a different form of procedural logic and different values and norms, towards which the banking industry, product development, communication with stakeholders or the banks’ own security deposit strategies are orientated and on which they are legitimised. How did this organisational and institutional change emerge? Why did actors at the level of particular banks advocate the implementation of sustainable symbols and practices and thus institutionalise thinking in terms of sustainability in the German banking sector? This book answers these questions and also helps to clarify the image of individual actors in sociological organisational theory.

Organisational Emergence – Interdisciplinary Perspectives against the Backdrop of the Digital Transformation

Organisational emergence is of key interest in organisational theory. Most of the present studies, however, analyse the emergence of changes in already existing phenomena such as, for example, how strategies or organisational routines are subject to change. In contrast, previous research in organisational theory has rarely addressed organisational emergence in essence (i.e., from scratch) and might benefit from looking beyond the confines of one’s own discipline. To address this void, we draw on the case of digital emergent self-organised organisations as an exemplary form thereof. Emerging organisations in digital environments appear to be created much more spontaneously, and multiple processes occur simultaneously. So, probing into a digital environment allows us to get a fresh perspective on organisational emergence and to advance previous theorising by incorporating notions from the fields of leadership and entrepreneurship.

Performative Change

Due to the phenomena of digitalisation, a new inventory regarding fundamental questions of organisation and communication has taken place, which has ultimately led to a plea for a paradigm shift. For if one follows recent developments in organisational theory and rethinks it radically, the relationship between the means and the purpose—that is, between production and the product and between creation and the artefact—is also reversed. With that relationship seen in this manner, it is not necessarily the organisation and socialisation of human beings that enables them to create artefacts, but it is rather the artefact that may serve to bring people together, enable them to acquire new skills and knowledge, and finally bring organisation to the level that we are now familiar with. Transferred to communication, this would also call into question the ideal of a consensus and, on the other hand, give more prominence to the idea of language games—as first formulated by Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Resistance and solidarity: organising for women’s human rights

Using Lacanian, feminist, and organisational theory, this article explores the problem and question of violence against women and gender justice. In it, I argue that this violence and degradation against women is a fact, while simultaneously linking the notion of gender and its uncertain historicity to the traumatic discursive and psychical nature of en/gendering and to what this might mean for an organisation whose mission is gender justice. The inevitable push to settle the meanings of women and leadership marks the impossible desire to know. I highlight the work of an established feminist international women’s rights and gender-justice organisation and its efforts to resist this push to settle meanings and the related implications and challenges this may have on their shared-leadership model.

Introducing the storytelling analysis methodology in marketing: Principles, contributions and implementation

This article aims to present the storytelling analysis methodology and reveals its relevance for marketing research from an organisational perspective. Although marketing has considered different theoretical approaches to storytelling, its methodological dimension remains largely overlooked; exceptions are organisational disciplines of management science, especially organisational theory from which it originated. However, it appears to be a fertile methodology for the study of various research topics and qualitative data in marketing. The storytelling analysis methodology is a way to tap into deeper realities by exploring the symbolism conveyed by stories. This article illustrates its implementation step by step and develops its appeal for marketing research through an investigation of discourses flourishing in organisations. Recommendations, practical tools and a research agenda are suggested for marketing academics interested in the analysis of marketing in its organisational dimension.

Women’s prospects for career advancement: Narratives of women in core mining positions in a South African mining organisation

Orientation: Even though there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of women employed in the mining industry, the figures hide many gender inequalities as the gendered impediments to career advancement persist despite South Africa’s remarkable equity policy regime. However, it is unclear, from the perspective of the women themselves, how their career advancement is encumbered.Research purpose: This study reflects on the prospects for career advancement by exploring the work and organisational experiences of women in core mining positions in an open-cast mining organisation in South Africa.Motivation for the study: To reflect on the prospects for career advancement of women in core mining positions.Research approach, design and method: Eight professional women, selected through a purposive sampling procedure, participated in in-depth unstructured interviews. Data were analysed using Creswell’s simplified version of the Stevick–Colaizzi–Keen method, guided by the lens of gendered organisations.Main findings: Three themes emerged: (1) male domination that has marginalised women and compelled them to emulate masculinity has legitimised existing gender barriers, (2) the long, awkward and unpredictable hours of work have deepened women’s time constraints because they have to combine the home or family caretaker role with work, and (3) the essence of being a woman in a mining organisation.Practical/managerial implications: The study may present South African managers with a better understanding of how work and organisational features, policies, daily practices and discourses impede career advancement of women in core mining positions. Organisations should train managers to create conditions that minimise barriers and maximise performance and advancement, and align retention strategies.Contribution/value-add: This study builds on existing knowledge about career advancement of women by providing new and valuable information specific to women in core mining positions in an open-cast mining organisation in South Africa, seen through the lens of gendered organisational theory. The findings highlight the need for organisational theory research that is responsive to the subtle issues and gendered assumptions that sustain encumbrances to women’s career trajectories.