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ISSN 0953-4814
Volume 20 Number 3 2007
Journal of
Organizational Change Management Organizational change: over-psychologized and under-socialized? Editor: Slawomir Magala
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Journal of
ISSN 0953-4814
Organizational Change Management
Volume 20 Number 3 2007
Organizational change: over-psychologized and under-socialized? Editor Slawomir Magala
Access this journal online __________________________ 267 Editorial advisory board ___________________________ 268 Editor’s introduction _______________________________ 269 Organizational intelligence: a structuration view Ali E. Akgu¨n, John Byrne and Halit Keskin __________________________
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Post bureaucracy and the politics of forgetting: the management of change at the BBC, 1991-2002 Martin Harris and Victoria Wegg-Prosser ___________________________
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The guru’s gusto: management fashion, performance and taste Rene´ ten Bos and Stefan Heusinkveld _______________________________
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Ecopreneurship – a new approach to managing the triple bottom line Sarah E.A. Dixon and Anne Clifford _______________________________
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CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Aesthetics from a design perspective Mathieu Weggeman, Irene Lammers and Henk Akkermans _____________
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continued
The division of the subject and the organization: a Lacanian approach to subjectivity at work Gilles Arnaud and Stijn Vanheule __________________________________
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First steps: linking change communication to change receptivity Jennifer Frahm and Kerry Brown __________________________________
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Developing internet operations and subcultural dynamics: an exploratory study Emmanuel Ogbonna and Lloyd C. Harris ____________________________
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Finding form: elite sports and the business of change Sarah Gilmore and Clive Gilson ____________________________________
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Corporate entrepreneurship: an empirical look at the innovativeness dimension and its antecedents Matthew W. Rutherford and Daniel T. Holt __________________________
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Music as a metaphor for organizational change Saku Mantere, John A.A. Sillince and Virpi Ha¨ma¨la¨inen________________
447
Book reviews______________________________________ 460 Calls for papers ___________________________________ 466
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Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 p. 268 # Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD James Barker HQ USAFA/DFM Colorado Springs, USA David Barry University of Auckland, New Zealand Jean Bartunek Boston College, USA Dominique Besson IAE de Lille, France Steven Best University of Texas-El Paso, USA Michael Bokeno Murray State University, Kentucky, USA Mary Boyce University of Redlands, USA Warner Burke Columbia University, USA Adrian Carr University of Western Sydney-Nepean, Australia Stewart Clegg University of Technology (Sydney), Australia David Collins University of Essex, UK Cary Cooper Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster, UK Ann L. Cunliffe University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Robert Dennehy Pace University, USA Eric Dent University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, USA Alexis Downs The Business School, Emporia State University, Kansas, USA Ken Ehrensal Kutztown University, USA Max Elden University of Houston, USA Andre´ M. Everett University of Otago, New Zealand Dale Fitzgibbons Illinois State University, USA Jeffrey Ford Ohio State University, USA Jeanie M. Forray Western New England College, USA Robert Gephart University of Alberta, Canada Clive Gilson University of Waikato, New Zealand Andy Grimes Lexington, Kentucky, USA Usha C.V. Haley School of Business, University of New Haven, USA Heather Ho¨pfl Professor of Management, University of Essex, UK
Maria Humphries University of Waikato, New Zealand Arzu Iseri Bogazici University, Turkey David Jamieson Pepperdine University, USA Campbell Jones Management Centre, University of Leicester, UK David Knights Keele University, UK Monika Kostera Va¨xjo¨ University, Sweden Hugo Letiche University for Humanist Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands Benyamin Lichtenstein University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA Stephen A. Linstead Durham Business School, University of Durham, UK Slawek Magala Erasmus University, The Netherlands Rickie Moore E.M. Lyon, France Ken Murrell University of West Florida, USA Eric Nielsen Case Western Reserve University, USA Walter Nord University of South Florida, USA Ellen O’Connor Chronos Associates, Los Altos, California, USA Cliff Oswick King’s College, University of London, UK Ian Palmer University of Technology (Sydney), Australia Michael Peron The University of Paris, Sorbonne, France Gavin M. Schwarz University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Abraham Shani California Polytechnic State University, USA Ralph Stablein Massey University, New Zealand Carol Steiner Monash University, Australia David S. Steingard St Joseph’s University, USA Ram Tenkasi Benedictine University, USA Tojo Joseph Thatchenkery George Mason University, Fairfax, USA Christa Walck Michigan Technological University, USA Richard Woodman Graduate School of Business, Texas A&M University, USA
Editor’s introduction The organizational change is all around us and it is duly noticed, studied and theorized upon in spite of the fact that it is heavily over-psyched and easily under-socialized. This imbalance is best illustrated by the shrinking of the shelf space for sociological books in academic bookshops, accompanied by the broadening of the shelf space for books in psychology (or, for that matter, in philosophy). What does this imbalance reflect apart from the lack of embedding of a civil society, whose members observe markets and states fighting above their heads? It reflects the relative neglect of the power struggles (yes, yes, including the class struggle and the struggle of the sexes). It also reflects the relative professional power of psychologists and sociologists, respectively, (which can be measured, for instance, by the fact that the latter are relatively less frequently asked to consult for companies and as of late even for the governments). There are many complex reasons and many streams of interwoven contextual constraints, which must be studied in order to understand how we arrived at the present predicament, but it appears that one of the main underlying constellations of causal factors has to do with the spread of formal professional organizations as the privileged way of shaping social processes. To put it in a nutshell: we would like to identify ourselves with the avant-garde elites of the knowledge intensive firms and institutions, but we would also like to feel the warm solidarity of the populist appeals fired by our professional activities and spreading sustainable wealth, sophisticated culture and democratically distributed power to the previously excluded, locked out, “nickel and dimed.” Managers and sponsors, bureaucrats and gate keepers cannot see what we as professional researchers refuse to see and to study with due diligence. Can we correct this one-sidedness, reduce the imbalance, offer a more credible and sustainable promise? Most authors in the present double issue of the regular potpourri edition of JOCM would probably place themselves closer to the critical management studies than to any other recognized and stabilized mainstream school of thought or academic platform. Ali Akgun applies Giddens’ structuration theory in order to gain leverage in understanding organizational intelligence in a somewhat less biased, psychologically defined approach. He expresses hope that structuration theory will help researchers and managers to operationalize organizational intelligence. The next authors, Martin Harris and Victoria Wegg-Prosser, offer us their analysis of 44 semi-structured interviews with the key BBC professionals involved in “producer choice” change program, noting the ambiguous nature of actual changes and the regular ebb and flow of increased managerial control or of surges of creativity. Perhaps the most astonishing finding is that in spite of all the change rhetoric and marketization or digitalization campaigns, the head count of 25,000 full time employees in 2005 does not differ from the one in 1977, before the change campaigns had started. Does it mean that professional cultural bureaucracies are more resourceful than their nominal – political and economic-masters? That culture and cultural expertise offer more niches and modes of resistance than theoreticians of organizations dare to imagine? Rene ten Bos and Stefan Heusinkveld would have answered the above question in the positive. For them, an organizational change requires managers, consultants and temporary
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holders of a separate “status” namely “gurus” who turn fads and foibles of managerial sciences into standards of choice and taste, thus setting the trends for learning organization, communities of knowledge or fifth disciplines. Sarah E.A. Dixon and Anne Clifford examine one such emergent standard of managerial preferences – namely the ecopreneurship (or ecologically and socially sustainable entrepreneurship) trying to plot the practical framework for social and green entrepreneurship with the successful Green-Works case study from the UK. Not only ethical, but also aesthetic values influence and color our decisions about designing and running business organizations. Mathieu Weggeman, Irene Lammers and Henk Akkermans discuss the influence exerted by the “beautiful” product, elegant process and aesthetic sensibility of employees and clients upon organizational performance and the very shape of organizational realities around us. Their quote from Arthur Danto (“Beauty is an option for art and not a necessary condition. But it is not an option for life. It is a necessary condition for life as we would want to live it”) deserves attention not only of change “gurus,” but also of everybody concerned with the relative lack of attention paid to the aesthetic impact of organizational environments upon individuals and communities. Gilles Arnaud and Stijn Vanheule tackle the problem of an individual sensibility from a different point of view, namely by discussing the relevance of Lacanian psychoanalytical theory for generating insights into change processes. They focus on the individual dissatisfaction with work processes and a relative neglect of individual subjectivity (“intimate dimension”) in managerial discourses (lip service to differentiated individualized psychological contracts notwithstanding). They evoke Burkhardt Sievers on love and death in organizationas as well as studies of Enriques on sex and power and opt for a future “possible psychoanalytic ecology of human resources.” It is a bold claim, but a respectable one – ever since Zizek demonstrated the uses of Lacan in political and ideological analyses. Jennifer Frahm and Kerry Brown bring us back to the empirical testing grounds for theoretical claims and follow a change project linked to the new technology diffusion in a non-profit, public organization. They focus on organizational communications, trying to determine the relationship between the nature and frequency of communications on the one hand and receptivity to change demonstrated by employees on the other. The attribute the decreased receptivity to change, manifested in cynicism, contempt, uncertainty and frustration to a lack of formal changes in communication strategies and the absent, silent CEO. Emmanuel Ogobonna picks up the issue of an organizational change linked to the diffusion of a new technology, but focuses on communication technologies, internet and intranet, as underlying determinants of the organizational cultural dynamics. He pays special attention to the emergent subcultures (internet operations unit, aptly nicknamed “coterie” or “subculture of nerds”) and the attempts of their members to increase their visibility and influence within the organization as a whole (an attempt hotly contested and opposed by those threatened by the emergent subculture). Sarah Gilmore and Clive Gibson tackle a different issue in their case study of an elite sports organization, namely the ability to detect and preserve an uneasy balance between a necessary short-term radical change on the one hand and the “long-term gestation of value through asset protection and acquisition” on the other. They stress the importance of longitudinal and contextual data for studying the background and backstage processes accompanying organizational change. A similar set of conclusions has been reached by Matthew W. Rutherford and Daniel T. Holt in their study of
corporate entrepreneurship based on responses of 264 employees of a single company to a web questionnaire. They investigated the influence of three variables – process, context and individual characteristics upon desirable individual outcomes (job satisfaction, affective commitment, turnover intention) as indicative of an organizational ability to innovate, initiate entrepreneurial projects and successfully implement change. Finally, picking up an aesthetic theme, Saku Mantere, John A.A. Sillince and Virpi Hamalainen write on “Music as a metaphor for organizational change.” The theme comes hardly as a surprise after a well-known polemic between Mary Jo Hatch and Carl Weick devoted to this problem, a few years ago. Participants in this discussion wondered if the breaking away from an iron cage of classical music did indeed set jazz musicians free to improvise and create without restrictions or imprisoned them again in the velvet cage of dominant stars (Miles Davis prevented his band from rehearsing in order to “force” improvisation out of them) and new, quickly emerging and hardening conventions. Mantere, Sillince and Hamalainen ask if an organizational change can be a pleasing experience for organizational members and if the “discomfort of change can be controlled through structured sensemaking?” They attempt to make their point by looking for behavioral equivalents of changes in harmony, rhythm, volume, form or texture of patterned interactions in organizational context. The issue closes with the book review by Kate Trygstad – which is devoted to “Retreats that Work” or a guide for facilitators aiding them in a creation of “safe space” for teaming up and stimulating group learning. Readers who survive this double load of creative insights into organizational change processes, will – hopefully – be better equipped to tackle real change in their respective environments, contexts and circumstances. Slawomir Magala
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm
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Organizational intelligence: a structuration view Ali E. Akgu¨n
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Science and Technology Studies, Gebze Institute of Technology, Turkey
John Byrne Received March 2005 Revised January 2006 Accepted March 2006
Lubin School of Business, Pace University, New York, NY, USA, and
Halit Keskin Science and Technology Studies, Gebze Institute of Technology, Turkey Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to unify the fragmented views on organizational intelligence from the perspective of Giddens’ structuration theory. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used a case study of a firm, which is a small electronics manufacturing group located in the New England area of the northeast USA. Data were collected by observation, oral histories and through discussion and interviews with organization members. Findings – It was observed that a structuration view of organization intelligence removes the individual/organization level intelligence dichotomy, and integrates the fragmented studies on the epistemology of intelligence, e.g. cognitive, behavioral and social/emotional. Research limitations/implications – Propositions for further research are formulated. However, findings are derived on the basis of a substantive case study in a particular country. Further, research needs to expand this base to encompass other organizations in a wider range of countries across different cultures. Practical implications – This paper helps managers to assess and to operationalize organizational intelligence. Originality/value – This paper proposes a more comprehensive understanding of intelligence in organizations. Keywords Intelligence, Organizations, Organizational behaviour, Electronics industry, United States of America Paper type Research paper
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 272-289 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740137
Introduction As a fascinating concept and intriguing research area, “intelligence” finds strong appeal in many disciplines outside of individual and cognitive psychology (Sternberg and Kaufman, 1998). One of the disciplines that provoked increased interest in the importance of intelligence is the management and organization development literature (Glynn, 1996; March, 1999; Stalinski, 2004). Even if we disregard the entire literature in which organizational intelligence was supposedly aggregated (Kurzman and Owens, 2002), the term is still ambiguous in the context of organizational development scholarship. This is true because there is a lack of a unified theory of intelligence in organizational settings as noted by the numerous and fragmented perspectives and ideas of researchers in the field (Glynn, 1996). Specifically, researchers investigated organizational intelligence from different epistemological perspectives,
such as cognitive, behavioral and social/emotional. Each perspective touches upon different avenues of this complex phenomenon and each attempts to compensate for the other. For instance, while cognitive perspective highlights the internal structures and processes, i.e. information-processing capabilities, it puts the environment in a passive role and asserts representational dependence and relative contextual independence (Serpa, 2000). Interestingly, the behavioral perspective addresses behavior-environment relationships resulting in the adaptive behavior of organizations to the external environment (Serpa, 2000), while omitting information-processing capabilities (Schlinger, 1992). In addition to, the epistemological perspectives, the ontological basis of intelligence, i.e. individual and organizational, causes a confusion about who or what has the intelligence in an organizational setting and thereby leads to the reductionism of the organizational intelligence phenomenon. Even though there is little doubt that organizational intelligence is related to individual intelligence by mechanisms of aggregation (e.g. individual members’ intelligence accumulates to become organizational intelligence), cross-level transference (e.g. individuals’ intelligence is transformed and codified as organizational intelligence), and distribution (e.g. organizational intelligence is embedded in the structured patterns of thought and action in which organizational members interact and engage) as noted by Glynn (1996, p. 1089), the dividing line between individual and organizational intelligence is too imprecise to readily allow differentiation of these constructs. As organizations consist of: . individuals, and their reciprocal interactions, knowledge, behaviors, cognitions, feelings, emotions, and functional cultures; . information processing infrastructures, such as information technologies; and . interpretive systems for environmental events[1], one should blend the different perspectives and ontology on intelligence to highlight a more comprehensive view of organizational intelligence, and to better explain an intelligent organization. Such dualism of individual and organization does not ensure that the two elements address the whole of intelligence. Also, different epistemologies, such as cognitive, behavioral and emotional, though conceptually distinct are interdependent, and not separate or opposed. Accordingly, the goal of this study is to argue how the blending of the different schools of thought can lead to a comprehensive understanding of organizational intelligence in the management and organizational development literature. Organizational intelligence is an inherently social process[2] (Glynn, 1996; Akgu¨n et al., 2003), in which building theories of organizational intelligence based on theories of individual intelligence alone tends to ignore. In turn, the application of individual intelligence fails to capture the social nature of organizational intelligence, thus requiring a social theory to form the basis of: . a coherent and adequate account of the role of individuals in organizational intelligence; and . to merge the different views on intelligence. To address this, we use Giddens’ structuration theory to leverage the understanding of organizational intelligence, because the relationship between individual and organizational or collective phenomena is at the heart of the theory, and Giddens’
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analysis of structure enables addressing the interplay of cognition, behavior, and social systems (Giddens, 1984; Staber and Sydow, 2002; Berends et al., 2003). Specifically, structuration theory neither neglects the individual nor the organizational level nor reduces organizational intelligence to one of those levels. This is not without its own controversies as structuration theory has been criticized on many fronts (Edwards, 2000). For instance, Mestrovic (1998) chides Giddens for overemphasizing knowledge and skills. However, the researchers propose that structuration theory provides useful sensitizing devices to develop the notion of a comprehensive view of organizational intelligence in this study. In the sections that follow, we: . explain the concept and phenomenon of intelligence as used in different streams of research and as identified by Glynn (1996), Huber (1990), Sandelands and Stablein (1987), Choo (1998), and Huy (1999); . briefly address the structuration theory of Giddens; . illustrate, support, and elaborate on the use of the structurationist model of organizational intelligence by examples drawn from a case study conducted by a university’s research department, and then generate proposals; and . discuss the implication of structuration theory from the managerial perspective. Background In her seminal study, Glynn (1996) noted that the term “organizational intelligence” is used variedly as: . a description of information-processing capabilities as well as the outcome of this process; . a description of the intelligence of people as well as aggregation of their intelligence; and . a metaphor for organization, and a property of the organization. Despite these different views, many writers agree on the basic conceptual definition of that which possesses intelligence as having the: . capacity for information processing, learning and problem solving; . ability to adapt to and reshape its environment; and . ability to understand the feeling, thoughts and behaviors of people, and to act appropriately upon that understanding (Sternberg and Kaufman, 1998; Sternberg, 1985). Specifically, these different conceptualizations of intelligence converged on the three epistemological views: cognitive, behavioral, and social/emotional perspectives (Shepard et al., 1999; Serpa, 2000). Each epistemological perspective and embedded ontological base is discussed below. Cognitive perspective Cognitive theory emphasizes the computational perspective and mental representations exemplified by behavioral decision-making research in the fundamentals of information processing arena (Schlinger, 1992). In this vein, individual intelligence is conceptualized
as information-processing capability that is used to solve problems or meet task challenges. Simon (1976), for instance, notes that cognitive science is the study of intelligence and defines intelligence as a diverse set of information processing abilities. Glynn (1996), by investigating the literature on individual intelligence, pointed out that individual intelligence is conceptualized as information-processing capability. Sharing similar functional properties, at the organizational level, cognitive perspective highlights the information-processing capability perspective of organizational intelligence (Glynn, 1996; Choo, 1998). Specifically, intelligence is conceptualized as an organization’s information-processing capability, which seeks to understand and predict how organizations perceive, interpret, store, disseminate and utilize information. For instance, McMaster (1996, p. 3) states that: Organizational intelligence refers to the capacity of a corporation as a whole to gather information, to innovate, to generate knowledge, and to act effectively based on the knowledge it has generated.
Wilensky (1967) viewed organizational intelligence in terms of gathering, processing, interpreting and communicating the information needed in decision-making processes. Following this school of thought, “intelligence” is perceived as a thing or an entity that an organization possesses, upon which it acts on and thereby changes its environment. The cognitive perspective stresses a logical formal structural approach that highlights intelligence as a fixed property of organizations, because organizations have information processing systems, they have intelligence. This “fixed property” view of intelligence indicates that all organizations have intelligence, and that neither the organizations nor individuals in them are unintelligent. However, in practice, while some organizations use their information-processing capabilities effectively, acting “intelligently,” others do not use their information-processing capabilities effectively, acting less intelligently[3]. Also, this view provides a description or a result rather than a definition or an explanation of organizational intelligence. For instance, Howe (1998) argues that the term intelligence is sometimes seen as productivity. He points out that simply stating that one factory is more productive is not a satisfactory explanation for why one factory produces more than another. According to him, the term “productive” does not explain anything; it is just another term for what is already known. For him, “productive” is a valuable descriptive term, it is not an effective explanatory concept. Finally, treating intelligence as an entity causes problems of reification and circular reasoning, because the cognitive perspective emphasizes the computational view exemplified by the work of mental representations, related to perception, attention and memory and information-technologies. The components of organizational intelligence in the cognitive perspective are the information-processing capabilities constructs, such as capabilities to acquire information, its interpretation, dissemination, storing and implementation (Huber, 1991). The capability to acquire information refers to the ability of an organization to gather data from various sources, including customers, competitors, economic assessments, financial statements, social reports, consultants, new employees, acquisitions and mergers, and so on. Information interpretation capability means the ability to construct, filter, organize, and frame information in a meaningful way. Information dissemination capability means the ability of an organization to distribute and share information in organizations through a variety of means, including formal
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communication means (e.g. memos, reports, bulletin boards, and face-to-face meetings) as well as informal communication means (e.g. coffee-breaks, water-cooler discussions, hallway meetings, and so on). Information storing capability is the ability to store information in the organization’s history, routines and beliefs (Walsh and Ungson, 1991). Information implementation capability refers to the ability to use or utilize information to solve problems during the new product development process, technology transfer, or marketing and administration processes. Behavioral perspective The behavioral school of thought sees intelligence not as a fixed property, but as a characteristic defined, if not bound, by behaviors. Schlinger (2003), for instance, argued in the “Myth of Intelligence” that intelligence is not an entity or a fixed quantity; rather it is like other terms such as mind or personality in that the only objective referents are the behaviors that occasion the terms. Specifically, he suggests that one should analyze the word to understand this concept clearly. He notes that the word intelligence comes from Latin intellegere, meaning to perceive or understand, from the roots inter meaning between or among, and legere, meaning to gather, pick or choose (Schlinger, 2003, p. 24). He further argues that these roots do not refer to inferred essence or qualities, but rather to behaviors, in this case, gathering, picking and choosing. Thus, according to Schlinger (2003), intelligence, or intelligent behavior, is what we observe when we say that an individual perceives and makes an appropriate choice (i.e. reacts to relationships between or differences among situations). In this respect, intelligence is related to and demonstrated by adaptive behavior, achieving the goals and satisfying the desires and motivations of individuals. A similar view of intelligence can be seen in the organizational level of analyses (Glynn, 1996). According to this school of thought, an organization demonstrates its intelligence when it responds to the changing conditions, problems and other issues in an adaptive manner, by modifying its behavior (Doise and Mugny, 1984). In this sense, intelligence is the disposition of an organization to adapt its behavior. For instance, Sandelands and Stablein (1987, p. 138) describes the intelligence as: . . . the ability to maintain a working similarity between mind and nature. . . more generally, this ability is concerned with achieving and maintaining congruence or isomorphism between what is mind (i.e. ideas, feelings) and what is external.
Weber et al. (1996) also said that intelligence “. . . is the ability of an organization to shape and change the environment and to adapt to its environment based on its aims and abilities.” However, this adaptation view of intelligence, which is typically used as an adjective rather than a noun, is not a “thing in the head,” but a characteristic of behavior. Behaviors that are deemed intelligent or not intelligent may indeed be in the eye of the beholder and not readily objectively determined, because in this school of thought intelligence contains an abstract-defining feature (Howe, 1998). Further, determining whether a given behavior is adaptive requires a large amount of complex information, because adaptiveness varies with context, time frames, goals and numerous other variables. In particular, it is not clear, what behaviors and the context in which they occurred or were observed, leads one to use the term intelligence, and what accounts for intelligent behavior in the organizational development scholarship.
Also, by its context, intelligence is descriptive and does not go beyond the observations of adaptive behavior. The components of organizational intelligence, from the behaviorist’s perspective, are the adaptive capability constructs, such as multiplexity, redundancy, and loose coupling as pointed out by Staber and Sydow (2002). Multiplexity refers to the number and diversity of relations between actors in organizations. In essence, multiplexity refers to the degree to which the same people are involved in different networks in an organization. Multiplexity helps people distribute information throughout an organization and access a variety of points of views. It thereby, provides the development of a shared organizational mind (Staber and Sydow, 2002). Redundancy is defined as resource slack reflected in the presence of surplus employees, unused productive capacity, broad job description, tolerance for mistakes, parallel communication channels, or idle information (Nohria and Gulati, 1996). It is a cushion that allows organizations to adjust internal structures successfully for external pressures. Loose coupling refers to the strength of linkages between organizational elements. Loose coupling denotes that a range of units and activities are relatively independent and can adjust to changing demands in different ways and at varying rates (Orton and Weick, 1990). For instance, Staber and Sydow (2002) pointed out that loose coupling in an organization implies that control is decentralized and information travels slowly and unevenly; the norms and rules are evaluated and scattered thinly throughout the organization; and members are allowed to execute daily duties at their own discretion and draw on a variety of inconsistently related criteria to interpret their participation. Social/emotional perspective Social intelligence is characterized as the ability to accomplish interpersonal tasks or the ability to understand and relate to people (Fatt, 2002). Social intelligence describes an individual’s capacities to discern and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of other people by involving social perception (the ability to understand social-emotional clues) and social inference (the ability to infer underlying motives and traits) (Conte, 1999). Social intelligence includes the idea of emotional intelligence, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence, and practical intelligence (Mayer et al., 2000). It is worth stating that social intelligence is equated with emotional intelligence in general and emotional capability in particular in organizational development settings. Initiated by Salovey and Mayer (1990, p. 189), who perceived emotional intelligence as a subset of social intelligence, emotional intelligence is defined as “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” Emotional intelligence is manifested as harmonious relationships among workers. This harmony is the basis of the synergistic sharing of skills and competencies and of creating and sustaining informal networks (Goleman, 1995). However, emotional intelligence depicts an array of non-cognitive capabilities and competencies and does not directly address the mental processes needed to cope with environmental demands and pressures. Also, emotional intelligence is descriptive rather than exploratory, because an emotionally intelligent response to a real-life problem is not well-defined and often depends on mitigating circumstances. As the emotional intelligence construct is still new and under investigation, it is not clear how to decide whether a response to a stimulus is emotionally intelligent or not.
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From the emotional intelligence construct perspective, the components of organizational intelligence consist of the emotional capability constructs, including the dynamics of experiencing, reconciling, identification, encouragement, displaying freedom, and playfulness (Huy, 1999). Emotional experiencing refers to the quality of an organization’s efforts to identify the variety of emotions, to accept and internalize them, and to act on a deep level of understanding. Emotional reconciliation is the process of bringing together two seemingly opposing values people feel strongly about. The emotional dynamic of identification refers to the collective behavior whereby organization members express their deep attachment to salient organization characteristics. The emotional dynamic of encouragement denotes the organization’s ability to instill hope and success among all of its members. Displaying freedom refers to the organization’s ability to facilitate the variety of authentic emotions that legitimately can be displayed (and felt) in the organization. The dynamic of playfulness describes the ability of an organization to create a context that encourages experimentation and that tolerates mistakes, thus providing a safe and protective work environment. A unified model for organizational intelligence An overview of structuration theory Giddens (1984) employs the concepts of duality of structuration to explain the dynamic relationship between human agency and the structure[4] of social systems. Instead of agency and structure standing separate and opposed, they are brought together in a “duality of structure,” that is structures are reproduced and transformed only through agency, and agents can come into existence only within a structured environment. Agency and structure are treated as distinct but thoroughly interdependent and cannot exist separately (Weaver and Gioia, 1994; Berends et al., 2003). Giddens (1991, p. 204), for instance states that: In seeking to come to grip with problems of action and structure, structuration theory offers a conceptual scheme that allows one to understand how actors are at the same time the creators of social systems yet created by them. It is an attempt to provide the conceptual means of analyzing the often delicate and subtle interlacing of reflexively organized action and institutional constraint.
In the structuration theory, the continuity of social reproduction of organizations is based on the reflexive monitoring of social activity by the agents. Routinization of actions occurs when the actors reflexively monitor their actions and store (remember) or incorporate those actions for future use (Berends et al., 2003; Heracleous and Hendry, 2000). Following Giddens’ theory, in order to draw upon pre-existing rules and resources and then reproduce them, actors have to be “knowledgeable” of them. To be knowledgeable means that the individuals are aware of and understand the circumstances of their actions and the rules they follow. However, actors do not necessarily depend on existing structures (Sydow et al., 1998), as they have the power to act otherwise. This implies that the means whereby systems are reproduced contain within them the seeds of change (Sydow et al., 1998). The interactions of knowledgeable actors, performing actions, which are subsequently considered to manifest intelligence, are thus labeled “intelligent.” In addition to, the recursive interplay of structure and actors, Giddens’ theory also simultaneously addresses cognition, behavior, and emotions as interrelated aspects of the processes through which structures are constituted (Staber and Sydow, 2002). According to structuration theory, structure and action should be investigated with
respect to three aspects; signification, legitimation, and domination. Signification refers to the cognitive aspect of social praxis in social systems (Staber and Sydow, 2002; Lewis and Suchan, 2003), indicative of semantic rules (“This is how we do it in this organization”) (Staber and Sydow, 2002). The signification structure provides actors with a number of interpretative schemes or standardized stocks of knowledge or references to communicate the reality of their actions in the production of interaction. Specifically, signification comprises rules, procedures and techniques to produce meanings to which agents refer via interpretative schemes when they communicate. Structures of legitimation, in addition to this cognitive dimension, refer to the normative aspect of social practice. It indicates “This is how we should do it” (Staber and Sydow, 2002). These structures provide agents with rules to which they refer when guiding or sanctioning a particular behavior or outcome. Legitimation structure binds agents’ actions according to the accepted norms regulating and sanctioning interaction. Structures of domination comprise allocative and authoritative resources. Allocative resources (control over material) refer to capabilities generating command over objects, goods or material phenomena. Allocative resources involve material features, produced goods. Authoritative resources (control over persons) refer to transformative capability generating command over persons or actors by highlighting emotions. Authoritative resources involve the organization of social time and space, and the relation of human beings in mutual association, and more importantly, emotions (Sydow et al., 1998) Finally, according to Giddens (1984), the modalities (interpretative schemes, norms and facilities) link the process of interaction or human action (involving communication, power and sanction) with the structural components (signification, domination and legitimation) of social systems. In the second half of this study, we will support and elaborate on the structurationist perspective and illustrate how it can illuminate processes of organizational intelligence. For that purpose we will use a case study of a firm. Data were collected by observation, oral histories and through discussion and interviews with organization members. The company used for this analysis is a small electronics manufacturing (SEM) group located in the New England area of the northeast USA. At the request of the owner/founder, the name of this privately-held company is changed for publication. SEM, Ltd specializes in the design and manufacture of electronics used in the optics and integrated circuit manufacturing industries. In addition to, electronics manufacturing, many of the instruments require precision mechanical design, machine work and assembly. In 1975, after an approximately 15-year tenure, the SEM founder left the employment of a century-old global precision optics company. He recognized that the existing corporate inertia prevented him from the development and introduction of new products and otherwise fully demonstrating his abilities. Trained as a precision mechanic and machinist, the founder is self-taught in electronics design and manufacturing. A traditionally oriented firm, the SEM maintains control by the oversight of family members, and focuses on quality work, craftsmanship, attention to detail and a strong work ethic. The company offers its products to the USA and European “scientific” markets and maintains corporate offices overseen by company executives, including family members.
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The design engineering and prototype area is under the direct control of the founder, while manufacturing is headed by a trained engineer in ISO-9001 requirements, software programmers were headed by the Chief Programmer. Sales and marketing includes a specialized team of agents overseen by a family member and the overall control of the facility is governed by the V.P. of Operations who is not related to the family. Of particular note, new hires are required to demonstrate their ability to perform and are routinely interviewed by the founder. Academic credentials are considered important but not a requirement, whereas demonstrable ability is required. This stems from the founder, who does not have formal academic training. This 50-person manufacturing company follows a hierarchical structure and is governed not only by rules, guidelines and expectations mandated by codified specifications for ISO-9001 compliance but also by the corporate culture developed over its 30-year history. Also note that the nature of the work performed at the company is by engineers and scientists for their peer client base of engineers and scientists. Structuring organizational intelligence At SEM, Ltd we observed that organizational intelligence both shapes and is shaped by organizational rules and resources. For instance, the information-processing capability of the organization was influenced and guided by pre-existing rules and resources. Specifically, how individuals received, stored and interpreted the information was constrained by the organizational interpretive schema, routines, procedures, and culture through which individuals viewed their worlds. Structures acted as information filtering mechanisms that process the information consistent with the current organizational schemas. Also, the people who controlled the resources strongly influenced the information-processing capability of the company. This was apropos since the information process was determined by the group of people steering the organization, namely, top management. Next, legitimation, the normative aspect of the organizational structure, determined how people in the company process information. For example, organizational norms, what individuals “can and cannot” do, governed how they process information. In short, how information/knowledge is gathered, shared and manipulated was related to the signification aspects of structuration and depended on existing rules and their interpretation and use by organizational actors for sanctioning events or behaviors. Interestingly, it should also be noted that structural properties of the organization were concurrently influenced by the information-processing capabilities of that organization. After new information was processed and then used, the organization learned new things, and then the individuals in the organization changed their behaviors. Information and knowledge reshaped the roles of individuals in the organization, while routines and procedures were reshaped based on the cumulative new information/knowledge. In our discussions with the SEM company staff, they noted that in the “early days” communications were rather direct – “. . . the boss said it, and we did it . . . there was no discussion . . . ” As new employees came on-board, they learned from those who were their that while “. . . opinions were appreciated, the final decision was from the boss and it was not negotiable . . . ” Similarly, expectations of certain “standards” were well-established and understood, namely, arriving on-time for work, defined lunch and break times and no alcohol consumption during business hours.
As an engineering-based firm, technical guidelines also established an analytical approach to problem-solving, though it was also a source of “one-upmanship” where knowledge and creativity were seen as rewards. One engineer noted a technical error that caused a significant problem with a microprocessor-based controller. “When in doubt, the standard way one would look at the design is to check it against the manufacturer’s examples and recommendations.” According to all checks, the system was designed and built as specified. Prior to this, before a change could be made, the senior engineers and the founder had to be informed and other sources of input were consider interference. In this instance, a bench technician, an outsider, commented that maybe the suggested design worked well in a lab but not in the real world where there is a lot of electrical noise. That simple comment forced the engineers to stop trying to confirm what they did right and to look at the application – 30 minutes later the problem was solved. Included with the solution was a reprimand from the founder never to ignore the bench technicians and to listen to input from others. “We all work for the same company,” he stated. In regard to the emotional capability of the organization, we observed that organizational rules and resources shaped emotional dynamics, and were in-turn shaped by emotional dynamics. For instance, personal and organizational interpretive schemas determined how people identified the variety of emotions and whether to accept and internalize them, and how to act on a deep level of understanding. In particular, interpretative schemes fostered stocks of knowledge that human actors drew upon to make sense of their feelings and emotions and those of others. Also, emotions were influenced by the organizational norms enlightened by legitimization. For instance, collective behavior whereby organization members express their deep attachment to salient organization characteristics was shaped by organizational power structures and norms. Additionally, people used power in their interactions by drawing on facilities, such as material and human resources allocation, to reconcile emotions-based concerns. At the same time, emotional dynamics reshaped the organizational structures. For example, creating a context that encourages experimentation and that tolerates mistakes during any action – the dynamics of playfulness, developed new interpretive schemas for signification. Innovations created by experimentations and learning by doing exerted new understanding and mental models for the organization, and challenged the phenomenon of “how we do the job here” norms. Also, the organization’s ability to facilitate a variety of authentic emotions that legitimately could be displayed (and felt) in the organization led to changes of some power structures and facilitated mutual associations of people. In our discussions with the SEM company staff, they noted that an established rule at the firm is that the boss, especially the founder, has ultimate authority, which is understood and justified since he founded the company and lead its development. On two occasions noted by the staff, senior engineers got into a heated argument with the founder. These conversations were terminated by the statement “. . . remember, you are only an employee . . . ” However, as noted above in the episode with the bench technician, the founder entertained a certain amount of flexibility in his approach to the employees when they could prove they had a valid technical point. The staff noted in conversations with us that an engineer had once challenged the founder and won his praise through a demonstration of technical competence. A sense of pride permeates SEM as the
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employees and management recognize that world-leading high technology companies choose their products and have done so for 30 years. This legitimization of SEM’s products is similar to the early days of Microsoft where Bill Gates stated that he had to do business with IBM as this would confirm the quality of his product and validate his company. The SEM staff also recalled many stories of practical jokes played on each other, everything from switching parts, miswiring a tool or piece of equipment, to setting up a remotely operated device that smelled of burning electronics. One recalled a story about when, in the middle of a rather hectic day, the founder answered the telephone, “city zoo,” only to find out it was the president of their largest customer calling. When asked about following tried and true guidelines versus experimental designs, the staff brought several interesting points to light: Traditionally, all connections we made to printed circuit cards were soldered; there was no other reliable choice. It was a well-established technology, understood, and nothing else was seen as reliable. In discussing the time it took to assemble a system, the cost of materials, cleaning, environmental costs and labor, we asked ourselves “can we go solderless?” The switch-over went beautifully and it also precipitated a challenge to other ways we manufactured our products. The point now asked – “how can we do it better?” We learned that established solutions might not work in all cases but attention to quality is a requirement in all cases.
What we noted here is that there were many interrelated issues. A technical challenge was deemed objective and was met with an analytical review, whereas a challenge that was not deemed technical was interpreted as personal or a direct affront, which might be met with unhappy consequences. In managerial and leadership training one is reminded to address the problem not the person, a bit of advice that sometimes is lost. Finally, we observed that the organization’s adaptive capability influenced and was influenced by SEM’s organizational rules and resources. The organization’s adaptive capability was constrained by the peoples’ interpretive schemas and organizational resources. In particular, how people perceived and interpreted external stimuli determined their responses to fit with environmental characteristics. Also, the organizational resources, which provide a cushion, helped the organization to adjust internal structures to external pressures. Further, norms, power and routines, which determine the core-competence of the organization, either hindered or permitted the organization to restructure its strategy and architectures for changing conditions. At the same time, adaptation encompassed changes in the organization’s control systems (e.g. power), resource allocation (e.g. domination), and infrastructures (e.g. technology know-how). Our interview with organization’s members also revealed that the SEM company is helped greatly by its ability to integrate precision mechanics with electronics. By the same token, they are constrained by it, a form of corporate myopia. When asked why the company’s product line has not changed in 15 or more years, the staff noted several points: Well, we started out making a data imaging device for cameras, followed by specialized controllers and then power supplies for optical systems. After many years we added robotic handlers. At the same time, the company switched from a small “mom and pop” shop to an ISO-9001 manufacturing facility. This was achieved when the founder stepped away from this part of the business and told us to “get it done.” We hired a specialist and the ISO change-over was implemented.
We make excellent products and have few competitors. The market for our goods is strong and consistent. We also accept special low-volume projects as long as we are confident with the outcome. We did experiment several times with computer devices, toys and some mass-market items but were not successful in those arenas. Within the confines of the company and their product line, SEM can and does adapt successfully. However, like Intel’s recognition that to them everything looks like a microprocessor, SEM has difficulty succeeding outside of its established market.
Based on our observations and the statements of people we interviewed, we assert that reciprocal interactions among the cognitive, behavioral and social/emotional schools render the phenomenon of organizational intelligence more visible and accessible. However, under structuration theory, these interactions are dynamic rather than a static and as we observed, organizational intelligence is created, potentially changed and then recreated by the reciprocal interactions between agents in organized settings. These agents interact and perform actions involving and manifesting information processing, adaptive, and emotional capabilities in the context of signification, domination, and legitimation. Accordingly, it is proposed that: P1.
Organizational intelligence is a manifestation of information processing, adaptive and emotional capabilities which are instantiated, reproduced, and changed through structures of signification, domination, and legitimation, and vice verse.
Even though organizational intelligence is the manifestation of information processing and emotional, and adaptive capabilities, we observed that reciprocal interactions of each component of the information processing, emotional and adaptive capabilities process defines organizational intelligence so that it can be expressed quantitatively or put into operation. However, we should also note that those interactions were mediated by the process of interaction or human action, involving communication, power, and sanction. For instance, we observed that, multiplexity, the strength of the working relationship or bond, permitted people to tap into diverse repositories of knowledge and facilitated the rapid spread of information. Especially, frequent contact or “tight” working relationships among people helped them to: . gather a variety of information and knowledge; . construct, filter, organize and frame them in a meaningful way; . store them into the organization’s history; . disseminate them throughout the organization by a variety of means; and . utilize them to solve problems and aid in decision making. Instead of just involving information exchange, working relationships also included resource exchange, advice, friendship, and so on. People identified the variety of emotions, and accepted and internalized them by their working relationships. This became more important when the emotional intensity and intimacy of the relationship and the extent to which such feelings were reciprocated were due to the frequency of contacts and communications. At the same time, information requirements and needs for utilization forced people to strengthen the working relations. Our interview with organization’s members also revealed that:
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Yes, we are all engineers here, in one form or another. The founder is a precision machinist by training but is an accomplished electronics design engineer and entrepreneur – he started the company. Several of the staff have experience in many areas of technology, including mechanics, optics life sciences and, of course electronics, but even in this area we have many different types. One specializes on power circuits and another might be microprocessors and, of course, we have our programmers. Each makes a contribution and often enough it is outside of his/her area of “expertise.” A fresh look at things is often all that we need to go forward. We mentioned earlier the engineering problem resolved by a bench technician. A rather unusual problem came up regarding color selection of characters for a computer screen. One of our engineers suggested we consider that a user might have some color blindness and we should consider including software code to address this. There is a strong need to assist each other to be successful. Less one believe that everything is engineering, when a member is in trouble or needs help, both the company and the staff jump into help. Many years ago, before insurance, one of the staff needed glasses – we took care of it. Another member had a medical problem with his wife – the engineers took over his work and the company assisted with the insurance claims. We help each other. On a lighter subject, many of the staff meets after hours, sometimes during the week and often attending sports and other events. The company sponsors annual picnics and occasionally brings in pizza and soda for the staff – a small thank you, but one that is really appreciated.
In this case, we saw also that redundancy contributed to organizational intelligence in terms of the distribution of information, tasks, and relations. When information redundancy was combined with multiplex knowledge structures that link people with diverse competences, new interpretations and meanings emerged leading to the expansion of knowledge. Redundancy of information and relations enhanced the emotional capability of the organization as well, because understanding the feelings of each other and reconciling the diverse emotions have been achieved by the greater contributions, relations and interpretative schemas that have historically occurred in the company. Concurrently, information exchange and dissemination, and close emotional ties improved the redundancy. We asked if anyone found that they need more coworkers with the same training, and if redundancy was a problem: Well that sounds like it could be a problem but the only problem that we note is one of being short-staffed, not one of “too many cooks.” For the most part we share a common language, which is a great asset and most have skill sets that overlap to different degrees. This helps greatly in general discussions as well as problem solving – it makes us a part of the company. What happens is that no one is left on his/her own unless he or she wishes to be left alone. There are occasions when there is a difference of opinions, but this is often caused by the different parties having differing interests, like the sales and engineering departments – always a discussion between those groups.
Next, we found that loose coupling helped people to tap into a large pool of diverse information/knowledge and interpretive schemas. Loose coupling reduced the risk of repeating mistakes and encouraged the abandonment of old habits and behaviors, which were dysfunctional under new circumstances and reduced the disputes on emotions and feelings via communications, interactions and collective actions.
In our interview with the organization’s members, we asked if the company had ever found itself making the same mistake twice, this revealed that:
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Sure, when we hire someone we don’t like. In truth, we don’t always know who we will get until after they join. As far as our products are concerned – well, there are a couple of views here. First, we stay with success and then look to how we can do it better and second, if we find something that didn’t work – it is remembered, usually by many, sometimes too many. However, we also try to consider why we had a failure and if it was the situation at the time. For example, we tried “flex time” where staff could come in at different times of the day as long as they are all in between certain hours. Well, the first attempt was a disaster, it really messed up our production, a lack of trust was also developing; we had to stop it. We looked at it again and finally gave up on it, at least for a few years.
Therefore, based on the above discussion, it is proposed that: P2.
Organizational intelligence is operationalized as the reciprocal interactions of multiplexity, loose coupling, redundancy, information acquisition, interpretation, dissemination, storage, and implementation, and the dynamics of experiencing, reconciling, identification, encouragement, displaying freedom and playfulness which are mediated by the process of interactions or human actions.
So far, it has been argued that epistemological perspectives on intelligence can be converged based on structuration theory. However, note that individual intelligence cannot be dismissed when exploring organizational intelligence or separated from epistemological perspectives. Structuration theory articulates organizational intelligence by linking the actions of people at the time of social engagement to the ongoing and enduring organizing principles of cognitions, behaviors and emotions. People can observe reality, identify causality, develop new knowledge and then change them to form a basis for their actions based on the reflexivity. Specifically, structuration theory highlights the importance of “knowing” as embracing an ongoing reflexive process of enhancing organizational intelligence, because human actors know what they know and who they are. For example, Giddens (1984, p. 5) wrote that: The reflexive monitoring of activities is a chronic feature of everyday action and involves the conduct not just of the individual but also of others. That is to say, actors not only monitor continuously the flow of their activities and expect others to do the same for their own; they also routinely monitor aspects, social and physical, of the contexts in which they move.
In a sense, reflexivity explores organizational intelligence based on the tensions and interrelationships of meaning, realities, and theorizing – a weak theory of organizational becoming (Cunliffe, 2003, p. 987), because organizational intelligence is not separate from the people who compose it and live in it. Also Cunliffe (2003, p. 985) said that: Reflexivity unsettles representation by suggestion suggesting that we are constantly constructing meaning and social reality as we interact with others and talk about our experience. We therefore cannot separate ontology and epistemology, nor can we ignore the situated nature of that experience and cultural, historical and linguistic traditions that permeate our work.
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Since, reflexivity can act upon people to construct and unconstruct their own knowledge, and highlights the intersubjective and indexical nature of meaning (Cunliffe, 2003), it is proposed that: P3.
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Ontological and epistemological perspectives within which the phenomenon of intelligence is perceived and the concept upon which intelligence is articulated are significantly bounded by the process of reflexivity and its embedding in organizational settings.
Concluding remarks In this paper, we argued that the understanding of organizational intelligence can be leveraged by the structuration theory. Emphasizing the duality of structures and reflexivity, structuration theory furnishes a framework for a complementary understanding of organizational intelligence. Specifically, a structuration framework highlights the structural (e.g. information processing), functional (e.g. behavioral), and social attributes of organizational intelligence. By doing this, structurating organizational intelligence helps managers to design, improve and control the compositions of organizational intelligence. Also, introducing the knowledgeability of people for demonstrable use, structuration theory provides an expanded notion of what managers and employees can do. Thus, managers and other people have the ability to not only monitor their behavior, but to also oversee their monitoring and adjust their actions to address the active and dynamic aspect of organizational intelligence. Organizational intelligence, in this regard, is an everyday activity cognitively distributed and demonstrated by the behavior of the people, and the culture and routines of the organization. Next, structuration theory helps managers develop awareness and observe that individual intelligence, networked in collectives, is actualized by the communications, culture and routines to a greater gestalt. Specifically, people can be seen as setting actions into intelligence along with other people, with intended as well as unintended interactions. Also, given the recursiveness of organizational life as indicated by structuration theory, intelligence develops, evolves and becomes dissociated from individuals or groups per se. In this perspective, organizational intelligence is not an entity, rather an activity – a property of the combined interactions among individuals, collectives and the environment. From the perspective of epistemology, structuration theory helps managers to assess and to operationalize organizational intelligence. Organizational intelligence does not represent the “IQ” of managers, similar to managerial cognition, nor is it the sum of the individuals. The assessment of organizational intelligence goes beyond the cognitive perspectives. Since, organizational intelligence develops from and is embedded in the day-to-day activities of the organization, its assessment involves social, emotional, behavioral and cognitive dimensions. In this sense, organizational intelligence is a multidimensional and multifaceted concept involving the recursive interplay of cognitive, behavioral and emotional capabilities of organizations. In particular, the nomological networks among these capabilities, tied together by the organizational culture, is the foundation of organizational becoming, thus helping managers to asses the organizational intelligence. Also, structuration theory helps researchers and managers to operationalize organizational intelligence. Specifically, organizational intelligence can be actualized by the reciprocal interactions among the
information processing factors, emotional dynamics, organizational slacks and multiplexity which are mediated by organizational routines and resources. Organizational intelligence is a new and important topic in organizational behavior and development scholarship. However, researchers should also investigate organizational intelligence empirically. The multidimensional and multifaceted nature of organizational intelligence can be tested by operationalizing information-processing capabilities, emotional capabilities and adaptive capabilities. Next, how organizational intelligence impacts the organizational performance and processes, such as innovation orientations of firms can be tested. Note that researchers should consider the environmental conditions, type of organizational culture (e.g. clan, ad hocracy), type of innovation (e.g. incremental versus radical), size and age of organizations, and type of organizational control (e.g. central versus informal) while testing the relations between organizational intelligence and organizational performance indicators. Notes 1. This is similar to Glynn’s (1996) assumptions for the conceptual boundaries of organizational intelligence. 2. The process approach of organizational intelligence points out the variables or constructs where intelligence is a function. The process-oriented approach defines real activities or experiences, rather than the consequences that unspecified activities might have or processes could have (Sandelands and Drazin, 1989). 3. Whereas “unintelligent” is not absolute, we are speaking of the degree to which an organization acts intelligently, akin to the traditional psychometric IQ test. 4. Structures are defined as recursively organized rules and resources that individuals draw on and reconstitute in their day-to-day activities. References Akgu¨n, A.E., Lynn, G.S. and Byrne, J. (2003), “Organizational learning: a socio-cognitive framework”, Human Relations, Vol. 56, pp. 839-68. Berends, H., Boersma, K. and Weggeman, M. (2003), “The structuration of organizational learning”, Human Relations, Vol. 56 No. 9, pp. 1035-56. Choo, C.W. (1998), Information Management for the Intelligent Organization, Information Today, Medford, NJ. Conte, R. (1999), “Social intelligence among autonomous agents”, Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 203-28. Cunliffe, A.L. (2003), “Reflexive inquiry in organizational research: questions and possibilities”, Human Relations, Vol. 56 No. 8, pp. 983-1003. Doise, W. and Mugny, S.G. (1984), The Social Development of the Intellect, Pergamon Press, New York, NY. Edwards, T. (2000), “Innovation and organizational change: developments towards an interactive process perspective”, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 445-64. Fatt, J.P.T. (2002), “Emotional intelligence: for human resource managers”, Management Research News, Vol. 25 No. 11, pp. 57-74. Giddens, A. (1984), The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
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Post bureaucracy and the politics of forgetting The management of change at the BBC, 1991-2002 Martin Harris University of Essex, Colchester, UK, and
Victoria Wegg-Prosser Bournemouth University, Dorset, UK Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the imputed “fall” and subsequent “reinvention” of the BBC during the 1990s, relating a managerialist “politics of forgetting” to the broader ideological narratives of “the post bureaucratic turn”. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, combining case study analysis with long-term historical perspectives on organisational change. Findings – The paper shows the ways in which public sector professionals contested “post bureaucratic” pressures for marketisation and organisational disaggregation. Originality/value – The paper shows the ways in which large-scale technological, regulatory and organisational change was mediated by cultural continuities and recurrent “surges” of managerial control. Keywords Television, Organizational change, Bureaucracy, United Kingdom Paper type Case study
Introduction: recent debate on post bureaucracy Comment on the “end” of bureaucracy is derived from the view that bureaucratic rationalisation can no longer provide a viable basis for organising in the current context of radical uncertainty and turbulent change (Harvey, 1989; Kumar, 1995; Castells, 2000). Advocates of post bureaucracy argue that organisations are becoming more decentralised, loosely coupled and likely to foster the empowerment of employees (Kanter, 1989; Heckscher, 1994; Osborne and Plastrik, 1997; Child and McGrath, 2001). The overview provided by Power (1997, p. 43) shows that there is a very considerable overlap between the “post bureaucratic turn” and “the new public management” (NPM). The latter emphasises: . . . cost control, financial transparency, the atomisation of organizational sub-units, the decentralisation of management autonomy, the creation of market and quasi-market mechanisms . . . [and] . . . the creation of performance indicators. Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 290-303 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740146
Post bureaucracy promises new forms of strategic action which will assume a more creative and open form. Comment on “hybrid political regimes” and “democratic hierarchies” is centred on the long-standing question of how organisations combine centralised control and co-ordination of resources with the need for more flexible forms (Adler and Borys, 1996; Courpasson, 2000; Clegg and Courpasson, 2004). The notion of
organisational hybridity has a particular relevance for public sector organisations, where calls to “reduce bureaucracy” have been manifested in attempts to simulate market disciplines within the organisation. (Causer and Exworthy, 1999; Dent, 1995; Farrell and Morris, 2003; Laffin, 1998; Ferlie et al., 1996; Ferlie et al., 2003; Harris, 2006). Two aspects of the post bureaucracy debate are of particular significance for the present study. The first concerns the large volume of comment which has challenged the substantive claims made for post bureaucracy and NPM. The second relates to the idea that the post bureaucratic turn is embedded in an overarching “discourse of endings” whose leitmotiv is that the advanced industrial societies have now entered a definitively new epoch. Thus, as Reed (2005, pp. 101-2) has argued: . . . a neo-liberalist economist such as Schumpeter, a social democrat such as Schumacher, a neo-corporatist such as Elias, a technological determinist such as Bell or Castells, and a theorist of radical participatory democracy such as Illich, can all agree that the underlying currents of history, will, eventually make bureaucracy an obsolete form of administrative power and organisation.
Whilst the “permanent structure of anti-bureaucratic thought” continues to exert a pervasive influence on organisational analysis, recent empirical work paints a much more complex picture than would be implied by the binary oppositions which appear in many accounts of the post bureaucratic organisation. Some scholars working in the Foucauldian tradition of organisational analysis have argued that market-oriented policies and managerial discourses may act to “capture” and fix the ways in which the world is seen by public sector professionals (for a full review see Trowler, 2001; Doolin, 2002). But there is now a very substantial body of work which shows the ways in which these discourses have been contested and “displaced” by public sector professionals (Kirkpatrick and Lucio, 1995; Kitchener, 2000; Trowler, 2001; Doolin, 2002; Farrell and Morris, 2003; Kirkpatrick et al., 2005). A recurrent theme in these critiques is that the new forms reflect not the “end” of bureaucracy but a complex, and often highly unstable, bifurcation of the bureaucratic form which devolves operational responsibility whilst attempting to extend the controls exercised by senior management (Farrel and Morris, 2003, p. 134). A growing number of scholars have argued that the “epochalism” promulgated by the anti-bureaucratic turn has produced a highly restricted, caricatured and an historical view which detaches analysis from the relevant organisational contexts, interests and social choices (Reed and Courpasson, 2004; Alvesson and Thompson, 2004; Kallinikos, 2004; du Gay, 2000, 2003, 2005; Harris and Hopfl, 2006; McSweeney, 2006). As du Gay (2005, p. 3) has argued: Bureaucracy is not – as many critics assume – a simple singularity. Rather, whatever singularity it is deemed to possess is multiple, not monolithic . . . to be more precise bureaucracy has turned out to be less a hard and fast transhistorical model, but rather what we may describe as a many sided, evolving, diversified organizational device.
In the analysis which follows we question epochalist assumptions of the post bureaucratic organisation. Following the recent historiographical turn in organization analysis (Barley and Kunda, 1992; Grint, 1994; Shenhav, 2002; Rowlinson, 2004; Stager Jaques, 2006), we present an organisational counter-narrative which highlights key elements of reflexivity and cultural continuity in the bureaucratic form. The substantive basis for this is provided by our work on the putative “fall” and
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subsequent “reinvention” of the BBC during the 1990s (Harris and Wegg-Prosser, 1998; Wegg-Prosser, 2001). Our analysis is based on both primary data gathering[1] and the use of selected secondary sources – particularly Burns’ (1977) seminal account The BBC: Public Institution and Private World, but also Born’s (2004) Uncertain Vision: Birt, Dyke and the Reinvention of the BBC.
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The BBC and the anti-bureaucratic turn Founded in 1926, the BBC is funded by a licence fee levied on all UK households in possession of terrestrial television receivers. A Royal Charter, reviewed by the government every ten years, specifies the corporation’s public sector responsibilities, functions and financial operations. The corporation is formally self-regulated and independent of government controls. Successive governments have, however, succeeded in using the charter renewal procedures as a way of exercising political control over the content of BBC broadcasts, particularly in news and current affairs[2]. Once revered as the apotheosis of the public service tradition, the BBC has also been described as a “cultural dictatorship” and it has long been noted for its elitism (Burns, 1977; Born, 2004), financial mismanagement (McKinsey, 1968, 1969a, b, 1970; Burns, 1977; Wegg-Prosser, 2001) and quasi-monopolistic hold on the UK broadcasting industries (Home Office, 1986). Burns depicted a deeply segmented organisation which separated “creative workers” such as TV and radio producers from “managerialist” administrators. Burns also noted the “quasi-tribalist” rivalry between the various production departments (or “baronies”) as they competed for status and programming resources. The BBC retained many of its “bureaucratic” features as late as the early 1990s. By the mid-1980s, however, the belief that markets were replacing hierarchies as the fundamental principle of economic management had come to dominate public sector reform in the UK (Holtham and Kay, 1994). The Thatcher government, seeking to encourage liberalisation, market competition and media convergence, found an obvious target in the BBC. One government commission considered the possibility of outright privatisation (Home Office, 1986), but this was averted when the 1990 Broadcasting Act ruled that 25 per cent of BBC output should be sourced from independent producers. In the White Paper: “Serving the Nation, Competing World-wide” (DNH, 1994), John Major’s government indicated that the BBC should enter the competitive market, whilst retaining its public funding. The BBC response to these developments was to initiate an extensive programme of organisational change. The highly bureaucratised “command economy” was to be replaced by an internal market which would eventually separate purchasers (commissioning executives) from providers (television producers and technicians). As noted in the introduction, these features are cognate with both post-bureaucracy and the NPM (Kirkpatrick and Lucio, 1995; Ferlie et al., 1996; Power, 1997; Laffin, 1998; Morgan and Engwall, 1999; Causer and Exworthy, 1999). Table I contrasts the “bureaucratic” features noted by Tom Burns in the 1970s with the “post bureaucratic” changes envisaged by the Birt reforms of the 1990s. The Table also highlights the “epochalist” character of these reforms. The BBC and the “end” of bureaucracy: the case of producer choice Producer choice was the title given to the trading system, designed around an internal market, which was first introduced in 1991 (BBC, 1991). Described as a “new way of managing resources” the term “producer choice” refers to both procedural changes,
Bureaucratic characteristics noted by Burns (1977) Duopoly of large established UK broadcasters BBC as a moral project BBC as custodian of public service broadcasting
Post bureaucracy and the Birt reforms 1991-1996 Competition from new entrants following 1990 Broadcasting Act BBC responds to consumer preferences BBC is accountable to the public and the government
All BBC production carried out in-house. Costs rise in line with growing scale, technical sophistication and integration of BBC output departments Production dominated by professional norms and values Resources allocated according to custom and practice
25 per cent of BBC output outsourced to independent producers. Cost-cutting and outsourcing. Separation of technical resources from broadcasting “Producer choice” initiative introduces internal markets, external trading and benchmarking Resources allocated centrally via re-engineered management systems
BBC makes programmes Senior managers referee turf wars between producers Planning cycle reconciles rising costs with the demands of programme makers
The BBC is a broadcaster Senior managers are strategists
Institutional continuity based on a “negotiated” view of transition Old values and practices remain
Radically new future based on a “utopian” view of change (Willcocks and Grint, 1997) Scapegoating the past
Commissioning cycle fits the money available to the demands of the audience as perceived by marketers and schedulers
and to changes in professional norms which would deliver a more decentralised BBC (BBC, 1993; Barnett and Curry, 1994; McDonald, 1995). As in other public sector settings, managerial rhetorics of transformation featured as a strategic resource deployed in support of institutional change. Producer choice placed a key emphasis on external accountability, continuous monitoring, and institutional auditing (BBC, 1991; Power, 1997) – but the political rationale for the initiative was that the process of self-reform would secure the renewal of the Royal Charter in 1996 (DNH, 1994), thus ensuring the continued existence of a publicly funded BBC. Producer choice was often described in terms of detailed operational changes – but its dominant rhetoric drew heavily on two mutually reinforcing manifestations of the “epochalism” which has dominated comment and debate on post-bureaucracy. The first relates to the notion that the BBC had to shake off the bureaucratic excesses of the past and redeem itself as a worthy recipient of public funding. The other was a pervasive sense that UK broadcasters were entering a radically new technological future (Hargreaves, 1993; Starks, 1993). Producer choice was framed around the notion of organisational salvation – the belief that the BBC (1996) had to be saved from the threats posed by the onset of technological and regulatory change. Key features of this new environment were that there would be a convergence of previously separate broadcasting, computing and telecommunications industries; a globalisation of “infotainment” industries; increasing reliance on joint ventures, and more flexible forms of digital production (Barnatt and Starkey, 1994). Phrases summing up the new environment included: “the status quo is not an option” and “we must get lean and fit for
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Table I. The BBC in putative transition from bureaucracy to post bureaucracy
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the new world of digital convergence”. The producer choice initiative was introduced by John Birt (then Deputy Director General) in Autumn 1991. Staff guidelines promised new freedoms and responsibilities for television producers (BBC, 1993). Funding for programmes was, however, to be earned by bidding to deliver an agreed strategy. When Birt (1993a, b) became Director General in January 1993, he described producer choice as akin to: “a powerful locomotive . . . shining a searchlight into every area of our activities”. Statements of this kind struck many our respondents as inconsistent with the culture of segmentation and quasi-tribalist rivalry noted above. The engineering metaphor was, however, an apt one: not only was Birt himself a trained engineer, but also producer choice had been heavily influenced by the doctrine of reengineering and the belief that the organisation could be treated as a tabula rasa which could be reinscribed without regard for history or legacies of the past (Willmott, 1993; Grint, 1994; Willcocks and Grint, 1997; Grint and Case, 1998). Birt (1993a, b) repeatedly described the “old” BBC as a “command economy” thus powerfully scapegoating the BBC’s past, promising to create an institution: . . . in which baronialism and bureaucracy are dirty words, where fudge and fix-it, hostile leaking and secretive and manipulative behaviour become techniques and tactics of the past.
In a statement which attacked the long established practices surrounding the funding of new programme ideas, Birt (1993a) stated that decisions in the “new BBC” would be made on the basis of high quality management information, and not on: “the skills of supplicants at some Byzantine court where no-one knew what anything actually cost”. The analysis of producer choice which follows refers to two key elements of change management which are relevant to our earlier discussion of post bureaucracy. First, the implementation of the internal market via the new trading system; and second, the managerial controls imposed on the previously devolved process of programme commissioning. Implementing the producer choice trading system Under the command economy, BBC production units had no means of charging for their technical and craft services. The intention of the new trading system was that production resources, once allocated to particular programmes, could be transacted in ways which reproduced market conditions. As the internal market was established across the five output directorates of the BBC (network television, network radio, news and current affairs, regions, external services), the idea of “a single BBC” was displaced by notions of fragmentation, competition and diversity. Trading negotiations now took place between production units located within the BBC and between BBC facilities and external purchasers. Nearly 500 separate profit centres were created between 1991 and 1993. Far from clarifying the use of resources, the volume of transactions was such that management subsequently cut the number of trading units to approximately 200. Our original fieldwork shows that a small number of BBC producers adopted the calculative norms and enterprising attitudes associated with internal markets. However, the broad thrust of our findings is that the initiative was much more effective in achieving what one senior manager described as “a one-off hit on capacity” than enduring changes in the buying and selling behaviour of producers. Resources were used in ways which consistently undermined the market rationality of “spot pricing”. Both the supply and demand for production resources were biased in favour of bulk
purchasing from preferred sources (Harris and Wegg-Prosser, 1998). One producer stated that: No one gives a stuff whether the producer is theoretically free to appoint the wardrobe mistress and catering company he wants, when the truth is that the system is so inefficient, he can’t contract them until a fortnight before the shoot, and so he has to take whoever happens to be both available and cheap.
The centralisation of programme commissioning Criticisms of the producer choice trading system were by no means restricted to “creative workers” such as TV producers. Senior management were also concerned about the effect of internal trading on the creativity of in-house departments. The head of finance at the engineering (later resources) directorate took an equally sceptical view: Resources had to be reduced because of the 25 per cent quota . . . and the mechanism chosen to do this was Producer Choice. It’s easier to control resource provision than idea creation – in the old days the resources were there to develop the ideas, now you have to make a case to use them, and they won’t be there if they have to earn return on capital employed.
Some of our respondents acknowledged the political necessity of producer choice, assuming that the point of showing transparency of costs was to focus the corporation’s efforts to secure Charter renewal on the overall value and quality of the BBC’s programme output. But others argued that the initiative was only peripherally concerned with business procedures: its actual purpose was the recentralisation of programming strategy and an end to the practice of devolving the process of programme commissioning. Some key insights on programme commissioning emerge if we return briefly to Burns’ (1977) account of the BBC during the early 1970s. Burns highlighted the growing scale and sophistication of BBC programming at a time when successive increases in license fee revenues allowed the rapid expansion of the various “output departments”. Producers’ demands for ever more elaborate and expensive programming led BBC senior management to develop a new two year “planning cycle” which sought to fill schedules by means of continuous production lines (known as programming “strands”), whose costs could be predicted and controlled. Resource allocation was organised around biannnual “offers” meetings in which channel controllers, administrators, and accountants would determine which programmes should be funded. These meetings were concerned not so much with the conventions of “resource allocation” as with negotiating the ways in which the BBC’s public service tradition should be maintained: channel controllers arbitrated the rival claims of particular genres and programme ideas, each which had a particular ethical and aesthetic claim on the public service tradition. Crucially, and in spite of the centralising tendencies inherent in the new planning cycle, these meetings were managed “by people who claimed the same professional identity and interests of producers themselves” (Burns, 1977, pp. 238-9). In one key passage Burns (1977, p. 217) cites a channel controller who characterised the “offers” system as “a combination of authoritarianism and permissiveness”[3]. This system was still in place in 1996[4], when John Birt announced that the BBC’s broadcasting and production functions were to be split into separate directorates. One result of this split was that controllers located in the newly established Broadcast Directorate could now commission programme
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ideas from independent producers. The split was accompanied by a “tariff-based funding model” designed to harness the output of the BBC television and radio networks to the centralising logic of financial planning and market research. As Born (2004, p. 307) remarks: Henceforth, responsibility for commissions lay solely with the controllers, marketing executives and corporate strategists. The result was a less distributed and devolved structure of decision making, with little space for the particular expertise of genre production . . . to flow up the hierarchy and be nurtured through dialogue
The BBC now acted as a broadcaster not a programme maker, with channel controllers abandoning their former role as creative arbiters (Table I). One of our interviewees observed that: Creativity has been marginalised. Amateurish but enjoyable collegiate discussions no longer happen. An underclass of jobbing producers, or even totally casualised researchers doing the hunting and gathering, are hired at short notice to deliver to a brief using their own recording equipment – it’s a new type of alienation in the production process. The goal is for the BBC to be a global software house based on strong relationships with the gateways, not the workers.
Post bureaucracy and digital broadcasting: the BBC 2000-2002 Greg Dyke, appointed as Director General in 2000, inherited a BBC whose public funding had been secured for the statutory ten-year period of Charter renewal in 1996. However, the terms of the Charter settlement left unanswered fundamental questions about the role of the BBC in the emerging “digital environment”. As noted above, the early 1990s were dominated by the view that the technological future of UK broadcasting would be assured by a strong commitment to deregulation and free markets. The BBC rejected the dominant pay-TV model of Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB, arguing that digital programming should be delivered on a non-commercial, free-to-air basis. The late 1990s saw a shift in the doctrine of consumer sovereignty in UK broadcast policy. In 1999, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS, 1999) published a White Paper which reflected a quintessentially “hybridised” commitment to free markets, coupled with a strong sense of their limitations[5] (for a full account of this shift, see Seaton, 2005; Curran and Seaton, 2005). The White Paper argued the need for UK broadcasters to embrace the cultural and economic opportunities provided by digital technologies – but it also stated that public service broadcasting should be central to the UK’s digital economy. The BBC response was predicated on the view that there was a need to provide increasingly fragmented and pluralised UK audiences with access to a range of formats in digital television (DTV) and other new media. The cost savings produced by the Birt reforms had helped to fund the earliest digital services (BBC, 1999) – but the cost of establishing a more comprehensive range of complementary digital channels was such that Birt and his senior executives sought an increase in the level of the licence fee in their submissions to the Davies Committee of 1998 (DCMS, 1999)[6]. Born (2004) notes that three factors distinguished the BBC’s approach to DTV: first, that all digital channels would be free-to-air and without advertising; second that a high proportion of material would be originated in the UK, with programme budgets higher than the norm for DTV; third, that each of the new channels would contain a range of genres in contrast to the niche broadcasting favoured by pay-television operators[7].
Dyke and the demise of producer choice Greg Dyke continued the Birtist policy of lobbying the Blair government to support the BBC’s (1996) digital ambitions, whilst amending or reversing many of the organisational changes imposed during the Birt period. The internal market was curtailed, with approximately 200 trading units reduced to around 50. Dyke rejected the doctrine of internal markets, reasserted the strategic importance of in-house production and increased spending on programming by £450M between 2000 and 2002. Dyke stated in 2000 that his intention was to: Take out internal trading . . . look again at how much money we’re spending hiring outside resources when we’ve got resources lying idle inside . . . give our programme makers more security . . . and make the BBC less internally competitive and more focused on the outside world (Dams, 2000).
Dyke also revised the commissioning process which had been centralised under Birt by appointing senior producers to act as creative experts whose job was to maintain an overview of production in each genre. These “genre commissioners” held the budgets in drama, factual, entertainment and arts programming. However, Born (2004, p. 469) has also shown that: . . . all commissions had to be agreed by a controller making a “dual tick” system. The precise balance of forces in each genre was decided pragmatically; in some areas such as Current Affairs and Drama Serials the same person acted as both head of production and genre commissioner, restoring the putative conflict of interest that the Birt reforms had been elaborately and expensively designed to avoid.
The revalidation of in-house production under Dyke thus appears to have been accompanied by the emergence of a new hybrid organisational form which combines central control of programme commissioning with a substantial measure of producer autonomy. This is in line with recent critical thinking on organisational hybridity (Courpasson, 2000; Clegg and Courpasson, 2004) – but this “new” form, based on a “conflict of interest” between the expertise of producers and managerial control of resources is also redolent of the “authoritarian permissiveness” noted by Burns almost 30 years previously. This suggests that there is a need for the changing dynamics of organisational control within the BBC to be located in a wider historical perspective, and it is to this that we now turn. An historical reading of producer choice and anti bureaucracy The paper has examined the putative “fall” and subsequent “reinvention” of the BBC during the 1990s, showing the ways in which “epochalist” public policies affected the BBC and its place in the wider UK broadcasting industry. We have also highlighted the managerial rhetorics of transformation which pervaded the Birt reforms, contrasting these with the broader institutional tensions and dilemmas which beset the BBC as it sought to redefine its role as a public provider in the context of deregulation and digital broadcasting. Producer choice resonates with the idea that managerial discourses of marketisation may act to “capture” and “fix” the ways in which the world is seen by public sector professionals (Trowler, 2001; Doolin, 2002; Fairclough, 1993; Henkel, 2000). However, efforts to impose the producer choice trading system failed to secure a cultural shift in the buying and selling behaviour of producers. The initiative did not displace the “tribalist” loyalties which segmented the BBC, and nor did it usurp
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the ritualised “supplicancy” of the commissioning process. This is consistent with the view that “heterogeneous, rivalrous and recalcitrant” public sector professionals have successfully resisted the “discursive capture” associated with the doctrines of enterprise and marketisation (Reed, 1995). However, the longer term view developed in this paper points to a more fundamental contradiction – that management themselves (or more specifically, BBC senior executives) turned away from internal markets and centralised control of programme planning towards the end of the 1990s. The main “power effect” of producer choice was not “the reduction of bureaucracy” but the need to build the broader political case for the 1996 Charter renewal. Anthony Smith, an ex-BBC producer and former head of the British Film Institute, told us that: Producer Choice was a very ingenious device of change . . . similar to that which happened in Hungarian State Television, where getting rid of the old communists involved exploiting the tool of the marketplace . . . But . . . as with the McKinsey reforms of the 1970s, the BBC continued to operate as a well-run bureaucracy, adjusting itself, as it has always done, to prevailing enterprise orthodoxies (our emphasis added).
These comments have been corroborated by archival research carried out by Wegg-Prosser (2001), who has shown that producer choice was anticipated by a much earlier series of organisational changes known as “the McKinsey reforms” (McKinsey, 1968, 1969a, b, 1970). Producer choice was redolent of these reforms in a number of specific ways: “change management” was initiated in response to the political and fiscal uncertainties associated with the ten-year cycle of Charter renewal; production departments were scrutinised by external change agents who sought to clarify financial information, and “organisational change” was implemented on a highly centralised top-down basis, with highly equivocal results. As in the 1970s, the Birt “reforms” created a plethora of new controls in the run-up to the 1996 Charter renewal (Birt, 1996), only for these to be relinquished at a later date. Taken together, these features point to the idea that managerial discourses of enterprise and marketisation were undermined, as it were, “from within” an inherently bureaucratic BBC – but it can also be argued that the “counter reformation” which occurred under Greg Dyke was rooted in a much broader reflexive shift away from the doctrines of consumer sovereignty, debureaucratisation and internal markets. Virtually all of our respondents agreed that the centralisation of programme planning had undermined the creative assets of the BBCs in-house output departments; the reversal of these policies indicates that senior management viewed the centralisation of programme commissioning as a pyrrhic victory. However, the reversal of centralised planning reflects not just a revalidation of “producer power” but also a more general process of rethinking UK public sector broadcasting. This latter aspect suggests that the “hegemonic sway” of marketisation may be contested and displaced in ways which reflect the broader “conditioning structures” operating outside the organisation (Trowler, 2001, p. 196). The BBC’s raison d’etre was threatened by the new context of deregulation and technological change in the early 1990s – but subsequent events showed that the BBC retained its critical mass of production capacity[8], whilst the discourse of public sector broadcasting moved on from relatively simplistic notions of consumer sovereignty to more pluralized and diverse notions of public broadcasting (Seaton, 2005; Curran and Seaton, 2005).
Conclusions Producer choice can be understood as a strategic change narrative which drew heavily on rhetorics of marketisation and disaggregation, whilst centralising programming strategy. The “epochalist” rhetoric of transformation promulgated by the Birt regime drew heavily on the notion of organisational salvation – the belief that the BBC had to be saved from the threats posed by the onset of technological and regulatory change. These features are consistent with the idea that large-scale organisational change may be framed within a utopian “politics of forgetting” whose main purpose is to delegitimate the institutional past (Grint, 1994; Willcocks and Grint, 1997; Grint and Case, 1998). The rapid technological and regulatory changes of the 1990s signalled a radically new, discontinuous future for the BBC. The changes which occurred within the organisation were, however, conditioned by key elements of cultural continuity and by a recursive tendency for old struggles to be periodically revisited – as evidenced, for example, by the changing dynamics of control in programme commissioning. As in the 1970s, BBC senior management imposed a plethora of new controls in the years prior to the 1996 Charter renewal, only for these to be relinquished at a later date. Taken together, these features suggest that the historiography of the BBC should be understood not in terms of decisive organizational “changes” or transitions, but with respect to recurrent “surges” of managerial control which are interspersed with periods of creative autonomy (Barley and Kunda, 1992). The BBC is currently experiencing a renewed phase of managerial control triggered by the Blair government’s manipulation of foreign news coverage in the wake of the Gilligan affair[2]. The years since the appointment of a new Director General in 2004 have seen renewed efforts to manage change on a top-down basis, indicating that the long-standing cultural antinomies noted by this paper are likely to pervade the BBC for some time to come. Notes 1. We conducted a total of 44 semi-structured interviews with a cross-sample of producers and senior managers involved in the implementation of the producer choice initiative. A total of 44 interviews were carried out during 1995 and 1996. Our fieldwork included interviews with each of the five output directorate representatives on the producer choice steering group, the producer choice project director, and eight senior managers responsible for implementing the new trading system. 2. Seaton (2005) notes that BBC has a long history of swinging “between imaginative independence and expedient conformity” to government news requirements. In 2005, the Blair government manoeuvred the BBC into issuing public apologies for its coverage of the Iraq war in the wake of the Gilligan affair. 3. Burns reference to the “authoritarian permissiveness” provides a striking historical parallel with the contemporary debate on “organizational hybridity” referred to in our introduction. 4. Wegg-Prosser (1998) notes the propitiatory nature of these meetings, depicting resource allocation as a ritual of sanctification through which departmental heads would confer moral and political legitimacy on each “offering”. Offers meetings also incorporated rituals of supplication. These aspects were parodied and scapegoated in the typically “Birtist” pronouncements. 5. These hybrid aspects are reflected in the fact that the mainstream television channel (BBC1) pursued increasingly populist and consumerist programming strategies during the late 1990s whilst the corporation as a whole remained the UK’s leading exponent of public
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sector broadcasting. The audience share of BBC1 surpassed that of its main commercial rival in 2001. 6. The BBC launched its first digital services in 1998. By 2000, the corporation was allocating 8 per cent of its (£2.3bn) license fee income to fund its earliest digital services in news and current affairs (News 24), factual and learning (BBC Knowledge) and mainstream programming (BBC Choice). The BBC’s submission to the Davies committee put the cost of the new channels noted in[7] below at an extra £700m per annum, and the corporation was subsequently granted an extra £200m supplement to its annual revenue from license fees. The BBC’s license fee revenue was estimated at £3.5bn per annum as this paper was being drafted in mid 2006. 7. By 2002, the corporation had established five new digital radio networks, including two stations targeted at ethnic minorities, and four complementary free-to-air DTV channels: BBC3, a mixed-genre entertainment-lead youth channel; BBC 4, a channel for culture and the arts; and two children’s channels (Born, 2004). 8. The restructuring undergone by the BBC – the introduction of the 25 per cent quota after 1990, the sale of core broadcast engineering capacity and the separation of broadcasting from production – all indicated that the corporation had undergone an historic shift away from the integration and scale associated with the bureaucratic form. This view was corroborated by the emergence of a new type of publisher-broadcaster whose lack of in-house production facilities allowed them to commission programmes from a network of small independent producers (Barnatt and Starkey, 1994). However, this pattern of disaggregation was not apparent amongst the BBC’s commercial competitors. Research by Saundry (1998) shows that the ITV companies were engaging in mergers and investing heavily in new production capacity during the mid 1990s. The BBC has continued to maintain one of the world’s largest concentrations of broadcast production capacity, and its current headcount of 25,000 full time employees is close to the figure recorded by Burns (1977). References Adler, P. and Borys, B. (1996), “Two types of bureaucracy: enabling and coercive”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 41, pp. 61-89. Alvesson, M. and Thompson, P. (2004), “Post bureaucracy?”, in Ackroyd, S., Batt, R., Thompson, P. and Tolbert, P.S. (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Work and Organization, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 485-507. Barley, S. and Kunda, G. (1992), “Design and devotion: surges of rational and normative ideologies of control in managerial discourse”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 37, pp. 363-99. Barnatt, C. and Starkey, K. (1994), “The emergence of flexible networks in the UK television industry”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 5, pp. 251-60. Barnett, S. and Curry, A. (1994), The Battle for the BBC – A British Broadcasting Conspiracy?, Aurum Press, London. BBC (1991), “Producer choice, a new system for managing resources”, unpublished, Staff Briefing Paper, BBC, London, October. BBC (1993), “Producer choice guidelines”, unpublished, BBC, London. BBC (1996), The Digital Age, BBC, London, May. BBC (1999), Annual Report and Accounts, 1998/1999, BBC, London. Birt, J. (1993a), The BBC Present and Future: Speaking at the Radio Academy’s Radio Festival, BBC, London, 14 July.
Birt, J. (1993b), “Views from the bridge”, Journal of the Royal Television Society, September/October, p. 22. Birt, J. (1996), “A glorious future – quality broadcasting in the digital age”, James Taggart Memorial Lecture, BBC, London. Born, G. (2004), Uncertain Vision: Birt, Dyke and the Reinvention of the BBC, Secker and Warburg, London. Burns, T. (1977), The BBC: Public Institution and Private World, Macmillan Press, London. Castells, M. (2000), The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, The Rise of the Network Society, Vol. 1, Blackwell, Oxford. Causer, G. and Exworthy, M. (1999), “Professionals as managers across the public sector”, in Exworthy, M. and Halford, S. (Eds), Professionals and the New Managerialism in the Public Sector, Open University Press, Buckingham. Child, J. and McGrath, R. (2001), “Organizations unfettered: organizational form in an information-intensive economy”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44 No. 6, pp. 1135-49. Clegg, S.R. and Courpasson, D. (2004), “Political hybrids: Tocquevillean views on project organizations”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 525-47. Courpasson, D. (2000), “Managerial strategies of domination. Power in soft bureaucracies”, Organization Studies, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 141-61. Curran, J. and Seaton, J. (2005), “Contradictions in media policy”, in Curran, J. and Seaton, J. (Eds), Power without Responsibility: The Press, Broadcasting and New Media in Britain, Routledge, London. Dams, T. (2000), “BBC producers get output quotas”, Broadcast, 4 February, p. 3. Dent, M. (1995), “The new national health service: a case of postmodernism?”, Organization Studies, Vol. 16 No. 5, pp. 875-99. Department of Culture Media and Sport (1999), An Enquiry into the Future Funding of the BBC, (The Davies Report), HMSO, London. Department of National Heritage (1994), The Future of the BBC: Serving the Nation, Competing World-wide, Cm2621, HMSO, London. Doolin, B. (2002), “Enterprise discourse, professional identity and the organizational control of hospital clinicians”, Organization Studies, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 369-90. du Gay, P. (2000), In Praise of Bureaucracy: Weber/Organization/Ethics, Sage, London. du Gay, P. (2003), “The tyranny of the epochal: change, epochalism and organizational reform”, Organization, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 663-84. du Gay, P. (Ed.) (2005), The Values of Bureaucracy, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Fairclough, N. (1993), “Critical discourse analysis and the marketization of public discourse: the universities”, Discourse and Society, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 133-68. Farrell, C. and Morris, J. (2003), “The ‘neo-bureaucratic state’: professionals, managers and professional managers in schools, general practices and social work”, Organization, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 129-56. Ferlie, E., Hartley, J. and Martin, S. (2003), “Changing public service organizations: current perspectives and future prospects”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 14, pp. 1-14. Ferlie, E., Ashburner, L., Fitzgerald, L. and Pettigrew, A. (1996), The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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JOCM 20,3
The guru’s gusto: management fashion, performance and taste Rene´ ten Bos and Stefan Heusinkveld
304 Received February 2006 Revised April 2006 Accepted July 2006
Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of management gurus in a contemporary society. Design/methodology/approach – To further understanding about the specific atmosphere favorable to the production and consumption of the guruesque ideas the paper draws on the work of Goffman and MacIntyre about the performance-like quality of organizational life. Findings – It is argued that the management guru is well at home in a social world in which presentation is a central theme. Hence, we portray the guru not as the messenger who brings indisputable truths to the managerial masses, but as a person who succeeds in presenting him or herself as a “tastemaker”. Research limitations/implications – The concept of tastemaker is still in need of more development and therefore this paper suggests three lines of further research. Practical implications – This paper may help managers, as important consumers of guruesque ideas, to better understand the management guru phenomenon and to reflect on their value in daily praxis. Originality/value – The paper provides more insight into the, albeit contested, role of (dis)taste, an issue that received scant attention in discussions about management fashion and guruism. Keywords Management gurus, Organizational culture Paper type Conceptual paper
Postmodernism’s skepticism about progress is a reminder that secular rationality does not have all the answers to life’s mysteries. (. . .) And its rejection of the notion that knowledge can be grounded by appealing to a rationality that exists beyond interpretation gives equality to all possible interpretations (Wolfe, 2000, pp. 69, 73; emphasis added).
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 304-325 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740155
Introduction In a book called American Business and the Quick Fix McGill has complained that fashionable management myths often consist of hopelessly simplistic solutions that undermine managers’ understanding of the real complexities that pertain to their work. McGill (1988, p. 202) argues that these myths have “drawn managers away from the realities of modern management and fixed them in patterns of feeling and thought that are inappropriate to contemporary organizational life”. In McGill’s view these management ideas are simply “wrong”. Other critics (Hilmer and Donaldson, 1996; The authors would like to thank Jos Benders, Steward Clegg, Jac Geurts, Juliette Helmer, Alfred Kieser, Martin Parker, Kees van Veen, Ton Wentink and two anonymous JOCM reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions.
Micklethwait and Wooldridge, 1996; Hoopes, 2003; Sorge and van Witteloostuijn, 2004) have resorted to even more drastic language and argued that these ideas are “dangerous” “amoral” “conceited” “sick” or “idiotic”. The language used by the critics is sometimes so strong that one cannot help feeling that its users also think it applies equally well to the management practitioners who are willing to listen to and enact the “nonsense” they hear. An increasing body of research indicates that many guru-led management ideas have attracted the managerial masses and hold a notable, albeit short-lived, impact on organizational discourse and praxis (DeCock and Hipkin, 1997; Zbaracki, 1998; Abrahamson and Fairchild, 1999; Cole, 1999; Easton and Jarrell, 2000). In addition, there is a recent wave of “story consulting gurus” (Denning, 2001) whose books are widely read and increasingly become influential among management practitioners (Boje, 2006b). It could be argued, therefore, that, although management gurus and their ideas about organizing are often heavily criticized, they highly appeal to the world of organizational praxis and are widely associated with contemporary organizational changes. Various theorists emphasize the key role of the public performances in communicating and popularizing their ideas (Jackson, 1996; Clark and Salaman, 1998; Greatbatch and Clark, 2005). However, still few scholars have been so perfunctory as Wren when he, already in 1973, suggested that the ideas of well-known management gurus such as Herzberg, Argyris or McGregor should not be condemned because they are wrong or inadequate but that they deserve to be studied in relation to the local and historical context in which they did occur (Wren, 1973, p. 490; cited in: Huczynski, 1993, p. 116). One might think here, for example, of Peter Drucker’s (at least to some people rather irritating) claim that “management is the most important function in American society” (Drucker, 1954; cited in: Micklethwait and Wooldridge, 1996, p. 63). Rather than taking issue with this by arguing that it is based on a myth and must therefore be untrue, it might be more interesting to understand the social world in which it emerges (Astley and Zammuto, 1992) and explain why it is that superficial statements like the one just quoted are widely consumed (Collins, 2003) and have such resounding effects. In this paper, we seek to contribute to understanding the management gurus’ albeit contested, role in contemporary society by exploring key elements that constitute the atmosphere favorable to the simultaneous production and consumption of their ideas on organizing. In the first section, we elaborate on current discussions for and against management gurus and their ideas on organizing (rationalist and humanistic-political approaches vs explanatory approaches). At the same time it is shown that gurus’ public performances are seen as central in communicating their ideas. In the second section, we draw on the work of Goffman and MacIntyre about the performance-like quality of organizational life to show that it: . preludes discussions for and against management gurus and management fashion; and . provides more insight into the, albeit contested, role of (dis)taste, an issue that received scant attention in discussions about fashion and guruism. In the third section, we argue that gurus are important characters in a domain in which presentation rather than truthfulness is crucially important. More particularly, we hope to make clear that the members of this domain are increasingly incapable of acknowledging – let alone respecting – well-known modern distinctions such as
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those between “fact” and “value” or between “public” and “private”. This engenders an atmosphere in which both the producers-most notably the gurus among them – and consumers of fashionable management ideas are thriving. It is for this reason that it might be argued that she/he is not so much the messenger who brings indisputable truths to the managerial masses as simply a person who succeeds in presenting him – or herself as a “tastemaker”. In the final section, we argue that such a view holds some notable implications for how gurus and their ideas can be seen, and offer important clues for further research into the production and consumption of management knowledge within a contemporary society. Contested ideas In the following section we discuss different views on the production and consumption of guruesque ideas. First, it indicates that much literature on management gurus and management fashion did not resist the temptation to evaluate or condemn these ideas in the name of what the well-known Philosopher Stephen Toulmin has recently dubbed “The Dream of High Science” that is, a conception of science which is general, timeless, abstract, objective, and axiomatic (Toulmin, 1996, p. 205). We suggest that this “rationalist criticism” of the production and consumption of management ideas is the first approach that can be distinguished in the literature on this issue. The second approach that might be distinguished is less rationally and more politically inspired in that its adherents argue that popular management ideas can have and often do have hideous consequences for people at work and should therefore be condemned. The “humanistic-political approach” as we prefer to call it, shares a desire to debunk the managerial “hypes” and “fads” with the rational approach but, contrary to the latter, it does not resort to overly rationalist or scientific explanations to express its displeasure with fashion. It is only the third approach to be distinguished here that takes Wren’s lesson about local and historical context to heart and is prepared to abandon the strongly normative stance typical of the other two approaches. Its adherents accept that fashion in general is an unmistakable part of the development of current society and that there are no reasons to dream about special areas such as managerial science where people might be able to escape from it. Having arrived at this conclusion, they particularly study the way the setters of fashion, most notably management gurus, express themselves. We will label this approach the “explanatory approach” since it does not seek to condemn management fashion as such but focuses on guru performances to explain how and why these ideas have become so attractive. The rationalist approach Management fashion has been defined as “a relatively transitory collective belief, disseminated by management fashion setters, that a management technique leads to rational management progress” (Abrahamson, 1996a, p. 255, b, p. 117). This definition is, we suggest, so provocative because it rather bluntly stipulates the adherence of management fashion setters and followers to managerial rationalism as if this were not a controversial issue. After all, many commentators on the subject have stressed the irrational or even anti-managerial aspects of what they can only see as dangerous fads and hypes (Donaldson, 1996; Ramsey, 1996; Micklethwait and Wooldridge, 1996; Hilmer and Donaldson, 1996; DuGay, 2000; Hoopes, 2003; Sorge and van Witteloostuijn, 2004). Such irrationality, they go on to argue, exemplifies a lack of professionalism on behalf of
managers and undermines a more accurate (read: academic or scientific) understanding of what is going on in our organizations. The recipes offered are seen as “ineffective” and “counter-productive” and therefore cannot but unavoidably produce failure in organizational praxis (Sorge and van Witteloostuijn, 2004). Micklethwait and Wooldridge (1996, p. 11), to mention just one example, claim that due to the fascination for fashion among both practitioners and scholars management thinking has become, “more than any other branch of academia” infested with “fear and greed”. To underscore this claim, they argue that in management thinking “marketing is more interesting than the product” Micklethwait and Wooldridge (1996, p. 346) and that the end result is “enormous profits for the gurus but confusion for their clients” Micklethwait and Wooldridge (1996, p. 68). So, Abrahamson’s claim that management fashion is generally committed to rational managerial goals does not necessarily imply that such goals are actually achieved. In an earlier article for this journal, Abrahamson (1991) has indeed suggested that the ideas of fashion setters may do more harm than good in organizations. This suggestion was by no means outrageous or exceptional. Fashionable organization concepts such as organizational development (OD), matrix management, T-groups, cultural management, core competencies, learning organizations, total quality management, or business process redesign have always seduced academics to cast doubt on the validity or applicability of all these ideas (Anthony, 1977; Carroll, 1983; Mayer, 1983; McGill, 1988). Writers such as Hilmer and Donaldson, 1996 and Micklethwait and Wooldridge (1996) or, to mention one more example, Eccles et al. (1992) can be seen as observers who have continued this tradition of rationally-motivated skepticism with respect to managerial fashion. They argue that fashionable management ideas have a poor empirical basis, are presented in an informal way, and do not meet scientific standards. McGill (1988, p. 202) concludes that management myths have “drawn people away from the realities of modern management and fixed them in patterns of feeling and thought that are inappropriate to contemporary organizational life.” Therefore, instead of using “sick” management ideas Sorge and van Witteloostuijn (2004) argue for the application of “healthy organization theories” to guide organizational change. The humanistic-political approach The humanistic-political approach questions fashionable concepts not because of their unclear relationship with the formal-rational goals of the organization but because of their alleged tendency both to privilege the interests of certain groups within and outside the organization (e.g. top managers, stockholders, consultants, or even cultural norms of American religious fundamentalists and nationalists (Grint, 1994; Grint and Case, 1998)) and to undermine the “quality of life” of those who are subjected to the implementation of fashionable concepts by for instance making working conditions “more stressful” (Knights and McCabe, 1998, p. 184). The accusation that guru-led management ideas endorse the hidden political agenda of managers (Barley and Kunda, 1992; Boje and Winsor, 1993; Knights and Murray, 1994; Willmott, 1994; Grint, 1995; Alvesson and Willmott, 1996; ten Bos, 1997) has even tempted some of the critics to suggest that totalitarian or “Orwellian” motives pervade fashionable trends such as cultural management (Kunda, 1992; Willmott, 1993). Underlying these seemingly far-fetched suggestions is a deep concern about the emancipation of workers and employees.
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Discussing the “excellence” literature spawned by people like Peters and Waterman (1982) and Alvesson and Willmott (1996, p. 98) argue that “the individual employee is free to do what he or she wishes as long as this is what the boss wants the employee to wish”. Indeed, in many management fashions, only lip-service is paid to concepts like empowerment and diversity. What we mean by this is that these concepts are well entrenched outside the business literature for example in feminism, black activism and grassroots practices. Nevertheless, these terms have been made palatable to managerial audiences, a process during which many shifts in the meaning of such concepts occurred. The practice of empowerment is not necessarily related to participation of all members of the organization as might be expected in a democracy, but to the participation of only those who are acknowledged as experts (ten Bos, 2000). Empowerment therefore fosters meritocracy rather than bureaucracy. Similar arguments can be made against the management of diversity. As Lui (2004, p. 57) argues, diversity in the management mold is “multicultural, because it is not any cultural in a customary sense. It is constructed not so much constructed out of men and women as from cultural-bare ‘atoms’.” These atoms can be easily programmed into post-cultural and quasi-empowered teams. So in a sense where empowerment implies an erasure of democracy, diversity management implies an erasure of culture. These are the harsh consequences of what Alvesson and Willmott (1996, p. 99) refer to as “nascent technocratic totalitarianism”. A similar point is made by the Canadian Philosopher Mark Kingwell (1996, pp. 313-317) when he, following Benjamin DeMott (1993), describes the leadership fashion as a highly dangerous combination of fantasy, populism, technocracy, and cliquism that is bad for democracy and freedom since it disparages the ability of American citizens to cope with conflict and disagreement. Carter and Jackson (1998, pp. 156-7) follow this line of thinking and argue that the messages of management gurus are only “ostensibly democratic”. Gurus are pilgrims who use “techno-media” to bring “evangelical” messages about the betterment of production processes in organizations rather than about a better quality of the lives of those who work there (see for an example of the evangelic theatrics of the Reengineering gurus, Boje et al., 1997). In a similar way, theorist developed critical work on more recent guruesque ideas such as on change management (Collins, 1998), organizational culture (Chan, 2000) and knowledge management (Styhre, 2003). All these authors seem to agree that management ideas may help managers to replace open argument, debate and polyphony by socially manipulated consent (Boje, 2006a; Clegg et al., 2006). It is, however, important to keep in mind that this kind of criticism to the guruesque ideas differs from the rationalist approach discussed above in that it concedes that some fashions at least seem to recognize employees as fully-fledged individuals with higher-order or even spiritual needs. Although Alvesson and Willmott (1996, p. 162; emphasis in original) warn against “ideologically polluted versions of emancipation” and argue that emancipation is “not a gift to be bestowed upon employees but rather an existentially painful process” they suggest that some fashionable concepts, especially the ones they describe as “humanistic management theory” (empowerment, teamwork, human relations, etc.), might receive a “carefully qualified welcome”. Such qualified welcomes for management fashions can also be found in Parker (1998) or in Eccles et al. (1992). Parker (1998, pp. 89-90) points out that he feels “uneasy about attempts to manipulate the identity of organizational members”
and yet has to admit that he feels attracted “by the idea of working for an organization that I/we can believe in”. Eccles et al. (1992, p. 26) go off on a somewhat different tack when they argue that although much in management fashion amounts to mere rhetoric, it is always the kind of rhetoric that is able “to coax, inspire, demand, or otherwise produce action in organization”. The refusal of the humanistic-political approach to downright condemn the management ideas is, we suggest, a strategic move that serves to encourage a more open discussion between academic and popular branches of management thinking. As Alvesson and Willmott (1996, p. 160) point out, “[o]ur concern is to encourage greater dialogue between the ‘mainstream’ and ‘critical’ wings of management [thinking] . . . ” For instance, next to offering a fundamental critique of the current theorizing on knowledge management by stressing that it ignores: “the ontological, epistemological and political qualities of knowledge” (Styhre, 2003, p. 8), Styhre’s (2003, p. 11) work intends at the same time to: “further refine and improve the knowledge management literature”. This willingness to engage in a dialogue, however, should not lead academics to become infected or polluted by wrong-minded ideologies. It is this intellectual and moral purity that allows Alvesson and Willmott (1996) to warn their readers not to harbor “any illusions about the philosophical and political differences that distinguish their respective positions”. We may note here that it is not easy to see how this normative and suspicious remark might contribute to a more fruitful dialogue between different strands in management thinking. It can be seen as a token of the authors’ pessimism about the very possibility of such a dialogue. The explanatory approach Some scholars show that, in spite of the above-mentioned criticism, there is, at least at first sight, a wide appreciation of the management ideas that are expressed by management gurus in a contemporary society (ten Bos, 2000). This stream of research on management ideas abandons the normative stance but concentrates on management gurus’ performance. It is argued that gurus are part of a management knowledge industry that include actors such as, management consultants (Clark, 1995; Benders et al., 1998), business schools, business media (Furusten, 1999), politicians and professional interest groups (editors, publishers, conference organizers, etc.) who play a crucial role in the production and transfer of management ideas to management practitioners (ten Bos, 2000; Sahlin-Andersson and Engwall, 2002). In addition, Clark and Greatbatch (2002b) stress the importance of studying the highly complicated “backstage” interchange between the different actors in understanding that the production of ideas. It is clear that gurus do not operate in isolation and enjoy the assistance of many other people, most notably, the editors of well-known publishers. It is believed that particularly the management gurus – academics, consultants or former business leaders (Huczynski, 1993, p. 40) – have a special talent that allows them to recognize and cater to the needs of managers (Jackson, 1996, p. 572). They can do this because they are “virtuosos in symbolic management” (Jackall, 1988, p. 134) or “master rhetoricians” (Clark and Greatbatch, 2002b; Kieser, 1997, p. 56; Jackson, 1996; Jackson, 1999). Particularly their “powerful preaching skills’ allows them to create a receptive climate for new ideas among a management audience (Huczynski, 1993; Greatbatch and Clark, 2005). Others, however, downplay this virtuosity and argue that gurus simply use the same labels, metaphors, and platitudes as managers are allegedly
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inclined to do (Czarniawska-Joerges, 1990). For instance, Goldratt explained his audience that they “sold” his Theory of Constraints to themselves (Oliver, 1990, p. 25, cited in Huczynski, 1993). Another telling example of guru language is provided by Gary Hamel in his recent book about a new panacea called “business concept innovation”. In order to persuade his readers that it is utterly senseless to try to improve “the efficiency of worn-out strategies” he provides the following “argument”: Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are on a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. Of course, there are other strategies. You can change riders. You can get a committee to study the dead horse. You can benchmark how other companies ride dead horses. You can declare that it is cheaper to feed a dead horse. You can harness several dead horses together. But after you have tried all these things, you are still going to have to dismount (Hamel, 2000, p. 54).
Whether one sees this passage as exemplifying symbolic virtuosity or not is, we suggest, a matter of taste, an under researched topic that we will address in more detail in the next section of this paper. Here, it suffices to note that the guru apparently has the ability to write in a language that resonates with the managerial tongue. But he or she is also able to utilize even more persuasive forms of communication. Clark and Salaman (1996, p. 6), for example, argue that not only written language plays a key role, but also oral language and the way it is presented during so-called guru-performances or on videotapes. These performances, they point out, always carry “a risk of total and public failure” (Clark and Salaman, 1996, p. 12) and therefore require enormous skills in risk management. As Huczynski (1993, p. 263) stated, there is not any magic formula with which catch the mood of the management audience thereby making the performance a success. But, as Crainer (1999, pp. 178-9) points out with respect to one important guru, Tom Peters is not really a risk manager (although he admits to be nervous for performances) but an “artist” a “rock star” or a “natural performer” who knows how to manipulate people’s minds because he feels he has “a common cause with people in his audiences” even though he is earning more dollars a day than most members of his audience in a year. The point, of course, made by the current literature, is that the guru has the gift of making his audience believe that there is such a common cause. Peters (cited in: Crainer, 1999, p. 180) himself has suggested what unites him with his clients: All of life, be it giving a seminar, being a chief executive officer or reporting, is acting. If you are intent on convincing somebody of something, there is an element of showmanship. And showmanship has both seedy and legitimate connotations.
The central role of guru’s public performances in the production and consumption of their ideas has not escaped notice among academics (Huczynski, 1993, pp. 243-67; Grint, 1997, pp. 39-40; Kieser, 1997, p. 65; Clark and Greatbatch, 2002a; Fincham, 2002; Collins, 2003). Clark and Salaman (1996) have even suggested that the guru’s performance resembles that of a witchdoctor who knows only too well that the quality of his or her magic depends on the quality of the staging. Using metaphors developed by Mangham and Overington (1986) and Jackson (1996, p. 585) has suggested that the guru is not only a performer but also “a ‘playwright’ to the organization that chooses to participate in his or her ‘play’.” Mangham (1990) has suggested that gurus can become successful performers because they have an audience of managers who are constantly performing themselves. Vaill (1989, pp. 114-115) has gone so far as to suggest his
readers – presumably managers – to abandon what he calls the “list-of-functions approach” and to embrace the metaphor of “management as a performing art” because managerial action . . .: . . . is a concrete process performed by a whole person in relation to a whole environment populated by other whole persons (that is, not other lists of functions). This whole process is embedded in time and is subject in the real time of its operation to all turbulence and change that surround it, that indeed suffuse it, because the turbulence and change are within action takers as much as they surround them. Simply to name the function to be performed as though it were the action ignores all of this richness of the actual action-taking process and, worst of all, ultimately masks the richness and leads to an empty of what the action taking process is.
Vaill argues that people in organizations are not simply function holders but whole persons whose behavior can best be understood in terms of “performing arts”. They use all sorts of tactics to enhance their images at work (Bolino, 1999, pp. 82-3). One of the key points we wish to make in this paper is that gurus perfectly relate to the performance quality of organizational life in the sense that they are seen by managers as experts in the creation of images and impressions. As Clark and Salaman (1998, p. 155) have noted, management gurus do not so much resolve the problems of their clients as build, in interaction with their audience, a managerial reality which is replete with meaning and expectations management practitioners makers are able to recognize. As a result, the production and consumption of guruesque ideas are not separate processes (Collins, 2003) but are engendered in an atmosphere in which both the producers – most notably the gurus among them – and consumers of fashionable management ideas are thriving. The world according to Goffman As we have seen in the previous section, the guru is a, albeit contested, performer who perfectly fits into a social world where the only thing that really matters is the quality of the performance. In this section, we will further explore the atmosphere favorable to the production and simultaneous consumption of guruesque ideas by elaborating on MacIntyre’s (1981) extremely unfavorable interpretation of Goffman (1959) who is argued to have described a social reality in which performance, self-staging and self-presentation are more important than anything else in the world. It is what MacIntyre describes as a “Goffmanesque” world: the inhabitants of this social reality have to put up with lacking rational and objective criteria in both moral and scientific matters (see for a moral evaluation of this work, Horton and Mendus, 1994). The following sections will sketch the contours of this world by highlighting what we suggest are its three pivotal aspects: (1) the transience of success; (2) the ubiquity of taste; and (3) the irresistible deflation of truth. What we will try to do in what follows is to build further on current discussions for and against management gurus and management fashion. By drawing from the work of Goffman and MacIntyre we indicate that it preludes these discussions and provides more insight into the, albeit contested, role of (dis)taste, an issue that received scant
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attention in the literature about fashion and guruism. Our discussion, albeit by no means complete in itself, aims to set an agenda for a more systematic debate and research on issues that are, at least on an intuitive level, closely related to the very ideas of gurus and their – not indisputable – role in contemporary society. Success While there may be more theorists who take a critical stance on the work of Goffman (Boje et al., 2003), it is for the sake of clarity that we choose to focus here on Alasdair MacIntyre. He can no doubt be seen as one of the sternest critics of the social order described by Goffman. While people like Nietzsche (MacIntyre, 1981, p. 110) are argued to have theoretically articulated a world view which defies objective moral standards and while Weber (MacIntyre, 1981, pp. 24-6, 108) is believed to have shown, also on a theoretical level, that this view is particularly immanent in the bureaucratic and managerial forms of our culture, it was not until Goffman (1969) developed his “sociology of interaction” that it became clear what the disastrous practical consequences of such a world can be. From the perspective of MacIntyre, Goffman cannot ever be regarded as sociologist for he flatly denies the “social”. In fact, the philosopher is hardly able to conceal his deeply felt contempt for this world: The unit of analysis in Goffman’s accounts is always the individual role-player striving to effect his will within a role-structured situation. The goal of the Goffmanesque role-player is effectiveness and success in Goffman’s social universe is nothing but what passes for success. There is nothing else for it to be. For Goffman’s world is empty of objective standards of achievement; it is so defined that there is no cultural or social space from which appeal to such standards could be made (MacIntyre, 1981, pp. 108-109)
In this passage, MacIntrye’s insistence on the strange role of success in a Goffmanesque world is striking. How does Goffman himself think about success? It is well-known that Goffman describes the modern individual as a performer and as a character. The individual as a performer is “a harried fabricator of impressions involved in the all-too-human task of staging a performance” (Goffman, 1959, p. 252); the individual as a character is “a figure, typically a fine one, whose spirit, strength and other sterling qualities the performance was designed to provoke” (Goffman, 1959, p. 252). This entails that the individual as a performer sets out to convey a particular kind of character to a particular kind of audience. Provided that this audience, say a team within a company, is convinced that the character in their midst manifests, say, “a tactful considerateness for their concerns” and “a capacity for a deeply felt shame” (Goffman, 1959, p. 253), the performance is successful. Although Goffman (1959, pp. 254-5) acknowledges that there is a difference between the stage in a theater and the stage outside this theater, he also points out that “the successful staging [both in – and outside the theater] involves the use of real techniques” and that these techniques allow the role-players to sustain the social situation in which they find themselves. These ideas have not escaped notice among organizational scholars (Hochschild, 1983; Mangham and Overington, 1986; Fineman, 1993; Punch, 1996). People at work often seem to be: . . . not mere performers but actors who play characters, moving from character to character and audience to audience with a “theatrical consciousness” which enables them to retain a concept of an acting self (Ho¨pfl and Linstead, 1993, p. 77).
What at least some organizational scholars learned from Goffman is that people in organizations are constantly worried about the successful staging of the characters they play with respect to a variety of audiences and they employ a whole range of techniques to intervene in organizations to achieve such success (Boje and Rosile, 2003). Relatedly Oswick et al. (2005, p. 387) state that “image and reputation are now the factors critical to success and survival” thereby indicating that managing expectations and perceptions of changes tend to prevail the tangible changes in organizations. For MacIntyre, however, the kind of success that is available in a Goffmanesque world can only be empty. Success, he argues: . . . is whatever passes for success, it is in the regard of others that I prosper or fail to prosper; hence the importance of presentation as a – perhaps the central – theme (MacIntyre, 1981, p. 109).
Then he goes on to argue that in this world “imputations of merit” can never be based on objective standards because such standards are simply nowhere to be had. MacIntyre concludes that Goffman provides us with a: . . . sociology which by intention deflates the pretensions of appearance to be anything more than appearance. It is a sociology which it would be tempting to call cynical-in the modern, not the ancient sense-but for the fact that, if Goffman’s portrait of human life is a true likeness, there can be no such thing as a cynical disregard for objective merit, since there is no such thing as objective merit for the cynic to disregard.
The only values or standards that count in a society where human action is reduced to presentation are established during a theatrical performance and lose validity and significance after the performance has ended. The problem with this is that presentation is merely presentation or, put differently, that there is nothing, least of all a stable self, beyond any appearance. In a Goffmanesque society, any sense of a solid self must fade away in face of what Gergen (1991, p. 69) has described as “the multiple conceptions people harbor about what they may become”. (MacIntrye, 1981, pp. 31-2) points out that under these conditions the successful staging of different kind of characters can only be very short-lived, because the self that is presupposed (as well as the audiences with which it is inextricably bound up) has by and large a transient, abstract, and ghostly character. This critique of a Goffmanesque world can also be phrased in simpler terms. One might argue that cool has become more important than expertise (Frank, 1997; Lui, 2004). This means that taste access, impression, presentation and staging have become all-important insofar as knowledge and professionalism are concerned. Taste We submit that in a world where human action is reduced to impression and presentation an ordering based on the emotion of disgust (rather than on reason) is crucially important. The inherent ghostly self is, as MacIntyre (1981, p. 11) puts it, profoundly “emotivist”: it cannot possibly judge on the basis of impersonal and universally valid standards and whatever it says or thinks about morality (which is MacIntyre’s prime concern) or reality (which is science’s prime concern) cannot but be an expression of attitude or feeling. In other words, the expressions of the self are merely a matter of taste. As has been pointed out by sociologists from Elias to Bourdieu, taste defies objectivity (even to such an extent that objectivity itself can be seen as a matter of taste) and its function cannot therefore be scientific or rational. What then is its
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function? Miller (1998, p. 12) argues that taste (“gust”) should be connected with an understanding of disgust, a notion which he describes as an emotion loaded with all sorts of “complex ideational notions about contagion, contamination, and similarity”. As such a person’s capacity to experience disgust is a sign that allows for an ordering of the social world between those who are and those who are not contaminated, that is to say, between those who have remained pure and those who have not. In this sense, disgust is merely a token of good taste. Again, we stress in this paper that an ordering based on the emotion of disgust is crucially important in a world where human action is reduced to impression and presentation. As we have seen, Goffman (1959) argues that in such a world, divides between “us” en “them” are not determined by, say, knowledge, inner morality, or truthfulness, but by outward appearances as well as by the kind of respect people feel for the setting they find themselves in. In other words, under Goffmanesque conditions, disgust has the all-important task of dividing those who have taste from those who have not. It is only by means of excluding others that the self is able to maintain a veneer of self-respect. However, objective criteria for distinguishing good taste from bad taste do not seem to be available in a world which is reduced to impression and presentation. In other words, what is disgusting from one point of view is evidence of good taste from another point of view. This is, of course, tantamount to saying that taste and distaste (gust and disgust) are ubiquitous in our society (Saul, 1994; Rollin, 1994; Lieberson, 2000) and that concepts such as objectivity or universal truth have been sacrificed on the stages where the self presents him- or herself. Truth Gilles Deleuze, a well-known French philosopher, is reputed to have said that he has lost his “taste” for factual or objective truths (Badiou, 1999, p. 56). It might be argued that this is what is perfectly understood by the Goffmanesque role-players we have encountered above. To give a perhaps unexpected twist to a well-known phrase, all truths, especially those with universal pretensions, can easily become unpalatable. Believing in the existence of some indisputable truth might, as Jacques (1996, p. 16) points out, very well become a “truth trap” in the sense that it can become an obstacle which prevents one from facing reality as it is. In this sense, truth cannot be based on anything other than selective perception. Small wonder that under Goffmanesque conditions the successful staging of a character, fragmentary and transient as it may be, has become a hallmark not so much of truth itself as of reliability or even individual integrity. As Alvesson and Berg (1992, p. 223) formulate it, “truth has become a matter of credibility rather than an objective condition”. In MacIntrye’s (1988, p. 395) own words, truth has deteriorated into a “series of falsifying masquerades” that persons who live under Goffmanesque conditions have to put up with for pragmatic reasons. MacIntyre (1988, p. 395) argues that “[t]he everyday world is to be treated as one of pragmatic necessities” and that “every scheme of overall belief which extends beyond the realm of pragmatic necessity is equally unjustified”. A consequence of this is that everybody feels entitled to give his or her opinion on the most bewildering variety of subjects, but the price to be paid for this is that no one can speak with any authority. Even the most professional expertise is not enough to produce a burning belief in the truth of an idea or a theory.
Gergen (1991, p. 78) has described this process in terms of a “rationality in recession” and argues that, as the range of our social relationships is getting more and more expanded, each truth or rationality will tend to become more localized and hence questionable. But this is the same as admitting that no matter what is expressed by a particular person in a particular context, there must be, as Weick (1999, p. 802) has recently put it, “a grain of truth” in it. Even though it is no longer realistic to expect a person to have a burning belief in the truth, some support, even when it has to come from the most unexpected corners, is always available. Such is the paradoxical nature of the truth in a social world in which, as we will argue in the next section, the management guru feels perfectly at home. The guru as a tastemaker The social world of which we briefly sketched the contours in the previous section is one in which truth has become a matter of success and taste. Drawing on this Goffmanesque picture of our social world, we are now going to argue that the management guru is a crucially important “character” in this world. We will first explain how we use the concept of character. Then we will discuss a few examples which illustrate that fantasy, stress, and humor are more important tools for the performance of this character than truthfulness. Finally, we will offer some suggestions of what it is that makes him or her so fashionable, particularly among management practitioners as consumers of guruesque ideas. What is a “character”? Our use of the concept of “character” is entirely inspired by MacIntyre. He defines characters as a: . . . very special type of social role which places a certain kind of moral constraint on the personality of those who inhabit them in a way that other social roles do not (. . .) In the case of a character role and personality fuse in a more specific way than in general; (. . .) the possibilities of action are defined in a more limited way than in general (MacIntyre, 1981, p. 26).
From this it should be clear that MacIntyre borrows the reference to dramaturgy that is present in Goffman’s use of the concept while leaving out the sociologist’s interest in the way persons stage particular characters in the theater of social life. MacIntyre relates his use of the concept of “character” to a particular dramatic tradition which goes back to medieval morality plays or Japanese Noh-plays. The actors in these plays possess, as MacIntyre makes clear, a stock of characters which are immediately recognizable to the audience. The course of events in these plays is totally determined by the easily recognizable aspects of the principal characters. The social character MacIntyre has in mind resembles the character of a morality play or melodrama in at least two important respects. First, a social character within a particular culture is easily recognizable to other members of that culture. Characters provide “a culture with its moral definitions” (MacIntyre, 1981, p. 26). As MacIntyre carefully points out, all this is not to say that the members of this culture agree with these definitions and philosophies. It is more that they provide “focal points” for moral agreement or moral disagreement. Second, members of the culture also know or feel how in a particular setting actions of its dominant characters are likely to evolve, because the “structure” of their behavior
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is known or taken for granted. For example, in debates about a healthy environment we generally take for granted how the most important characters in this social drama will act. Under normal circumstances we do not expect managers or entrepreneurs, to mention just two other candidates for the label of “character” to endorse more restrictive environmental legislation. This is of course not to say that an individual manager or entrepreneur will never endorse such legislation; indeed, he or she may adopt a very different social role than is suggested by what other members of his/her culture expect from the manager as character. But in as much as the manager or entrepreneur does endorse it, he or she will be considered to be an exception to the rule precisely because other people who identify with or against him or her did not expect this particular kind of behavior. When the manager or entrepreneur does not display the kind of behavior friend and foe alike expect him or her to display, they will very likely become suspicious and, for example, conjecture the presence of hidden agendas. Hence, it is not surprising that MacIntyre (1981, p. 28) stresses that: . . . the requirements of a character are imposed from the outside, from the way in which others regard and use characters to understand and to evaluate themselves. A character is an object of regard by the members of the culture generally or some significant segment of them. He furnishes them with a cultural and moral ideal.
This passage provides the key to our suggestion that the guru is a major character in a Goffmanesque culture. Gurus are used by others – especially but not exclusively by managers and entrepreneurs – to understand and evaluate themselves (rather than their organizations); they are also “objects of regard” because they are generally deemed to be the experts in what others believe is the quintessential art of presentation. It is in this sense that the guru provides a moral – and, as we have seen, not necessarily incontestable – ideal in a contemporary society. “Tools” for tastemaking This world is, as we saw above, one in which moral and professional debate has become a play full of persuasion, manipulation and seduction. The tastes of players who are successful determine what is true in this world. This entails that whatever may be true can only be short-lived and transient. Since, such terms are often used to condemn fashionable ideas as well, we may perhaps argue that fashion has come to dictate what is true and what is not. The appreciation of gurus and their ideas about organization and management by knowledge consumers, are carried on by the dictates of what is tasteful. No matter which persuasion you may have in the private domain, in public you are coerced to seduce, persuade, and manipulate if you are to exert any influence at all. Historically, the “manager” may be the first to have gained a profound understanding of this in MacIntyre’s view pitiable state of affairs; the “guru” then turns out to be a highly effective deliverer of what the “manager” and, increasingly, average citizens expect under such circumstances. They would all concur with Gerd Gerken, a German management guru, when he argues that “[t]he message is no longer important, but instead the quality of the staging. Performance replaces content” (cited in: Kieser, 1997, p. 65). Gurus teach them how to become excellent performers in the theatrical sense of the word. They can act out this role, we suggest, because they have a deep philosophical understanding of what life in this particular social world is all about.
Take, for example, Barry Kaufman, also known as “Bears” an American guru and founder of the Option Institute in Sheffield, Massachusetts where people congregate to become happy. The following passage illustrates how performance and philosophy may be interlocked in a Goffmanesque world. For a small group of happiness-seekers, Kaufman contemplates the possibility that not anybody agrees with his ideas:
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Kaufman now whispers into the mike, as if reading my mind. “And I always say, Who cares? When I was a graduate student in philosophy, that’s all I did, search for the truth. I was desperate to find it. Then I met someone who thought she had it, a brilliant woman, Harvard graduate, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. And you know what? She was miserable. She had the truth and all she got was pain and angst. So, I stopped searching for the truth. If it makes you miserable, I don’t want it. I’ll take happiness. If searching for the truth brings pain, I’ll take love” (Kingwell, 1998, p. 79).
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Kingwell (1998, p. 79) describes how almost everybody nods at the sentiment that is conveyed by these words that are whispered in a cordless mike. “Yes Bears, you’re so right. Screw the truth, ignorance is bliss.” Our reporter confesses to be totally perplexed by the enthusiastic response of the audience to what is merely an invocation of the age-old Socratic fantasy that wisdom resides in an understanding that one does not know anything at all. An interesting example of another story is provided by Maister et al. (2000, p. 37) in a stunning passage about business relations in the consultancy world: Business relationships have much in common with the relationships we try to build in our personal lives. For example, think of how you behave (or once behaved) in trying to build a relationship with your romantic partner. To build a strong relationship, you try to be understanding, thoughtful, considerate, sensitive to feelings, and supportive. All of these adjectives apply equally well to build a strong business relationship. Fortunately, there are some key principles of relationship building that apply in both personal and professional life.
Then the authors go on to list some of these principles: go first, illustrate and do not tell, keep asking, and so on. The credibility of these principles – which they call “the rules of romance” – is heightened by regularly invoking stories (or fantasies?) from the private lives of the authors. The “Kathy Maister stories” as the authors call them, are especially noteworthy in this regard. Kathy is Maister’s wife and one of the stories in which she figures goes like this: One evening, Kathy showed up in David’s study at home and said, “Sweetie, I really have a problem and need your help?” Naturally, David swung into macho, paternalistic mode: “Yes, dear, how can I help you solve your problem?” “Well,” she said, “as you know, we are having friends tonight for dinner. I was just going over the list of things that needed to get done: shop for the ingredients, cook the meal, set the table, clean the house, buy the flowers, choose the music, and so on. (. . .) I have made an estimate of how long it will take to do each of these things, and it looks like there is a possibility that I won’t be able to get them done perfectly by the time our friends arrive. And I do so much want everything to go well tonight. So, beloved, I was wondering if you had any advice for me?” (Maister et al., 2000, p. 46).
The point to be remembered by the readers – according to the back flap of the book “anybody who must advise, negotiate, or manage complex relationships with others” – is that demands for help are generally much less effective than requests for help. This message is more important than the truthfulness of the story. Indeed,
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the rather rancid and sexist humor that is used in it – “sweetie” “beloved” the ironic hint at the “macho, paternalistic mode”-makes it hard to believe that the Kathy story actually happened in the way it is described here, but for those who have more taste for this kind of humor it no doubt serves to hammer home the authors’ message that business relationships can be put on a par with romantic relationships (see for a discussion of more sexist guru humor, Carter and Jackson, 1998). Moreover, a crucially important side-effect of this fantasy might be, we suggest, that the readers will not so much think about what is going on in their oftentimes unromantic business lives as about what is going on in their private lives. These examples illustrate that gurus use fantasies, stories, humor, and so on in order to increase the credibility of their message or performance (see for a more elaborate work on stories and storytelling: Rhodes, 2001; Kearney, 2002; Boje, 2006a). They do not care about truth but about the effectiveness of the messages they try to convey in their texts and during their performances. This feat is what makes them moral representatives of a contemporary society. For many of their followers, such as managers of industrial firms and other knowledge consumers, gurus are not those who bring indisputable truths but merely successful and fashionable “tastemakers”. Why is the guru fashionable? What makes the gurus so fashionable is that they challenge the validity of once unassailable distinctions such as that between norm and fact or private and public. The inhabitants of the social world in which gurus are thriving would argue that there is no such thing as a distinction between fact and value, between “is” and “ought” that is to say, between facts that can be objectively known and moral beliefs that are necessarily subjective (Eastman and Bailey, 1998). Hence, there is only one realm and this realm is dominated by taste and success rather than by the meanwhile awkward distinctions we just mentioned. We suggest that those who are in this realm, most notably the gurus among them, would argue that the absence of the gap between objectivity and subjectivity or “is” and “ought” is no problem at all because the idea that there is such a gap in the first place is itself fictitious. Each factual statement, they would argue, has a normative aspect and each normative statement has a factual aspect. Knowledge production and morality are not opposed to each other since they are both pervaded with seduction, manipulation, and presentation (Denning, 2001). The management guru is so fashionable precisely because of his or her indifference with respect to the distinctions we mentioned. And it is this indifference that allows gurus like Maister to ignore the (modern) boundaries between different segments of life as well as between their respective “comportments”. DuGay (2000) has considered this a hallmark of guruism. In his view, the guru does not acknowledge a substantial difference between organizational matters and, say, matters of life and death or, in the case of Maister, private matters. Indeed, the disappearance of the distinction between value and fact renders that other pre-eminently modern distinction, namely that between “private” and “public” obsolete. As a result, guru performances should be seen as part of a larger process of “tastemaking”. Since, taste is all about aesthetics, one might argue gurus to be involved in an aesthetic performance which many commentators have deemed to be distasteful as such. Their proclivity to aesthetics is one of the reasons why they have been accused of producing “sick” management ideas (Sorge and van Witteloostuijn, 2004), and of
undermining managerial professionalism (Hilmer and Donaldson, 1996). In the view of the modern manager, the bureaucrat, or many academics nothing is so unprofessional, indeed blasphemous as blurring the dividing line between the public and the private (Simon, 1965; Ladd, 1970, 1984; Michelman, 1993). Management, they would argue, is essentially about keeping the private at bay. No moods, no emotions, no moralities are available to the bureaucratic manager. The officials of an organization are “envisaged as more or less ethically neutral . . . (and) the values to be taken as data are not those which would guide the individual if he were a private citizen” (Bergson, cited in: Ladd, 1970, p. 492). However, the very fact that gurus have also ventured into the private realm has allowed them to become fashionable dealers in what has been described as soul engineering. When Micklethwait and Wooldridge (1996, p. 351) argue that the work of Stephen Covey “is total quality management for the character, re-engineering for the soul” they are despite their critical attitude the best spokesmen Covey could ever dream of. What Micklethwait and Wooldridge would have discarded as distasteful is perhaps the single most important reason for the guru’s popularity in a contemporary society. Conclusion The central argument of this paper strongly relies on the correctness of the claim that we are witnessing in our society a situation in which only few people would still recognize distinctions between private and public, fact and value, or objectivity and subjectivity. There are, of course, commentators who would flatly deny that something like this is going on and that science remains a strong foothold for those who still believe in the enlightenment ideals of objectivity, representation, and factuality. In the field of organizational theory, this attitude is exemplified by those who believe that the successful performance of organizations is always based on healthy, scientific principles (Sorge and van Witteloostuijn, 2004). Those who cast doubt on these principles would argue that success is a matter of luck, mysticism, or, as we have proposed, presentation, should always feel ashamed about themselves. Wolfe (2000, p. 69) has argued that shame is what academics might feel when they do not endorse the ideals of the enlightenment, for example, because they are deeply religious. But he also suggests that these people may find consolation and inspiration in at least some of the core tenets of contemporary thinkers like Derrida or Foucault. As been shown by the quote in the beginning of this paper, Wolfe suggests that we live in a period where shame for one’s convictions has disappeared because room is given to “all possible interpretations”. What Wolfe is up to here is that knowledge is no longer a prerogative of the academic, but everybody is allowed to have a say (Lui, 2004). It is in this domain that the management guru feels at home. He or she has understood that one of the consequences of this pluralism is that tastemaking through presentation and performance has become central. Perhaps, it might be added that this is why they are on equal footing with radio and television evangelists who are also excellent and successful tastemakers. Should we follow rationalists in bemoaning this pluralist state of affairs? Well, if we choose to do so, we run the risk of “selective perception”: we only hear and see what we want to hear and see Rollin (1994, p. 15). We will fail to understand, for example, that the current development of our society is so that it is highly unlikely that societal and organizational changes are not influenced by aesthetic, religious, or otherwise non-objective judgments. The fact that these
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judgments are notoriously difficult to pin down in scientific terms (Lieberson, 2000) does not warrant their methodological denial. This is why we have tried to elaborate somewhat on the concept of the tastemaker. It helps us to understand that much of what people in organizations do is still permeated by aesthetics, something which management gurus have perfectly understood. We believe that this concept is still in need of more development and therefore suggest three lines of further research. First, of all, the concept of tastemaker might help us to get a better understanding of how gurus sense and also shape the managerial agenda for organizational changes. Taste and distaste undoubtedly play a role in the “creation” process of management ideas as well as in the internal struggles and controversies related to this process (Heusinkveld and Benders, 2005). Secondly, the concept might also help us to gain more insight into the consumption (Collins, 2003) of gurus’ ideas in terms of cognitive and behavioral impact on managers and organizations. We submit that taste and distaste also play a role in both critical and uncritical attitudes of managers towards these ideas and the organizational changes that are associated with it (DeCock and Hipkin, 1997). Finally, we suggest that the concept of taste might be related to a entirely different and new array of terms that, at least at an intuitive level, seem to play a role in management thought and organizational changes: status, stature, fame, reputation, and so on. Showing that one has a distinct taste for smart and innovative thinking and a similar distaste for what has become obsolete seems to be on a par with claiming a particular kind of reputation. This is perhaps what lurks behind all tasteful and distasteful changes that take place in our organizations, to wit, an obsession with name and fame.
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JOCM 20,3
Ecopreneurship – a new approach to managing the triple bottom line Sarah E.A. Dixon and Anne Clifford Kingston Business School, Kingston upon Thames, UK
326 Received March 2005 Revised March 2006 Accepted June 2006
Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend research into social and ecological entrepreneurship. It aims to examine how ecopreneurs can create an economically viable business whilst retaining their core environmental and social values. Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory approach within the phenomenological research paradigm. Single case study of Green-Works triangulating data collection – semi structured interviews, micro-ethnography and document analysis. Inductive approach. Findings – A strong link is identified between entrepreneurialism and environmentalism. The entrepreneurial flair of the CEO enables the pursuit of environmental, social and economic goals. The success of the Green-Works business model stems from the business’s symbiotic relationships: firstly with large corporate bodies, which are keen to quantify their CSR efforts; secondly, with the community and social partners, who provide employment and training for disadvantaged people and a route to relatively risk free growth; and thirdly, with government and social institutions, which provide special concessions and support. The strong economic foundations of the model provide sustainability for the environmental and social objectives of the organisation. Research limitations/implications – Research restricted to one UK case study – a model that has evolved in part through policies and business trends specific to the UK. Further research should compare this business model with other social enterprises within the UK and other countries. Practical implications – Provides a practical framework for social and green entrepreneurship. Of interest to ecopreneurs and social enterprises seeking economic sustainability; to governments, wishing to promote CSR, environmentalism and social enterprise; and to corporate organisations wishing to demonstrate a quantitative contribution to the environment and society. Originality/value – Demonstration of natural fit between environmentalism and entrepreneurialism. Presentation of business model offering economic sustainability for environmental and social enterprises. Keywords Entrepreneurialism, Corporate social responsibility; Sustainable development, United Kingdom Paper type Research paper
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 326-345 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740164
Introduction What motivates companies to embrace sustainability? Moreover, why should they, given that such measures are usually seen to lead to escalating costs (Lanoie and Tanguay, 2000)? Regulation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda, economic instruments and enhanced efficiency emerge as the key drivers in such a change (Balabanis et al., 1998; Bansal and Roth, 2000). Such measures tend to result in the progressive greening of organisations rather than a big bang move towards global sustainability (Hart and Milstein, 1999). Global sustainability requires creative destruction, based on Schumpeter’s (1961) view of the way that innovative newcomers unseat incumbent firms and create what Hart and Milstein (1999, p. 26) call “new lenses on the global market”. Schumpeter (1961) doubted whether large incumbent
corporations would take up the challenges and opportunities presented by such creative destruction and Hart and Milstein (1999, p. 25) therefore predict that entrepreneurs will consider sustainable development as, “one of the biggest business opportunities in the history of commerce”. Such entrepreneurs have moved away from an obsession with the single issue of environmentalism (Meadows, 1994), and the desire to change the world on the part of these innovative newcomers embraces a holy trinity of social, environmental and economic values (Menon and Menon, 1997). That there is no common terminology for this particular breed of entrepreneur is indicative of the lack of research into sustainable organisations. Isaak (1997, p. 85) uses the term “ecopreneur” defining an ecopreneurial organisation as one that is a “system-transforming, socially committed . . . break-through venture”. The word ecopreneur is therefore used in this paper to represent the triple drivers of these individuals: environmental, social and economic. Seelos and Mair (2004) suggest that the interfaces between social entrepreneurship, business’s CSR efforts and public institutions could be a potent way of supporting sustainable development. Carroll (1997) meanwhile writes that most industries start off looking like a social movement, populated by individuals with a vision of better future rather than of hefty profits. Could the interfaces proposed by Seelos and Mair (2004) indicate a nascent micro-industry of the type described by Carroll, bringing Hart and Milstein’s (1999, p. 25) “new lenses” into focus? Is the birth of ecopreneurship indicative, as suggested by Pastakia (1998), of the inexorable rise of a greener approach to business with ecopreneurs as the crucial change agents (Walley and Taylor, 2002)? This paper contributes to this debate by presenting a study of the strategies adopted, and the challenges faced, by Green-Works, a UK-based ecopreneurial organisation. The study investigates how ecopreneurs can create and develop an economically viable business, whilst retaining the core environmental and social values that motivated them in the first place, and whether sound business practice can be genuinely consistent with idealism and environmental best practice. Four basic research questions were posed: RQ1. What are the strategies of this organisation and how are they created? RQ2. How does the organisation fulfil its ethical mandate? RQ3. How does it maintain economic viability? RQ4. What other key challenges does it face? This research makes two contributions. Firstly, a strong link is identified between entrepreneurialism and environmentalism. The entrepreneurial flair of the CEO enables the pursuit of environmental, social and economic goals. Secondly, the business model adopted by Green-Works ensures the economic sustainability of the social and ecological enterprise by utilising symbiotic relationships firstly with large corporate bodies, which are keen to demonstrate quantitative manifestations of corporate social responsibility, secondly with the community, who provide employment and training for disadvantaged people, and thirdly with government, which sets environmental and social policy. This embeddedness of the ecopreneurial firm within the political, social, environmental and regulatory system (Mair and Marti, 2004) together with the entrepreneurial flair and missionary zeal of the organisation are fundamental to its success.
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In presenting these arguments, the paper is structured as follows. Firstly, the theoretical grounding for ecopreneurship is provided. Then the research setting at Green-Works is described, followed by details of the methodology, which comprised a single qualitative case study. The findings are broadly categorised under the headings: an entrepreneurial organisation; staying true to ideals, sustaining the bottom line; and balancing social, environmental and economic goals. In conclusion the Green-Works business model is suggested as a practical framework for achieving these objectives. Ecopreneurship What kind of an organisation does the ecopreneur create? Is it like any other small entrepreneurial firm, or are there clear differences, for instance in the strategies adopted? Venkataraman (1997) considers that traditional entrepreneurs generate social value as a by-product of economic value whereas for social entrepreneurs (and therefore other mission-driven individuals such as ecopreneurs) the reverse is true. Correspondingly, Keogh and Polonsky (1998) consider that the way in which ecopreneurs view and assess the potential of resources and opportunities is filtered through their lenses of environmental commitment. There is some evidence that strategies pursued by ecopreneurs have strong echoes of the positional, rather than the entrepreneurial, school (Reinhardt, 1998; Shrivastava, 1995). The latter states that firms considering environmental differentiation – and the concomitantly higher prices likely to be necessary – need only to be convinced that: any innovation must be defensible; credible information about products and services is provided; and customers will pay more for environmental quality. Marketing this quality is one of many challenges for the ecopreneur. These challenges, according to Churchill and Lewis (1983, p. 30), will change over time as the young company goes through phases they term “existence” “survival” “maintain the status quo” or “growth” “take-off” and “resource maturity”. At the beginning the crucial “haves” are an ability to do something very well (or a marketable idea), high energy and either cash or the ability to secure borrowing. As the firm grows, so does the need to hire staff of sufficient quality and diversity, to delegate, to have systems in place to handle the growth before it actually happens and, again, either cash or the ability to borrow – the entrepreneur’s perennial problem. Securing funding can be particularly onerous for the ecopreneur, since the ecopreneurial business concept is novel and therefore without precedent (Linnanen, 2002). Seelos and Mair (2004) advocate the idea of partnering with corporations; the entrepreneur benefits from funding sources outside the traditional philanthropic arena, and the corporation from the entrepreneur’s undoubtedly superior ability to spot opportunities. Other challenges likely to be faced by ecopreneurs specifically include managing their companies’ reputations since being “green” is a moving target (Azzone and Nucci, 1998). Fluctuating supply and demand are key concerns (Starik and Rands, 1995) as is balancing the often competing demands of the wide variety of stakeholders (Hall and Vredenburg, 2003) representing the triptych of economic, social and environmental concerns. There is a constant tension between running a viable business and staying true to ideals. This research sought to examine how these challenges are met in one small ecopreneurial firm. The insights suggest that rather than hindering entrepreneurialism, idealistic values can be translated into valuable economic assets, principally by offering
large corporations the opportunity to adopt a means of ethical purchasing that in its offering of social and environmental benefits goes well beyond traditional green procurement. The benefits are delivered through a service that is differentiated by its high level of professionalism and, crucially, they are quantifiable, reflecting the UK Chancellor Gordon Brown’s call for measurable CSR outcomes (DTI, 2004a). Research setting Set up by its CEO Colin Crooks in 2000, Green-Works is a small not-for-profit organisation with a business model that is unique in the UK. Companies with office furniture that is surplus to requirement because of relocation or refurbishment sign up to Green-Works’ membership scheme. Such furniture ranges from waste bins, desks and chairs through to board-room tables and one-offs such as sewing machines. About 12,000 tonnes surplus furniture a year is collected by Green-Works, who provide a unique one-stop disposal service that also helps companies fulfil their CSR mandates. Landfill dumping and the use of virgin materials in creating new furniture is avoided. The items are then brought up to scratch by a team of people drawn from disadvantaged sectors of the community. Social benefits are therefore secured through their employment and training, but also through the provision of cheap but high quality furniture to organisations whose budgets often preclude its purchase. Green-Works is a social enterprise, “a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners” (DTI, 2004b). Whilst social enterprises solicit payment from their customers, the fees are insufficient to cover the full (market) costs. The resultant shortfall is covered by free goods such as volunteering, and by grants (Social Enterprise London, 2003). Green-Works runs one warehouse itself – in Woolwich – and franchises its operation across the country with a variety of partners (all not-for-profit and with expertise in the employment and training of disadvantaged people). This model therefore represents social franchising (Amies, 2000). Green-Works has a total of 32 full-time employees, of whom 24 are warehouse staff. Via its franchisees and social partners it provides employment for a further forty people. Methodology Given the paucity of research in this area an exploratory approach was appropriate (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). A phenomenological research paradigm was adopted, to facilitate sense-making and derive understanding (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). Most authors researching strategy in sustainable organisations adopt this inductive approach. The few exceptions have focused on testing theories relating to mainstream business within the world of the entrepreneur (Reinhardt, 1998). The field researcher first encountered Green-Works whilst working as a volunteer during the summer of 2003. This enabled her subsequently to secure a very high degree of access to the organisation over a period of two months in 2004, which was beneficial for the chosen single case study approach with a focus on understanding particular settings. The close study of a single case can prompt deeper insights of a single phenomenon (Dyer and Wilkins, 1991).
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Following Eisenhardt’s (1989) recommendations multiple means of data collection were used to increase the robustness of the research via triangulation – semi-structured interviews, micro-ethnography and document analysis. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken to allow the researcher to access the data most important to the individual (Bryman, 1988). With the exception of the CEO the interviewees were all reported anonymously and are quoted in this manner. Their views are rather similar, but often diametrically opposed to those of Crooks, hence the need to separate the two. The interview questions together with their links to the basic research questions are given in Appendix. Micro-ethnography, as a scaled-down version of ethnography, was used given the time available (Bryman, 2004). In this case, the researcher wanted to understand the culture of the organisation through participant observation. Field notes were taken over the course of 17 days’ site visits, in various degrees of covertness in order to try to avoid stimulating unnatural behaviour. These notes included both observation and reflection, and were typed up as soon as each site visit was over. The micro-ethnography proved a particularly rich source of data, and included visits to Green-Works’ own warehouses in Silvertown, East London and Woolwich, although most of the study took place observing the staff members at the Waterloo offices, where the field researcher was working as a volunteer. This created some problems since the participant role sometimes required too much attention to do justice to the observer role (Yin, 2003). However, the researcher actively solicited monotonous tasks that allowed her to take in more fully the events around her. The document analysis was relatively restricted. Green-Works operates in a relatively informal manner, with minutes of meetings rarely taken and virtually no codified strategy documents prepared, so the amount of documents available and appropriate for analysis was not large. Documents with an obviously positive take on the operation such as award applications and a business prospectus were used primarily as sources of data relating to the company’s history. A qualitative survey of Green-Works corporate donors’ attitudes towards the firm was particularly helpful. It was anonymous and therefore less likely to have pro-Green-Works bias. Data collection and analysis were overlapped (Eisenhardt, 1989). This had the dual benefit of speeding up the analysis and allowing emerging themes to be more thoroughly investigated. Throughout the process, the researcher wrote memos, as recommended by Miles and Huberman (1994). These were coded and placed in the data display database, an example of which is provided in Table I. The coding system was developed with a view to tightly coupling the data from all sources into the original research questions in order to secure fit with the original aim and with the findings of the literature review, allowing the maintenance of a chain of evidence. Data were coded at the time of writing up or transcribing to ensure that any emergent themes were incorporated in the next stage of the research. The data were then cut and pasted into a matrix to allow clustering by different criteria, for instance by respondent or by data source: flexibility at this stage is considered important (Miles and Huberman, 1994). A conceptually ordered display was devised. Immediately after this process the field researcher produced a “stream of consciousness” whilst the data were fresh in her mind. This was put to one side for a week for cross-checking later. In the meantime the sections on findings and conclusions were drafted and sent to Green-Works for checking. Next, if-then tactics were developed using enumerative and eliminative induction (where similar and contradictory instances of linkage are
Outsourcing CSR Social franchising Balance
Funding Quality
STRGY
STRGY
CHL
ECN
ETHC
Resp 4
Documents Doc 6
STRGY
Culture
Opportunism is all
Minor quibble
Comment from member
Self-funded
Green goals are primary
Skills from partners
Finding new markets
Lack of planning
Danger of grants
Issue
No organic milk in the kitchen though fair trade coffee is there “Very bureaucratic” is a term that’s been bandied about today as a criticism
Our daily operations are now entirely funded by commercial activity.. “They are savvy and street-smart and seem very well organised and pleasant to deal with”
In our business I think it would be uncomfortable to have funding above 10% . . . but if you’re going to be thinking “established company” then you have to at least have a very vague idea as to which spot on the horizon you’re aiming for This [partnership] could’ve been make or break for them (Harrow Green) Green-Works tries to stop office furniture going to landfill. It’s no use trying to save very unemployable people if you’re no good at it. Green-Works tries to stop office furniture going to landfill. Its – it’s no use trying to save very unemployable people if you’re no good at it
Representative quotation/episode
Notes: As shown for respondent 4 some comments were given more than one coding ca. 1,000 individual coded entries in total. Key to research questions: STRGY, what are the strategies of this organisation and how are they created? ETHC, how does the organisation fulfil its ethical mandate? ECN, how does it keep itself economically viable? CHL, what are the other key challenges it faces?
Day 3
Mini-ethnography Day 5 ETHC
Doc 11
Resp 4
Resp 1
Consistency
Long term focus
STRGY
Resp 5
Funding
ECN
Interviewees Resp 3
Sub-theme
Research question
Data source
Ecopreneurship
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Table I. Typical entries in data display
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examined to provide focus and comparison) (Miles and Huberman, 1994). From this, a preliminary logic model (Yin, 2003) was created with a view to establishing a tentative conceptual framework. The original “stream of consciousness” and input from Green-Works were used as a means of cross-checking the final conclusions. Various measures were taken to maximise the robustness of the research in terms of construct validity and reliability. Firstly, multiple sources of data were used for triangulation purposes as described above. The micro-ethnography was particularly useful, since it documented what actually happened, rather than what was meant to happen. Secondly, a thick description (Geertz, 1973) was compiled, as suggested by Guba and Lincoln (1994), in order to enhance the transferability of the research, or the extent to which the findings hold in another context. This was a series of detailed accounts of the culture, also largely drawn from the ethnographic element of the research. Finally, a chain of evidence was maintained from the start of the project (Yin, 2003). The themes of the research questions were linked into the interview questions. Emerging sub-themes were tied back to the original themes. Findings An entrepreneurial organisation We are a young organisation driven by commitment and enthusiasm to prove that waste is an opportunity rather than a problem: an opportunity to save valuable resources and an opportunity to create jobs (CEO).
Green-Works’ CEO’s statement shows him to be a classic entrepreneur, an individual who sees opportunities where others do not. He is also a visionary who hates waste and wants to reduce substantially the UK’s landfill burden, but he is also a pragmatist: . . . if you disengage the environment from society, people won’t protect it (CEO).
Driven by an intuitive sense that a latent market for reusing and recycling office furniture existed he disregarded both competitor activities (Table II, ref 1) and unfavourable market research data (Table II, ref 2). In a process of “probe and learn” (Lynn et al., 1996) potential markets were probed with preliminary versions of the end product, and learning from this was incorporated into the next instar of the product, in a series of continual modest improvements designed to meet customers’ needs. This first model presented to the world was essentially uneconomic: the CEO simply wanted to prove that demand and supply were there. Then a major bank, which was planning what was then the biggest corporate move in UK history, gave Crooks an opportunity too good to miss, despite the high risk. Not only would it secure a huge amount of furniture for resale but it also presented major PR opportunities and the chance to overcome one of the prime quandaries faced by any entrepreneur – but in particular for ecopreneurs – namely how to build credibility for an unknown, untested business model (Linnanen, 2002, see comment from a donor, Table II, ref 3). Getting this right could give Green-Works its own great leap forward. However, the company lacked most of the resources needed, be they warehousing, staff or logistics. Crooks’ inveterate networking (Table II, ref 4) meant that he already knew of an East End charity that was looking for opportunities to invest in the creation of jobs with a low skills base. Thus, was born a viable business model that paved the wave to the development of a series of partnerships.
Theme Creating a novel business concept
Ref 1 2
Building credibility
3
Entrepreneurial networking
4
Continuous growth
5
Structure vs opportunism
6
7
Short time horizons
8
9 Adapting to a larger company
10
Comment I didn’t actually want to be influenced by the current market because I disagree with the way it’s currently done (CEO) I don’t see how you could frame a question to give you a sensible answer. But actually, when you go to them and say, this is real, the truck is actually outside and we can do this – and this is the direct benefit you can get from this: then I think that the answer is a different one. But you have to make that commitment, you have to say, it is real, it’s not a theoretical proposition, it’s a real proposition (CEO) [It is] important to have prior success (Corporate donor commenting on Green-Works’ track record) We’ve got opportunistic antennae that are out there looking and I have about 20 opportunities . . . at any one time that I am looking for partners to share with. So it’s not exactly extraordinary that people pop up one day, so long as I’ve got the idea of what I’m looking for . . . it isn’t luck (CEO) It seems to me that I have a duty to continue, I can’t just say I should stop cause this is a nice comfortable level of business [note of evangelism in CEO’s eyes and voice here ]. . . I’ve just begun to address the issue. So I’ve got to keep on going (CEO) I do find the whole thing about devising structures and systems a bit tedious. But I love the result. I tend to recruit around me people that are better tuned to doing those sorts of things. And who are hopefully enthused by the energy I bring to it,. . . and hopefully I don’t frighten them too much, hopefully they don’t slow me down too much and we get a nice happy medium (CEO) He [Crooks] wants to be out there networking, talking to people, coming up with ideas and seeing them through. And if he’s got to do salaries every month, and this every other week, he can’t. (Manager) . . . in the last few years it’s been a bit tighter, so these [refurbishment] projects that are happening now are the product of mid to late 90s economic growth, and where that growth has stagnated around the millennium, perhaps in 6, 7, 8 years time these projects simply won’t exist . . . if we drop 10% of that corporate income then the bottom falls out of the profit and loss account (Manager) [What will you do if the money runs out? (Researcher)] Dunno! Get the metal detector out (CEO) . . . I’m slower than I was and less opportunistic, and I have to consider that an opportunity that backfires now could take 40 jobs with it (CEO)
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Table II. Green-works’ entrepreneurialism in action
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By 2004, Green-Works, having successfully navigated the early-day phases described by Churchill and Lewis (1983), was beginning to make a modest profit. It was entering the “growth” phase (Churchill and Lewis, 1983), “pushed” by the CEO’s need to further the mission (Table II, ref 5) and “pulled” by the requirement to extend the organisation’s reach well beyond the South East to secure a better balance of supply and demand since a disproportionate number of furniture disposals takes place within this area. However, the CEO’s seemingly insatiable appetite for growth began to create tension within the organisation, which needed more structure as it grew. Crooks in part overcame this challenge through canny recruitment (Table II, ref 6), in particular focusing on staff with both the expertise and desire to create systems and procedures and take a longer-term view of Green-Works’ prospects. Whilst this means that Crooks has been freed up to do what he does best – networking and seeking out new opportunities (Table II, ref 7), it inevitably creates tensions between the CEO and his team. For instance, the planning horizons are short and could pose problems, typified by one manager’s comments (Table II, ref 8) and the CEO’s perennially optimistic answer to a question about cash (Table II, ref 9). Nevertheless, the added responsibility of a growing business had toned down Crooks’ latter’s typically entrepreneurial risk-taking (Man et al., 2002) (Table II, ref 10). Staying true to ideals The CEO is driven by his ideals, encapsulated in his comment: I absolutely hate waste . . . the whole point about hating waste is because it could do something else.
His managers share his views, the comments in Table III (refs 1 and 2) being typical. Although the researcher spotted the odd example where green ideals are not practised – the milk in the kitchen is not organic, for instance – these are pettifogging. Environmentalism forms part of the bedrock of the company’s day to day activities (Table III, refs 3 and 4). Whilst the literature highlights a basic problem in establishing what being “green” means, it is, for Green-Works, an unequivocal concept: namely, reducing the UK’s landfill burden by a quantifiable amount. Everything is reused – indeed Green-Works has increased its recycling rate from an original 73 per cent of its donations to practically 100 per cent. Measuring “greenness” and linking it to clear strategic goals is therefore easy. (Table III, ref 5). Green-Works tracks all the furniture it processes from initial donor to end consumer. Triple Bottom Line reporting is also used, along with the environmental measurement system – the Global Reporting Initiative. This assiduousness in tracking and measurement is considered by Green-Works to be pivotal in its ability to attract donors for whom the CSR agenda is becoming increasingly important (Table III, ref 6). Given UK Chancellor Gordon Brown’s call for measurable CSR outcomes (DTI, 2004a) Green-Works can capitalise on donors’ interest in quantification. For instance, donors are told where every desk, every pedestal ends up. An anonymous qualitative survey demonstrated that Green-Works was valued for this provision of information (Table III, ref 7), which gives the donors something tangible to put in the annual report as opposed to a donation to charity, whose benefits are usually harder to measure. This resonates with Mohr et al.’s (2001) study of business-to-consumer (B2C) firms, which found that a lack of clear information about companies’ CSR records stymies consumers’ ability to choose products based on this criterion.
Theme Staff share ideals
Ref 1 2
Walking the walk
3 4
Clear goals
5
Matching CSR needs
6
7 8 Benefiting from partners’ expertise
9
Comment [Reducing waste] is, you know, an important message, this is our future, for the next generations (Manager) I can either set myself the target of £40,000 of income every month for the company, or I can set myself a target of 500 tonnes of furniture to come through us. If I set myself a financial target, I just start thinking of myself as a bit of a slippery salesman, which I’m not at all, whereas if I set myself a target of 500 tonnes . . . I can kind of think of myself as someone who is saving this whole chunk of furniture from going to a landfill site and then all of that is being redistributed . . .(Manager) Are you going [to Woolwich] by car? (Member of staff) No such luck! We’re environmentalists, we go by train (CEO) On finding out that a truck had attracted a fine for an unspecified traffic offence, the CEO said that he would pay for parking tickets, but absolutely not for penalties relating to travelling in bus-lanes. The major goals that have been set for us by the board are 10 thousand tonnes of furniture being sent through us in the next three years and get it up to a rate of about 70/80% reuse in some way, shape or form (Manager) The corporate citizenship or otherwise of someone like [a blue-chip company] is absolutely fundamental, it’s something that [its chairman] thinks that he needs to be spending 3 hours a week thinking about, and that’s the same, probably, for every . . . FTSE 100 company (Manager) I have been impressed by the level of information that we receive from Green-Works (Donor) [It] ticks all boxes (Donor referring to Green-Works’ employment policy and provision of cheap furniture to not-for-profits as well as the avoidance of landfill) It’s no use trying to save very unemployable people if you are no good at it. So we’re trying to learn, we’re trying to get in organisations who deal in providing jobs and training (Manager)
In addition to environmentalism, meeting the social agenda is also a key part of the offering. This adds further value both for the corporates (Table III, ref 8) and also for the largely not-for-profit customers of the furniture who save around £1/2 m on the estimated market price at July 2004. Crooks’ hatred of waste extends to people – ignoring the needs of disadvantaged areas of society is for him tantamount to squandering an important resource. Therefore, the provision of employment and training opportunities to disadvantaged people, currently more or less contracted out to community partners and franchisees because of an initial lack of expertise in this area (Table III, ref 9), is becoming increasingly important.
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Table III. Staying true to ideals
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Green-Works’ management is determined that the company will become a model for best practice in embracing Triple Bottom Line goals, a commitment echoed in the CEO’s words: Bertrand Russell said that the world is shaped by unreasonable people. And the world follows. You establish a norm, and to be honest I think that Green-Works is very very close to being established as a norm.
Sustaining the bottom line We set ourselves the target of not going bust, which is fairly easy to measure. And it probably all stems from there (Manager).
This is a fair target, given the perceived ineptness of ecopreneurs in managing their finances (Linnanen, 2002). The means by which Green-Works attains economic viability, together with further economic challenges such as managing supply and demand and securing competitive advantage, are explored in this section. Table IV demonstrates the economic viability of the Green-Works model – in 2003-2004 it made a net pre-tax profit of £9,550. The problems in finding start-up capital highlighted by Linnanen (2002) were experienced by Green-Works (Table V, ref 1). This was not helped by the CEO’s rejection of the option of significant grant funding, since he claimed that this would substantially reduce his autonomy (Table V, ref 2). However, initial cash-flow problems were rapidly overcome, primarily by charging the donor organisations a premium – revenue from this source now accounts for 72 per cent of total income (that from customers stands at just 14 per cent). Corporate costs are split two ways and, usually, between two of their departments, as shown in Table VI, with membership fees often paid in advance – a boon to Green-Works’ cash-flow. Another key element in Green-Works’ economic viability is its reinvention of the social enterprise pricing model. Traditionally, social enterprise is uneconomic since customers are charged at below cost price (Social Enterprise London, 2003). Whilst this is true for the prices charged to customers, the donors pay a premium (over that they would pay for landfill and other clearance) for the service on the basis that not only is their unwanted furniture removed, but also they can trumpet their CSR credentials by Income (# )
Table IV. Economic viability: Green-Works financial report 03/04
Internal Membership and renewals Donations, grants and sponsorships Reception and collection fees Furniture sales Third party carriers Misc inc interest Franchises Franchise fees Furniture sales Total
Expenditure (#)
80,585 115,158 424,065 105,001 139,020 26,639
Warehouse fees Wages inc consultancy Marketing/other office expenses General operational costs Third party carriers
296,073 357,958 56,782 65,543 123,365
6,850 23,207 920,525
Furniture and other purchases Third party carriers
10,704 550 910,975
Theme
Ref
Start-up capital and funding
1
2
3
Benefits of being a social enterprise
4
Reducing risk
5
The advantages of partnerships
6
Supply outstrips demand
7
Extending the customer base
8
Revenue streams
9
Ecopreneurship
Comment We had real trouble, despite the fact that I had an exceptionally long track record with the bank – 25 years of banking with them. Couldn’t even get a £500 overdraft. Quite ludicrous (CEO) You find that actually [a grant] has got a curved end on it which says, we need these outputs, and you start to achieve a completely different set of outputs to the ones that you originally set out on (CEO) Our daily operations are now entirely funded by commercial activity . . . [since] Green-Works is unashamedly trying to make a buck. [The reason?] We’ve got to grow and try and make some money to grow some more . . . there’s more [furniture] out there, we want to divert more . . . from landfill (CEO) . . . we’re getting into a whole series of government-based documents. I don’t know how many times we’ve featured in the DEFRA * stuff (Manager) If business dries up..with us, OK, we’re in breach of contract but we can wind things down without a financial knock-on effect (Manager) I think a lot of these wishy-washy airy-fairy very cuddly charitable organisations, they think that they have to take the world on themselves, whereas you can take the world on yourself, but if you happen to have an underbelly of partners and sub-contractors and such like to allow you to do that . . . (Manager) . . . to get one HSBC you need about a thousand community organisations [or other customers] (Manager) . . . it’s a self-regulating market in the sense that only so many people want second-hand chairs, but initially it was schools, charities, hospitals, that sector, but in order to be able to get shot of more of the furniture . . . we’ll take on small businesses – basically, anyone (Manager) [Income is] loaded to the corporate side, which is an ethical decision (Manager)
Note: * DEFRA, Department for Environment Food and rural Affairs
Benefits sought Fees paid to Green-Works Payment timing Nature of benefits Premium paid Price sensitivity
Facilities management department
CSR department
Logistical solution: one-stop furniture removal Reception/collection fees On delivery Tangible Moderate Moderate
PR; association with Green-Works brand; HR relations Membership fees (Often) in advance Intangible/tangible (reporting) High Low
337
Table V. Meeting the economic challenges
Table VI. Green-Works’ pricing scheme
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delivering measurable environmental and social benefits. This pricing model has allowed the Green-Works to become more or less entirely self-funded (Table V, ref 3). Other benefits secured through Green-Works’ standing as a social enterprise include unpaid work from volunteers and from board members, who have a range of relevant skills including facilities management, human resources and political and regulatory relationships, as well as pro bono work from a number of sources including its existing members. It also enjoys ad hoc discounts such as rate reductions, grants, some free advertising and disproportionate goodwill from editors leading to significant press coverage. Governmental interest and support is also viewed as being very important in terms of publicity and validation (Table V, ref 4). For instance, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, named Crooks as London’s Green Ambassador. Social franchising is, in the words of one manager, “really a key part of our capacity”. It and other partnerships – with community groups and commercial operators – foster the unusual combination of high growth with low risk (Table V, ref 5). Since, 30 per cent of Green-Works’ expenditures go on warehousing charges from its self-run Woolwich operation (Table IV), contracting out this activity to partners and franchisees elsewhere reduces the need for large investments in other outlets thereby facilitating rapid expansion. It also allows Green-Works to outsource most of its employment and training agenda to experts until such time as it has the resources to run such programmes in-house. Green-Works’ most important strategic partner is currently a commercial office relocation firm which in effect contracting out the environmentalist element of one of its packages to Green-Works, giving itself significant competitive advantage. Apparently, other charities and social enterprises feel that entering into such agreements is tantamount to a Faustian pact, an attitude briskly dismissed by Green-Works (Table V, ref 6). Balancing supply with demand is a problem inherent in the entire business model (Table V, ref 7). Green-Works’ PR campaign to potential donors has been highly successful, and the fact that companies tend to plan their relocations six – seven years in advance also means that Green-Works benefits from a certain predictability in its supply. Yet this is no reason for complacency if the furniture cannot be sold on, since without this the warehouses will be rendered sclerotic. Of all the methods of stimulating supply, for instance addressing new segments (Table V, ref 8), finding new uses or improved marketing, social franchising is the most attractive and predictable option. Ultimately supply and demand are balanced by the business model since the premiums paid by such donor organisations allow Green-Works to charge its customers extremely low prices for the furniture (Table V, ref 9). Low prices are the prime source of competitive advantage in this market, as demonstrated by quantitative research undertaken by Green-Works in 2004. In the donors’ market landfill is considered the major competitor for Green-Works. At a modest premium Green-Works offers the same one-stop service. It will operate out-of-hours, working to accommodate the donors, as well as picking up the furniture and offering the added differentiation of the quantifiable CSR element. One manager drew a highly favourable comparison between Green-Works’ service – for which he estimates firms pay a premium of around 10 per cent – and the CSR activities of an organisation that recently donated £25 m to a single charity, giving an estimated single paragraph’s worth of coverage in the annual report. The value of the furniture
Green-Works sells is more or less irrelevant to its business model; it is the service that matters, which, if it is of high quality, is not particularly price sensitive (Bitner and Zeithmahl, 2003). A balancing act Balancing the triptych of social, environmental and economic goals, along with monitoring changes in the external environment, emerge as the key challenges faced by Green-Works plus, crucially, managing scarce resources and quality. Whilst Green-Works, particularly in its official documents, claims to espouse classic Triple Bottom Line values, there is clear agreement amongst its management team that its principal goal is environmental sustainability. This is in part a function of the size of the company, which meant that in the early days it needed to outsource its social agenda to partners with core competences in employment and training of disadvantaged people, in order to ensure its own economic viability (Table VII, ref 1). There is some tension about Green-Works’ commerciality within the business (Table VII, refs 2 and 3), indicative of a feeling that the balance has tipped too far towards making money. However, comments from a different manager (Table VII, ref 4) emphasise that bottom line profitability is not the endgame. Economic sustainability requires a commercial approach, but it underpins rather than drives the central mission of helping to reduce waste: I would be in many ways thrilled if one of two things happened. One, that the corporate sector suddenly became less wasteful . . . . if we had a small part in that, by highlighting the waste, they suddenly decided, this is crazy. If Green-Works could do it we could do it internally . . . Or, if the rest of the waste management industry could catch up and say, we can out-Green-Works Green-Works, we’ll do it commercially. Then I would really have achieved sustainability. And we would be out of business (CEO).
Marketing, given scarce resources, is a major challenge, although Green-Works’ PR-based promotional strategy has achieved considerable success. Limited resources also pose problems in human resource management. Green-Works is vulnerable to the departure of key staff, especially since procedures, even price lists, often exist solely in the mind of the relevant manager. These scarce resources also cause occasional quality problems especially at the Woolwich operation where shortages of appropriate staff (since resolved) resulted in furniture that was sometimes dirty and even broken. As well as reducing the likelihood of word-of-mouth marketing through customer advocacy, this could have posed serious problems for the power of the Green-Works brand, a crucial asset that has been developed very successfully and is a vital ingredient in the organisation’s franchising package. In order to overcome these problems the CEO has taken hard decisions – including sacking an under-performing member of staff, which he did kindly but firmly and with no unworldliness about possible comeback (the warehouse manager was instructed to change the locks). The quality of the service offered to the donor organisations is not, however, in doubt (Table VII, ref 5). This may be indicative of some pragmatism in resource allocation and priorities given the fact that revenue from this source outstripped that from the customers by more than five to one in 2003/2004, although it has created a degree of tension between the management and the franchisees (Table VII, refs 6 and 7). Overall, perhaps the management of quality is best epitomised by one ethnographic observation noting the CEO’s crepuscular metamorphoses from eco-warrior in full
Ecopreneurship
339
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Ref
Outsourcing the social element
1
Tensions about commerciality
2
340
3
4
Managing quality
5 6
. . . and the tensions it can create Table VII. Balancing goals and resources
7
Comment Green-Works has a few jobs at the warehouse but there’s not much training in place, there’s no procedure for, right, we’re going to go and get some people who are desperately unemployable, we have people who could probably be employed somewhere else . . . Now we’ve got a warehouse . . . and it’s operational and running smoothly, we can start looking at that (Manager) . . . the phrase “it’s a numbers game” has kind of cropped up far more often in the last 6 months than it has in the first 24 and for a social enterprise it should never be a numbers game (Manager) As a business, I think we’ve already crossed the bridge in the sense that people view us – other social enterprises, other charities, are very wary of the big commercial beast that we are (Manager) [Green-Works is] a pretty commercially minded but not financially motivated organisation . . . we’re not after a great return on capital or anything like that (Manager) They are savvy and street-smart and seem very well organised and pleasant to deal with (Donor) We, bar none, have said we’ll do something and we’ve done it. The internal mechanics of doing it have sometimes been painful, but . . . on time, on budget, that’s why we’re very commercially orientated because we work to things like on time and on budget. A community organisation doesn’t talk like that, doesn’t think like that (Manager) We appreciate that corporate members are “customers” for the scheme, but we feel that they sometimes get the “kid glove” treatment, which means in practice that unnecessary pressure is put on the warehouse to cope with schedules dictated by the corporates (Community partner)
cycling kit to a city slicker in a well-cut suit and back again. It is hard not to form the impression that this willingness to embrace the symbols of classical perceptions of business efficiency is a metaphor for the essence of Green-Works’ success. Conclusions The aim of this study was to discover whether ecopreneurs can operate an economically viable business whilst still retaining the core values that motivated its creation in the first place. Green-Works is an example of such a business. At the heart of its success is its essential entrepreneurialism and its embeddedness in the social, environmental, political and regulatory system (Mair and Marti, 2004). The CEO’s idealistic values, which in other circumstances may have been a hindrance, have been transformed by entrepreneurial flair into valuable assets that contribute to Green-Works’ economic success.
An integral part of the Green-Works business model is the formation of symbiotic relationships with a range of organisations. Amongst the most important are those it has forged with its corporate donors, for whom it has addressed the market for CSR benefits by offering a duality of environmental and social outcomes. It deliberately incorporates precisely those measurable CSR outputs that the UK’s Chancellor, Gordon Brown, has called for (DTI, 2004a). By incorporating these outcomes into the notion of quality, the firms are charged a premium, thus changing the rules of the game (Hamel, 2000) in the field of social enterprise. Also of vital importance are Green-Works’ relationships with its community partners and franchisees. Through the latter it has established a business model that is new to the UK, namely a franchised social enterprise. This model facilitates rapid dissemination of the dual environmental and social vision, so important to the offering to the corporates, via relatively risk-free growth, whilst minimising acquisition of expensive assets and largely leaving the employment and training of disadvantaged people to these experts. The governmental relationships, built up by Crooks and his managers, have gained Green-Works media coverage of both ministerial visits and the awards it has won. Probably the key benefit from this source that Green-Works enjoys is the government’s zeal in promoting CSR as part of its environmental and social policy. Economic viability is attained largely through Green-Works’ status as a social enterprise, securing it a range of free goods, and its lack of investment in assets, facilitated by social franchising, which together with an ingenious and novel pricing model allow it to overcome the ecopreneur’s usual cash-flow problems. Balancing this economic viability with the environmental and social goals, mentioned by Menon and Menon (1997), has been achieved through the business model itself. Reuse of furniture both provides benefits to the environment and acts as an engine for creating jobs. Crooks’ vision and entrepreneurialism have enabled him to develop and grow a new business – he has an ability to spot opportunities where others see just waste. Green-Works’ primary goal of reducing the country’s landfill burden is an unequivocal and measurable environmental mission which acts a lodestar for determining the company’s overall direction and its culture, thus negating any suspicion of the tension between ethics and entrepreneurialism highlighted by Morris et al. (2002). Crooks’ commercial approach should, therefore, be at odds with his mission. Indeed, Walley and Taylor (2002) suggest that for ecopreneurs economic and sustainability orientation are, literally, poles apart. However, if Leibenstein (1968) is right, entrepreneurs have a nose for slack in the system and a desire to do something about it: this is their basic function. Crooks’ near-obsession with waste reduction and his ability to see value where others do not – in redundant office furniture-shows some motivational fit with Leibenstein’s concept of entrepreneurialism. Ecopreneurship might be an even more natural offshoot of entrepreneurship than had been thought. Anderson (1998, p. 138) concluded that that entrepreneurship is a “splendid vehicle” for social change. This research builds upon his and other work and suggests that social entrepreneurship using a franchising model is a very effective way of large-scale dissemination of an individual’s environmental vision. Crooks thinks that the micro-industry Green-Works represents is close to becoming a norm; this in tandem with his missionary motivation resonates with speculation from Carroll (1997) that industries are often founded by evangelical individuals dedicated to a vision of a better world. If Green-Works really is able to keep delivering its lofty triptych
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of environmental, social and economic goals it could become an avatar for the waste industry, for social franchising in the not-for-profit world, for the provision of CSR solutions and indeed for any commercially minded social enterprise with an appetite for growth. Limitations and scope for further research This research was restricted to one UK case study – a model which has evolved in part through policies and business trends specific to the UK. Further research should compare this business model with other social enterprises within the UK and other countries. It might also examine whether the natural fit between environmentalism and entrepreneurialism established in this organisation are to be found elsewhere, or whether a tension between the two is more prevalent. Finally, in the light of the Green-Works model it might be interesting to establish whether purely social entrepreneurs could secure competitive advantage from adding an environmental element to their offering, and vice versa. References Amies, M. (2000), “Not for profit franchising”, Franchising World, Vol. 32 No. 6, p. 38. Anderson, A.R. (1998), “Cultivating the Garden of Eden: environmental entrepreneuring”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 11 No. 2, p. 135. Azzone, A.R. and Nucci, G. (1998), “Seeing ecology and ‘Green’ innovations as a source of change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 11 No. 2, p. 94. Balabanis, G., Phillips, H.C. and Lyall, J. (1998), “Corporate social responsibility and economic performance in British companies: are they linked?”, European Business Review, Vol. 98 No. 1, p. 25. Bansal, P. and Roth, K. (2000), “Why companies go green: a model of ecological responsiveness”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43 No. 4, p. 717. Bitner, M.J. and Zeithmahl, V.A. (2003), Services Marketing, McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA. Bryman, A. (1988), Doing Research in Organizations, Routledge, London. Bryman, A. (2004), Social Research Methods, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Carroll, G.R. (1997), “Long-term evolutionary change in organizational populations: theory, models and empirical findings from industrial demography”, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 6, p. 199. Churchill, N. and Lewis, V.L. (1983), “Growing concerns: the five stages of small business growth”, Harvard Business Review, p. 30. DTI (2004a), “Corporate social responsibility: a government update”, available at: www. societyandbusiness.gov.uk/pdf/dti_csr_final.pdf (accessed 11 August 2004). DTI (2004b), Social Enterprise, available at: www.dti.gov.uk/socialenterprise/documenta.pdf (accessed 11 August 2004). Dyer, W.G.J. and Wilkins, A.L. (1991), “Better stories, not better constructs, to generate better theory: a rejoinder to Eisenhardt”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16, p. 613. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Lowe, A. (2002), Management Research. An Introduction, Sage, London. Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989), “Building theories from case study research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, p. 532. Geertz, C. (1973), The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, Basic Books, New York, NY.
Ghauri, P. and Gronhaug, K. (2002), Research Methods in Business Studies – A Practical Guide, Financial Times Prentice-Hall, Harrow. Guba, E.G. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1994), “Competing paradigms in qualitative research”, in Lincoln, Y.S. (Ed.), Handbook of Qualitative Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Hall, J. and Vredenburg, H. (2003), “The challenges of innovating for sustainable development”, MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 45 No. 1, p. 61. Hamel, G. (2000), “The end of progress”, Business Strategy Review, Vol. 11 No. 3, p. 69. Hart, S.L. and Milstein, M.B. (1999), “Global sustainability and the creative destruction of industries”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 41 No. 1, p. 23. Isaak, R. (1997), “Globalisation and green entrepreneurship”, Greener Management International, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, p. 80. Keogh, P.D. and Polonsky, M.J. (1998), “Environmental commitment: a basis for environmental entrepreneurship?”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 11 No. 1, p. 38. Lanoie, P. and Tanguay, G.A. (2000), “Factors leading to green profitablity”, Greener Management International, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, p. 39. Leibenstein, H. (1968), “Entrepreneurship and development”, American Economic Review, Vol. 58, p. 72. Linnanen, L. (2002), “An insider’s experiences with environmental entrepreneurship”, Greener Management International, No. 38, p. 71. Lynn, G.S., Morone, J.G. and Paulson, A.S. (1996), “Marketing and discontinuous innovation: the probe and learn process”, California Management Review, Vol. 38 No. 3, p. 8. Mair, J. and Marti, I. (2004), Social Entrepreneurship: What Are We Talking About? A Framework for Future Research, IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona. Man, T.W.Y., Lau, T. and Chan, K.F. (2002), “The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises: a conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competencies”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 17 No. 2, p. 123. Meadows, D.H. (1994), “Seeing the population issue whole”, in Mazur, L.A. (Ed.), Beyond the Numbers, Island Press, Washington, DC, p. 22. Menon, A. and Menon, A. (1997), “Enviropreneurial marketing strategy: the emergence of corporate environmentalism as market strategy”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 61 No. 1, p. 51. Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. (1994), Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Mohr, L.A., Webb, D.J. and Harris, K.E. (2001), “Do consumers expect companies to be socially responsible? The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying behavior”, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 35 No. 1, p. 45. Morris, M.H., Schindehutte, M., Walton, J. and Allen, J. (2002), “The ethical context of entrepreneurship: proposing and testing a developmental framework”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 40 No. 4, p. 331. Pastakia, A. (1998), “Grassroots ecopreneurs: change agents for a sustainable society”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 11 No. 2, p. 157. Reinhardt, F.L. (1998), “Environmental product differentiation: implications for corporate strategy”, Californian Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 4, p. 43. Schumpeter, J. (1961), The Theory of Economic Development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
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Seelos, C. and Mair, J. (2004), Entrepreneurs in Service of the Poor – Models for Business Contributions to Sustainable Development, IESE Business School, Barcelona. Shrivastava, P. (1995), “The role of corporations in achieving ecological sustainability”, Academy of Management. The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, p. 936. Social Enterprise London (2003), Available at: www.renewal.net/Documents/RNET/Overview/ Local% (accessed 11 August 2004). Starik, M. and Rands, G.P. (1995), “Weaving an integrated web: multilevel and multisystem perspectives of ecologically sustainable organizations”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, p. 908. Venkataraman, S. (1997), “The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research”, in Katz, J. (Ed.), Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, p. 119. Walley, E.E. and Taylor, D.W. (2002), “Opportunists, champions, mavericks . . .?”, Greener Management International, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, p. 31. Yin, R.K. (2003), Case Study Research. Design and Methods, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Further reading Walley, E.E. and Stubbs, M. (1999), “‘Greenpacking’ – a tactic for the toolbag of environmental champions? Reflections of an SME success story”, Eco-Management and Auditing Eco-Management, Vol. 6, p. 26. Appendix Key to original research questions: STRGY: What are the strategies of this organisation and how are they created? ETHC: How does the organisation fulfil its ethical mandate? ECN: How does it maintain economic viability? CHL: What other key challenges does it face? Interview guide and links to original research questions Q1.
What are the organisation’s major goals? Research questions: STRGY Prompts: evolution of model, decision-making processes, time horizons, opportunism vs planning
Q2.
What do you think gives you competitive advantage? Research questions: STRGY, CHL Prompts: governmental relations, skills, unpredictable market, processes
Q3.
How do you measure performance? Research questions: STRGY, ETHC, ECN
Q4.
How important is growth to Green-Works? Research questions: STRGY, ECN Prompts: funding/start-up capital, importance of regulations/instruments/CSR, social franchising
Q5.
How do you manage supply and demand? Research questions: ECN Prompts: fluctuations, effects of publicity
Q6.
Apart from the things we have already mentioned what are the key challenges you face? Research questions: CHL Prompts: small team, risk of green-washing, leadership styles, balancing wide range of demands
Q7.
Do you think that Green-Works operates in a way that is different to its non-sustainable
counterparts? Research questions: STRGY, CHL Prompts: culture, integration of management and staff, having to be greener than green Q8.
Ecopreneurship
Describe your marketing policy Research questions: STRGY, CHL Prompts: tight budgets, word of mouth, awards, education, commercialism vs ethics
345 Corresponding author Sarah E.A. Dixon can be contacted at:
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JOCM 20,3
Aesthetics from a design perspective Mathieu Weggeman
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Faculty of Technology Management, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Irene Lammers
Received May 2005 Revised October 2005 Accepted February 2006
Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and
Henk Akkermans Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to explore the relationship between aspects of aesthetics and the performance of organizations. It outlines a research agenda for studying the impact of aesthetic factors upon organizational design and change. Design/methodology/approach – In the paper, a set of seven propositions is developed to address various aspects of organizational performance that are influenced by beauty in organizations. These propositions are based on a distinction between the concepts process aesthetics, product aesthetics and aesthetic sensibility. Findings – The hypotheses suggest that organizational performance might be enhanced by the beauty of products and services, and indirectly by the aesthetics of organizational work processes, organizational structures, the personal well-being of employees and organizational designers with a high degree of aesthetic sensibility. Research limitations/implications – The hypothesis in this paper should be tested by future researchers. Practical implications – The paper might enhance the awareness of practitioners of the practical value of aesthetics Originality/value – The paper adds to the new field of organizational aesthetics a performance-oriented approach based on a design perspective. Keywords Organizational design, Organizational performance, Organizational change Paper type Research paper
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 346-358 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740173
Introduction Although it seems obvious that aesthetic deliberations play a role in many different aspects of organizations, it is not so clear if and how aesthetics play a role in the process of organisational design. All professionals now and than take aesthetic considerations in their work into account. Scho¨n (1983) pointed this out for architects, which is understandable as it is commonly assumed that the products of their work, architectural designs, should display beauty (Guille´n, 1997). But perhaps, it appears less obvious at first sight that the products of managerial work can also display beauty, in the sense that they facilitate the origination of aesthetic experiences in work processes in the operational core.
Comparisons between management and managers and other areas where aesthetic considerations play an important role, have often been made. For instance, Weick (1998), Lewin (1998) and Berniker (1998) have stressed the relevance of jazz improvisation as a metaphor for organisation, and most jazz musicians certainly strive for beauty in their creative work. Also, it has repeatedly been stressed that managers as organisational designers should display creativity. Csikszentmihalyi (1996) has stressed the importance of a deep interest in various art forms such as music and poetry for the professional productivity of most of the highly successful creative individuals he interviewed. A well-known example of such an individual was Albert Einstein, and perhaps also the most outspoken one regarding the importance of beauty for his professional domain, physics. Einstein stated that “. . . the only physical theories that we are willing to except are the beautiful ones” and “physical laws should have mathematical beauty” (Formelo, 2002, p. xiii), although this view is not free of controversies in theoretical and applied physics. So, how about organisation science? As indicated, the purpose of this paper is to open up an academic debate on the role of aesthetics of organisation, in both the process of organising and in the outcomes of this process: organisations. Are some organisations more beautiful than others and, if so, why? What roles do aesthetic considerations play in organisational design rules (Van Aken, 2004; Romme, 2003)? Do aesthetically pleasing organisational processes lead to more successful organisations? Our aim here is to present a research agenda, consisting of a logically ordered set of propositions suggesting relationships between aspects of aesthetics and performance in an organisational context. This paper is structured as follows. First, we review what has been said about aesthetics in the broad context of organisation so far. Second, we present a number of logically ordered propositions regarding the role of aesthetics in organisation and its possible links with organisational performance. All of these propose clear causal relationships between these concepts. Relationships, that are of relevance to further research and discussion. Aesthetics and the study of organisation Nowadays, in our culture, the concept of beauty is closely associated with originality, genius, expressiveness, and the ability of a work of art to appeal beyond rationality to the taste or the senses of the spectator or listener. But, other views are still present too. Weggeman (2003) found that aesthetic appreciation tend to be expressed in any of the following four criteria. These are: (1) in balance, in harmony, at peace; (2) simple, complete, pure authentic; (3) exciting, adventurous, provoking, challenging; and (4) innovative, discontinuous, surprising, strange (Weggeman, 2003). Those who prefer to use categories (1) and (2) are usually not very enthusiastic about categories (3) and (4), and vice versa. Whitehead (1929) explains his preference for what in this scheme would be category (3)., by saying that no single beauty can ever install itself in a harmony that has already been achieved. Even perfection cannot save beauty from endless repetition. Standing still is also moving backwards and sinking into anaesthesia. That is why beauty, in its very essence, is linked with renewal
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and adventure, with the mental and in that way with discourse. A civilisation without adventure is in decline, Whitehead states. Would this also apply to an organisation as a micro-civilisation? If aesthetics as a topic of philosophical enquiry goes back several centuries, it is only in the past few decades that more and more aspects of our reality are becoming aesthetically mantled, and that our social reality becomes more and more an aesthetic construction (Welsch, 1996). Welsch points at a number of aestheticisation processes happening around us. We live in styled houses, drive our beautiful cars through our minitiously planned city, go to shops with a carefully designed “total shop experience” wander through parks and forests with nice lingering lanes and let our noses made perfect by our plastic surgeon. In other words, we are transforming our urban, industrial and natural environment in toto into a hyperaesthetic scenario. Aestheticisation can also be seen in the rise of specific industries that are geared to meet our aesthetic interest: our need to have fun, make ourselves and our surroundings beautiful and to have as much meaningful experiences or adrenaline-experiences as we can. Lastly, aesthetic deliberations clearly form the basis of many different activities of organizations, for example for advertising campaigns, product designs and the physical arrangement of workspaces and offices. Corporate buildings are carefully designed to reflect the corporate image, see for instance the very impressive buildings of some financial institutes. Aesthetics is more and more part of a deliberate marketing strategy. Products and organisations are styled, and made fashionable (Dickinson and Svensen, 2000; Schmitt and Simonson, 1997). As aesthetic fashions are particularly short-lived, the need for replacement arises as soon as they are aesthetically “out”. Whether it is clothes, cigarettes, cars, furniture, perfume: you are not buying the product itself, but the image, the aesthetic value the company has created around it. The aesthetic is no longer the “software” around a material “hardware” but more and more the essence, the core of a product. This can also be seen in the service industries, where the face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions with customers are also carefully aesthetically styled by organizations. A dress code or corporate clothing, detailed instructions on how to make contact and when to smile, and thorough training of the staff on how to look good or to sound right, are phenomena that illustrate the rise of aesthetics in many different elements of organization. While philosophy has been dealing with aesthetics for centuries and the past decades have shown a strong growth of attention to aesthetics in our daily lives, within organisation studies aesthetics as a line of inquiry is a very recent activity indeed, dating only from a few years back. Pioneering work on the notion of organizational aesthetic has been done by Strati (1990, 1992, 1996, 1999) and Gagliardi (1990, 1996). Both sought to address the importance of studying organizational aesthetics as a means of developing a greater insight into how meanings are structured and promoted within an organization, seen as a cultural environment. Strati presents a case for the importance of studying previously overlooked examples of organizational facility, such as the significance of office decors or the location and style of office chairs, as a means of understanding the structuring of social relations within the workplace. For Strati, an organizational artefact is simultaneously material and non-material, belongs to both an individual and everybody else, denotes status, plays a part in organizational rituals, symbols competition within organizations, etc. Strati calls the
aesthetic knowledge that results from this kind of analysis “weak thought” that has the potential to enrich organizational theory based on strong paradigms and the search for universalism and domination. In his contribution to the Handbook of Organization Studies called “Exploring the aesthetic side of organizational life” Gagliardi (1996) deliberately seeks to be “mould breaking, future oriented and agenda setting”. He argues that our experience of the real is in the basis a sensory experience, called the aesthetic experience. Aesthetic experience, due to its unconscious nature, cannot be (completely) expressed by words. A way to solve this problem, for Gagliardi, is the study of organizational artefacts. An artefact can be defined as a product of human action, which exists independently of its creator, that is aimed at solving a problem or satisfying a need and that it is endowed with its own corporeality or physicality. By following Latour (1992) observation that “material things are the missing masses that knock insistently at the doors of sociology” Gagliardi makes it likely that the study of artefacts is a way to bypass the dominant cognitive and intentional ways of accessing systems of meaning. An example of this is the direct relationship between things and the development of the self: If, for example, we seek confirmation of our identity as thinkers through the working out of ideas, it is only the written page in front of us; it is only the materialized idea, which reassures us about our capacity to pursue such aims. Only the sight, the feel, the smell of printing ink form the newly published book unequivocally tells us that we are capable of exercising those particular forms of control of external reality with which our identity as writers is bound up (Gagliardi, 1996, p. 569).
Another line of research is the study on the aesthetics of service labour (Witz et al., 2003; Adkins, 2000; Hancock and Tyler, 2000; Sturdy et al., 2001). These studies focus on the ways in which employers seek to influence the embodied “dispositions” of service workers. The notion of aesthetics is used as a way to refocus the perspective to the sensible, physical elements of organizational life. Thus, these studies do not focus on the way the smiles and manners, or the “right” emotions of service workers are produced, but they focus on the managerial strategies that are executed to install those standards of behaviour like the dress code, how to wear your hear, make-up or how to shave. These different approaches have in common, that they all stem from the first conception of aesthetics, which brings the sensory and perceptive faculties of organizations to the fore. A Hegelian conception of aesthetics, that focuses on the beauty of organizations is mostly lacking. An exception is the work of Ramirez (1991, 1996), who focuses on the description of the beauty of social organization, grounding his analysis on the approach of Kant (2002)[1]. Unfortunately, Ramirez stops where our interest begins, namely at the question whether it is possible to determine the factors that enable an organization to act beautifully. He argues: . . . this in effect amounted to determining the “necessary and sufficient factors” that enabled something to be considered as beautiful. Since, no one has ever been able to come up with such a recipe for anything, be it a painting, a statue or whatever, it [is] ludicrous to attempt to do so in the domain of social organization (Ramirez, 1991, p. 12).
We consider an attempt to establish what it is that makes an organization act beautiful not ludicrous, but a possible and worthwhile undertaking. We argue that there is more
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to say about the appreciation of the beautiful than it being a mere subjective experience. Within the art world, the value of a work of art is the outcome of the dynamics of its institutional context, the art-world (Vickery, 2003). Likewise, the aesthetic value of an organization can be socially constructed, leading to ideas that enhance both the beauty and the performance of organizations. Our perspective in the remainder of this contribution is applying a design science perspective (Van Aken, 2004; Romme, 2003) geared to the development of a research agenda on the aesthetics of organisation. We are interested in the ways in which aesthetic considerations can be instrumental in designing better organizational processes, better being defined in terms of organisational performance. With aesthetics, we want to “make a difference” here (Romme, 2003). For many scientists and engineers, it is obvious that beautifully designed technological processes or artefacts yield better performance. Our quest is for a similar role of aesthetics in organisational design, for we consider organisations to be artefacts as well, “things” that can be designed and made. Here, our literature search has yield very few results. We have the intention to define a research agenda for this topic that will be developed in the next section. Aesthetics of organisation, a research agenda If we want to study the impact of aesthetics on organisation, it is necessary to start from an overview and an initial structure of the field. We will structure the field from a design science perspective, leading to an initial conceptual model that is depicted in Figure 1. Derived from this model, we will develop several propositions. Each of them will be discussed below. We will start by discussing some key assumptions that lay underneath our research agenda. We argue that an analytical distinction can be made in, what we have called, process aesthetics and result aesthetics. Result aesthetics refer to the experiences of beauty someone goes through while he or she as an observer or bystander is exposed to an outside artefact. That is the case when listening to a symphony, tasting a course or seeing a limousine moves us. This is the kind of aesthetics that we are most familiar with. With process aesthetics we refer to the experiences of beauty someone goes through while he or she is actually participating in the origination process of the artefact. This kind of experience occurs while playing the violin in an orchestra, making a car or preparing dishes in a restaurant. In our terminology Csikszentmihalyi’s (1996) notion of flow corresponds with a situation in which someone experiences the highest level of process aesthetics. We want to extend that notion by introducing the term collective flow meaning a situation in which many workers experience high level process aesthetics while working together on the same artefact, at the same time in the same process.
Well being of organisation members
P4
Figure 1. Conceptual model of the impact of aesthetics on organization
P3 Aesthetic training & education of managers
P7
Aesthetic sensibility of managers
P6
Aesthetic quality of organisational design
P5
Aesthetic quality of organisational processes
P2
Aesthetic quality of products / services
P1 Business performance
Furthermore, in our conceptual model the term aesthetic quality is used several times. By that we mean the capacity of an artefact (a man-made design, product or process) to generate, evoke experiences of beauty, either by observers (result aesthetics) or makers (process aesthetics). In addition, we presuppose that such artefact is beautiful if an individual or a group is moved or touched by it that is goes through an aesthetic experience. To conclude, aesthetic sensibility is defined here as the subjective predisposition to experience beauty. This predisposition expresses itself, consciously or unconsciously in the skill to assess and appreciate the aesthetic quality of artefacts. This skill is largely influenced by the upbringing, training and education of the individual as well as by the values and believes of the local culture. Our conceptual model is based on the logic of an input-output model of organisation. In this, we follow the common logic in designing organisations, which we are seeking to apply on the aesthetics of organisation. Organisational designs lead to organisational processes, those processes deliver certain products and services and those can be more or less successful in the external environment. Equally straightforward, it would seem to assume that the quality of this organisational design is influenced by certain characteristics of the management of these organisations, and that these characteristics are partly formed by education and training. Following this logic, we can see that the final link in this causal chain implies that the aesthetic quality of products and services influences business performance (P1). Tracing one step back, P2 is that the higher the aesthetic quality of organisational processes, the higher the aesthetic quality of products and services. In other words: process aesthetics influences result aesthetics. P3 takes a side step and investigates the question to what extent people are happier when they experience aesthetically pleasing processes and the reverse, if happier people make organisational processes more aesthetically pleasing. Our P4 investigates the relationship between the well being of organisation members and the aesthetic quality of products and services, an issue that is surprisingly well researched within the domain of services management. Our P5 looks at the question to what extent organisational designs with high-aesthetic quality also lead to organisational processes with high-aesthetic quality. P6 traces even further back. It looks at managers as organisational designers, a concept frequently stressed in the systems thinking and organisational learning literature (Forrester, 1965; Keough and Doman, 1992; Senge, 1990). Do managers with a highly developed aesthetic sensibility design organisational structures of high aesthetic quality? And P7 ends at the beginning, which is the educational question: if more attention were given to aesthetics in management curricula, would this heighten aesthetic sensibilities of managers in their roles as organisational designers? We will now discuss each proposition in turn. P1: product or service beauty and business performance Our first proposition is that organisations that generate more beautiful products or services will be more successful in their environment. We would suggest measuring successful performance according to the EFQM Excellence Model, which distinguishes in people results, customer results and society results (corporate image and citizenship). Successful performance than becomes having more then average satisfied customers, employees and other stake-and shareholders (EFQM, 2004). This seems fairly mundane, in comparison with the elevated ideas brought forward elsewhere in this paper. However, we have to be frank about this: although we believe
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explicit attention for the aesthetic dimension is relevant in organisation studies, we do not want to suggest a l’art pour l’art attitude in organisations. We recognise that, in terms of Witz et al. (2003), we are, “in effect, ‘adding on’ a concern with aesthetics to a fundamentally rationalist and structuralist paradigm of organization” (p. 43). As we emphasise the role and significance of aesthetics, we primarily do so, as Witz et al., call it, for instrumental reasons. In doing so, we are not that far away from business authors such as Peters and Waterman (1982), who have looked for “excellence” as an underlying explanatory factor for company success. In the eyes of Sandelands and Buckner (2003, p. 119), “excellence is a kind of beauty, a kind of aesthetic. The excellent organisation engages its members in transcendent values, which rise above worldly concerns”. The left hand side of proposition P1 is less straightforward. When are products and services more beautiful? Here, we come to proposition P2. P2: process beauty and the beauty of products and services We are not suggesting that, aesthetic organisational processes will automatically result in beautiful products. Rather, we suggest something as shown in Table I. If the process is considered “ugly” it is unlikely that the product will be “beautiful”. Equally unlikely, at least in the eyes of the creators, is the situation where a beautiful process would lead to an ugly product. We acknowledge that this proposition is much more complicated than this two-by-two matrix suggests. To start off with, one might critique our emphasis on processes as the defining characteristic of organisation. Here, we remain on relatively safe ground, as we can refer to Weick (1969), who states: . . . assume that there are processes which create, maintain and dissolve social collectivities, that these processes constitute the work of organising, and that the ways in which these processes are continuously executed are the organization (Weick, 1996, p. 1).
Another critique might be that the notion of beauty is inappropriately assigned to something as mundane as selling a ticket or fixing a car, or any other organisational process. Here, a reply would be that, in the arts, those that can only appreciate beauty in a very selected number of categories are often labelled as having a low level of aesthetic sensibility indicating that they only can achieve satisfaction from certain types of music, certain painters, certain forms of dance. Sandelands and Buckner (1989) rightfully assert “artistry is possible even in the most prosaic doings and makings of modern life” (p. 117). As we know, those mundane processes like arranging flowers or serving tea in Japan can achieve the status of high art. P3: personal well-being and process beauty One of the most notable proponents of well being as a relevant aspect of organisational life is Csikszentmihalyi (1975), who has introduced the notion of flow: Table I. Possible relations between process and product beauty (in the eyes of creators)
Product
Beautiful
Ugly
Process Beautiful Ugly
Likely Unlikely
Unlikely Plausible
“Flow” denotes the holistic sensation present when we act with total involvement. It is the kind of feeling after which one nostalgically says: “that was fun” or “that was enjoyable”. It is the state in which action follows upon action according to an internal logic, which seems to need no conscious intervention on our part. We experience it as a unified flowing from one moment to the next. (p. 43).
We agree with Sandelands and Buckner (1989) who point at the similarity between aesthetic experiences and flow, by also noting, “flow arises in activities that are art like” (p. 121). The more aesthetically aroused people are, the more they operate in flow the more they are indeed intrinsically motivated. And, hence, the better they will do their work and the more beautiful this work will become, at least in their eyes. This feeling of flow can go so far that: . . . one relates oneself to work with an attitude allowing one to recognize that the work justifies itself and that the employee can recognize and take pleasure in this fact. Thus, the employee will call a product beautiful, not because he or she is paid to produce it, but because the thing itself, is pleasant... (White, 1996, p. 204).
This, White argues, is in line with Kant’s definition of beauty as having an element of “disinterestedness”. So, aesthetic work processes give rise to aesthetic experiences, which can lead to better work performance. P4: personal well-being and the beauty of products and services It is not always possible to correlate the work process of an employee directly to the products of services that an organisation produces, and this is especially the case in big organisations. For the production of products, it is possible to argue that the happiness of personnel is of influence on the beauty of products that are produced, but that might be a bit far fetched. However, the picture changes when we take a look at services organizations. One of the key characteristics of service processes is its simultaneous production and consumption of them. Service organisations, via its front-line staff, have to “get it right first time”. In these “service encounters” (Czepiel and Solomon, 1985), or “moments of truth” (Carlzon, 1987), aesthetic aspects of a service (especially the “software” of the service) can mean the difference between a satisfied (and returning) customer and a dissatisfied customer. As Schlesinger and Heskett (1991) have shown, there are no satisfied customers without satisfied service employees who have a good service attitude. The commercial utility of the aesthetic gaze and manners of service personnel is well recognized by high-street retailers, banks, hospitality outlets and airline companies (Hancock and Tyler, 2000; Witz et al., 2003; Adkins, 2000). In these branches, personnel with aesthetic qualities (e.g. people who look “good” sound “right” and have the “right” manners) are recruited and selected, and their aesthetic qualities and sensibilities are trained (Nickson et al., 2001). For them, the difference between the beauty of the producer, the beauty to produce and the beauty of the produced is no more. P5: organisational design beauty and organisational process beauty What can be said about the relation between the beauty of an organisational design and the beauty of the organisational processes this design gives rise to? Well, for instance, that Ramirez (1996) states that “it is not possible to set out to design
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a beautiful organization, and, by carrying out the ‘right’ procedures, to succeed.” (p. 239) And yet, despite this earlier research, why not go for the initially impossible? Let us take the field of architecture. Here, the idea that people that work and live in beautiful surroundings will themselves live and work at an aesthetically elevated level, is an old but lively one. Guille´n (1997) for instance shows how the European modernist architects of the 1890-1930 were strongly inspired by such ideas. Ramirez (1996) suggests that there must be relations of this kind, even if they cannot be “designed-in” before hand, when he notices that: . . . the very language we use to depict organizational phenomena is full of references to “form”: we reform institutions, transform work practices, enhance or measure performance, formalize procedures, analyse informal behaviour, formulate strategies. . . (p. 234).
P6: aesthetic sensibility and organisational design beauty With aesthetic sensibility, we mean the personal ability – the mental skill – to experience beauty. Many of the descriptions of this “aesthetic attitude” and, even, of “the function of aesthetics” suggest similarities with what the organisation literature tends to describe as desirable characteristics of managerial behaviour. For instance, Sandelands and Buckner (2003) describe the aesthetic attitude as “a readiness to explore an object, to see what it might suggests. . . Art does not evoke or causes aesthetic experience, you need a willing and able beholder.” (p. 115) Ackoff (1981), who wrote one of the leading texts on organisational design and the role management plays within that endeavour, dwelled on “the pursuit of beauty”. He quotes Singer (1948), who states that: . . . the aesthetic function is to inspire: to create visions of the better and give us the courage to pursue it, whatever short run sacrifices are required. Inspiration and aspiration go hand in hand. Art therefore consists of the works of people capable of stimulating new aspirations, and inspiring commitment to their pursuit. We call this capability beauty. (Ackoff, 1981, p. 39-40).
Perhaps, most clearly this relation between management style and aesthetic sensibility has been laid out by Kuhn (1982) in his essay “Managing as an Art Form: The Aesthetics of management”. He, in turn, could build on the work of Selznick (1957, p. 152-3), “for whom leadership was art, was the art of institution building, the reworking of human and technological materials to fashion an organism that embodies new and enduring values.” So, we can safely state that the relation between aesthetic sensibility of management and the aesthetic qualities of organisational design has been repeatedly acknowledged in the literature. P7: education and aesthetic sensibility In this proposition, we return to one of our original topics, which is to what extent management education should promote the development of aesthetic sensibility. Indeed, some evidence exist that companies themselves take the aesthetic production of new recruits, through training and enculturation, in their own hands (Nickson et al., 2001). Should not management education come to the aid of companies and develop the aesthetic sensibilities of the new recruits and the managers of tomorrow? Whenever such suggestions occur, the European mind is easily drawn back to the original
concept of Bildung (Von Humboldt (1767-1835), Von Humboldt and Pu¨llen, 1964). Bildung can also be seen as a revival of classic ideals. Indeed, Sandelands and Buckner (1989) quote Hamilton’s (1942) history of Hellenistic Greece in this context, where an integration of aesthetic and practical values flourished that never before and perhaps never since then had been attained. “Scientific theories were written in verse, learning and leisure were considered synonymous” (p. 117). Needless to say that we do not believe that increasing the aesthetic content of education and training programmes alone is sufficient to generate people with high-aesthetic sensibility. Local culture, genetic programming and personal level of consciousness are most likely at least as important on an individual basis. On the other hand, ethically we can hardly refrain from aesthetic content in our educational programmes if we agree with Danto (2003) who states: Beauty is an option for art and not a necessary condition. But it is not an option for life. It is a necessary condition for life as we would want to live it.
The above propositions collectively lay out a research agenda. Our own ambitions are, to study empirically some of the key propositions within this research agenda (e.g. the relationship between process aesthetics and result aesthetics, the influence of the result-aesthetics of the design on the process aesthetics in the operational core, and the influence of the aesthetics of work process on the result-aesthetics of the products and services) and to further develop key concepts within this research agenda. Discussion In organisation studies, we have long neglected the aesthetic context of organisational behaviour. Our purpose in this paper has been threefold. Firstly, to support the notion that organisational theories may have aesthetic as well as technical and ideological implications (Guille´n, 1997). Secondly, if the aesthetics of organisation is at least for the time being accepted as worthy of further study, to propose a practical research agenda for the study of the various aspects in which beauty in organisation influences organisational performance, as well as the various factors that drive organisational beauty. And lastly, to contribute to the development of our conceptual repertoire, by distinguishing between process aesthetics, result aesthetics and the concept of aesthetic sensibility. We acknowledge, with Guille´n, “people seem to yearn for beauty as intensely as they pursue instrumental methods and morally acceptable conditions” (Guille´n, 1997, p. 710). Therefore, it is about time that we as organisational researchers can become of assistance in this quest. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? Note 1. Kant found (in his Kritik der Urteilskraft, 1. Analytik des Scho¨nen, 1791) that beauty is something which can and should be universally appreciable through the human faculty of judgement. According to Kant, the experience of beauty has four characteristics: 1. It is disinterested (we can like an object without wanting to have it); 2. It is universal (objects have the capacity to be found beautiful by any observer); 3. It has purposive ness without purpose (the object displays some reason or function which cannot be completely grasped); 4. It is necessary (if we judge something to be beautiful, we feel as if everyone ought to agree with us).
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Welsch, W. (1996), “Aestheticisation processes: phenomena, distinctions and prospects”, Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 1-24. White, D.A. (1996), “‘It’s working beautifully!’ Philosophical reflections on aesthetics and organization theory”, Organization, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 195-208. Whitehead, A. (1929), Process and Reality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Witz, A., Warhurst, Chr. and Nickson, D. (2003), “The labour of aesthetics and the aesthetics of organization”, Organization, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 33-54. About the authors Mathieu Weggeman is Professor of Organization Science and Innovation Management at the Department of Technology Management at Eindhoven University of Technology (EUT) in The Netherlands. His primary expertise lies in the field of organizational knowledge creation in the early stages of the innovation process. A second area of interest concerns the design of organizations in which professionals are motivated to high performance. As a project leader, he conducted several large-scale projects in R&D environments, geared to major structural and cultural change. He is a member of the Eindhoven Center of Innovation studies. He publishes in books and journals, like Journal of Product Innovation Management, and R&D Management on the field of participative strategy development, knowledge management, and the concept of knowledge. Mathieu Weggeman is a corresponding author and can be contacted at: m.c.d.p.
[email protected] Irene Lammers holds a MSc in Industrial Engineering & Management Science from the Eindhoven University of Technology, and a PhD in Economics from the Vrije Universiteit at Amsterdam. Her thesis is based on ethnographic research into the rise of the knowledge management hype within a large multinational firm. She has presented her work at several international conference. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Vrije Universiteit, where she teaches course in strategic management and organizational design. Her research interests and current research projects concern organizational knowing, organizational aesthetics and organizational discourse. E-mail:
[email protected] Henk Akkermans is Professor in aerospace supply network dynamics at the University of Tilburg. He received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands. He also leads Minase, a Dutch-based consulting firm that specializes in facilitating supply chain collaboration. Systems dynamics modelling and simulation is his preferred research method. E-mail:
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The division of the subject and the organization: a Lacanian approach to subjectivity at work Gilles Arnaud Dean of Faculty, Toulouse Business School, Toulouse, France, and
Stijn Vanheule
The relevance of Lacanian psychoanalysis 359 Received February 2005 Accepted August 2005
Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this conceptual paper is to discuss the relevance of Lacanian psychoanalysis for thinking on organizational functioning and organizational change. Design/methodology/approach – First, the authors discuss basic Lacanian ideas with regard to the notion of the unconscious and its discursive status and with respect to the crucial difference between the ego and the subject. Subjectivity is linked to the notion of the lack. The authors then address implications of Lacanian theory for thinking about and intervening in organisations. Findings – It is argued that the non-satisfying nature of work needs to be recognised, that organizational intervention entails an intervention on discourse, and that subjectivity is an issue to be recognized in the context of organizational functioning. Originality/value – In discussing the implications of this point of view, the authors address the possibility of a psychoanalytic ecology of human resources. Keywords Organizational change, Psychology Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction In current thinking on organizational dynamics, it has been acknowledged that narrative (Barry, 1997) and discursive (Francis, 2003) processes can be thought of as crucial vehicles in which both stagnancy and change are rooted. In this paper, we explore the added value of a Lacanian psychoanalytic approach to organizational change, whereby, we link a language-oriented approach to a psychoanalytic framework. Over the last few decades, several psychoanalytic models that originally were developed for intervention in individual psychopathology have been extended to the study of organizational and managerial problems. This has developed into a field of study and practice in its own right (for an overview see, e.g. Gabriel et al., 1999; Hinshelwood and Chiesa, 2002; Kets de Vries et al., 1991; Obholzer and Zagier-Roberts, 1994). However, it was not until quite recently that the link has been made between organizational studies on the one hand and Lacanian psychoanalysis on the other hand (Arnaud, 1998, 2002, 2003a, b; Bracher, 1996; Jones and Spicer, 2005; Long, 1991, 1992; McSwite, 1997; Vanheule et al., 2003; Vanheule and Verhaeghe, 2004, 2005). We consider this move interesting, since it implies a gain: on the one hand, it enables us to focus on the object psychoanalytic studies are classically occupied with, namely unconscious processes; and on the other hand, it implies a strongly language-oriented
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approach of the object at hand. Interesting about this last aspect is that it directs attention to the materiality of discourse and to the way people make use of the signifier. The whole approach discourages speculation about psychodynamic processes that by vulgar interpretations of psychoanalysis are easily postulated in the depths of mind. In this paper, we first sketch some outlines of Lacanian psychoanalytic thinking and subsequently we discuss relevant implications for studying and intervening in organizations. Our core claim is that Lacanian psychoanalysis entails an original view on subjectivity, that this view implies an innovative approach to human issues in organizational functioning, and that it opens up a new perspective on change whereby the importance of conceptualizing an empty space – both in the subject and in the organization – is stressed. An outline of Lacanian psychoanalytic thinking Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) was a French psychoanalyst who, in the 1950s, claimed that psychoanalysts had lost track of the truly innovative aspects implied in the writings of the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). In a reaction to this state of affairs, Lacan initiated a meticulous re-examination of Freud’s work, which he brought into dialogue with other academic disciplines (e.g. linguistics, mathematics, and philosophy), important intellectual movements of the time (e.g. structuralism, phenomenology, and surrealism) and psychoanalytic practice. This effort was maintained until the end of his life and resulted in a vast, complex body of work that clearly went beyond the problems Freud addressed. In our interpretation, Lacan’s work implies a typical view on subjectivity, which we will now outline in three points: the unconscious is discourse; the ego is at odds with the unconscious; and subjectivity is divided. In elaborating these points, we do not pretend to be exhaustive. Discussions on other crucial topics from Lacan’s work that are relevant for the study of organizational and managerial issues (e.g. the Real, jouissance, the theory of the four discourses) can be found in other sources (Jones and Spicer, 2005; Vanheule and Verhaeghe, 2004; Verhaeghe, 1999). The unconscious is discourse A first and most important issue concerns the Lacanian interpretation of the unconscious. Lacan distances himself from the stereotypical interpretation of the unconscious as a hidden instance or as obscure processes in the depths of the mind, since this kind of conception gives rise to speculation on psychological mechanisms that hardly explain anything (Lacan, 1953, p. 261; 1955, p. 336). In his interpretation, the unconscious is not linked to ineffable psychodynamic processes or instinctual forces, but to speech (Lacan, 1957). He situates the unconscious in language and discourse (“it speaks” (Lacan, 1957, p. 437, own translation)), not in a hypothesized place beyond. This interpretation starts from the premise that humans as such are first and foremost living in a world of words or signifiers[1] (which Lacan also calls “the symbolic order”). It means that in our human world, all the actions we can possibly undertake, and all the things we can conceivably think of, are structured by the symbolic elements language puts at our disposal. At first sight, this might seem a highly abstract idea. Yet, this is not the case, for language is the core element many intervening practices, such as psychoanalysis, build upon. After all, the moment a psychoanalyst or an organizational consultant listens, thinks, interprets or intervenes,
he/she mainly makes use of language. The Lacanian assumption, that the unconscious too is to be situated within this universe of language, implies that the study of it comes down to a study of the logic and the structure of people’s discourses. More specifically, interest is taken in the breaches and twists in people’s speech, and the unconscious is regarded as equal to the unanticipated and surprising moves discourse makes[2]. It comes down to our stumbling in the use of language, to the slips in our speech and to the gaps that our discourses contain, but is also there where we fail to act in the way we anticipated (Lacan, 1970, pp. 405-406). Lacan’s (1959, p. 193) definition that “the unconscious is the discourse of the other” summarizes well the different aspects of his notion of the unconscious. This statement indicates that the unconscious is to be thought of as a discursive manifestation, but adds that it has to do with the other. This last qualification can be interpreted in three directions. First of all, it means that humans are structured by discourse as an external agency. Strictly speaking, discourse is alien to us: we learn it via others, others produce it on us and we are determined by the symbolic systems it entails. This view on discourse expresses the point that in their use of language humans are not so much active agents who express themselves by means of language, but rather pawns that are determined by symbolic systems that surround them. In this respect, the Lacanian approach differs clearly from most social constructionist accounts (Malone, 2000). Secondly, the definition indicates that if people are confronted with unanticipated moves in their own discourses, they tend to treat these manifestations of the unconscious as alien, as not belonging to them. They tend to treat it as “other” than themselves, and their strategy in dealing with it is denial. People prefer to know nothing about it, ignore the peculiarities in their discourses and laugh these away. The attitude Lacanian psychoanalysis implies is radically opposed to this tendency that Lacan attributes to the ego: it assumes that the breaches are significative and reveal something. This brings us to a third aspect implied by the definition of the unconscious as the discourse of the other. From a Lacanian point of view, the breaches in discourse contain a message, and the slip in discourse only partially reveals it. They imply more discourse; discourse that has not been acknowledged but that nevertheless contains subjective truth (Lacan, 1957). The idea of subjective truth means that manifestations of the unconscious potentially open up another scene and another dimension in discourse that is significative for the person or persons who pursue the discourse. The ego is at odds with the unconscious A major implication of Lacan’s discursive conception of the unconscious is that he ends up with a clear differentiation between the notions “ego” and “subject.” In his interpretation, the ego tallies with the official discourse people pursue, identify with, and present themselves with to others. The ego corresponds to the role people play for themselves as well as for their acquaintances; it corresponds to people’s opinion of whom and what they are. It is from the perspective of this ego that discursive manifestations of the unconscious are treated as alien. It is precisely from the premise that manifestations of the unconscious can be thought of as significative for the person who pursues discourse that the Lacanian notion of the subject obtains its meaning and value. Indeed, whenever Lacan discusses the issue of the subject or subjectivity, he is always referring to the subject that is an effect of the unconscious (Parker, 2003; Verhaeghe, 1998). Though the manifestations of the unconscious are not accepted
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by the ego, the main idea is that these do tell us/say something crucial about the persons that utter discourse. This dimension of the person beyond the ego is the Lacanian notion of the subject: we are subjects to the extent that we differ from our ego and unconscious elements mark our discourses. Lacan (1953, 1960) delimits the notion “subject” as a wholly specific concept, one that cannot be assimilated to the human being in his (her) different psychological, sociological, or philosophic meanings. The subject is not the actor or the director of its own behaviour (the subject is more “acted upon” and, what is more, without its knowing it); nor even a form of reflexive intelligence, coherent and transparent to itself, dear to the philosophers of consciousness (the subject “misrecognizes” aspects of itself, i.e. those emanating from the unconscious). The subject is a subject by its being subjected to the unconscious; it exists only in the precarious claim of its “I” emerging in the interstices of its faltering questions and disappearing immediately behind the repressed signifiers that represent it for other signifiers, past or to come (Olgivie, 1987). It is constituted essentially as an effect of discourse and of the unconscious, in that it irremediably cuts itself off from the “real.” From a Lacanian point of view, the subject is not self-reflective; it is to be distinguished from a humanistic notion of subjectivity, which gives people the idea that they are understandable to themselves. The division of the subject In the psychoanalytic sense of the term, then, the subject is not understood, as it were, as a substantial entity, but as the witness-function to the inevitable distance between the unconscious and the ego; a distance introduced into its relationship to the world and to itself, which generates thought and desire. That being the case, the Lacanian project, then, is to finally recognize the subject in its divided nature: the subject is constitutionally conflictual in its organization. A direct consequence is that Lacan conceives the subject as being characterised by an original and radical lack of identity or a “lack of being” (in French: “manque a` eˆtre” (Lacan, 1958)). This means that a non-identifiable and ungraspable (in Lacanian terms “Real”) lack disturbs all experiences people have of themselves. In the midst of their being, humans are marked by an empty (non-masterable) space as a result of which the subject is the bearer of a principle of non-satisfaction and desire that is structurally insatiable: it has little to do with explicit wishes and is in no way reducible to a material object or sense of interpersonal belonging (Vanheule et al., 2003; Vanheule and Verhaeghe, 2004). Although human subjectivity is marked by a typical “want-to-be” (Muller and Richardson, 1994, p. 22) – we try to comprehend ourselves, to grasp who we are, to be happy and to be satisfied – the lack in subjectivity cannot be cancelled out. The idea that this could be possible can be qualified as an imaginary belief; a belief that starts from a deluding image. Lacan considers this kind of belief as being a product of the ego and its misrecognizing functioning. An important aspect of Lacan’s thinking, however, is that he defines the symbolic as determinative in relation to the imaginary (Arnaud, 2002). Beyond the register of the imaginary, underlying symbolic determinations can be discerned. Human subjects are caught in a network of discourses that “speak” through them (one could even say: that “cause” them) and where they unconsciously situate themselves. These discourses are the main object of Lacanian intervention.
Subjectivity and the organization Armed with the Lacanian conception on subjectivity, we will now examine the consequences of this conceptual view for approaching human issues in organizational functioning. In doing so, we both connect with psychoanalytic cultural criticism (Jones and Spicer, 2005), but also make a more pragmatic step beyond it. Our aim is to develop a framework in which the issue of organizational change can be considered. We will discuss three issues: the nature of human work, intervention in organizational problems, and the space for subjectivity in the organization. The nature of human work: the horror of nothingness In our discussion on the division of the subject, we stressed that the dimension of the lack, and the dissatisfaction it entails, need to be thought of as structural and insatiable. As we now apply these ideas to issues of human work and organizational change, this idea remains crucial. From the Lacanian point of view, we claim that the activity of work (as a typical human occupation) is also structurally non-satisfying. This means that it is structurally impotent in providing specific satisfactions to those who engage in work. The idea that work could provide the subject with fulfilling added value is an illusory product of wishful thinking: work is nothing but work. This premise goes against many organizational practices. We observe that firms and organizational consultants tend to reinforce this illusion by indeed promising that they have an adequate object or answer for satisfying the subject at work. Many theories that cultivate the catch-all notion of motivation can be situated at this level (Maccoby, 1995; Sievers, 1990). A Lacanian intervention in an organization refrains from this idea and assumes that a firm does not have intrinsically, towards its employees, anything exceptional to offer: it cannot satisfy truly subjective demands. As such, at an interpersonal level, there is neither a director-father to whom one can submit oneself or who has to offer approval, nor an organization-mother with whom one can merge or who has to offer love, nor colleague-brothers with whom one can unite or who have to offer companionship. There is only work, a horror of the “nothing” of work, that makes the firm an economic and social machine (Guinchard, 1998). Despite the best will in the world on the part of its executives (that is to say, even if they do their best not to frustrate workers’ legitimate aspirations), a firm is caught in the insurmountable contradiction between the infinity of desire that typifies all subjects and the finitude of possible satisfactions it as a firm can offer. The illusory objects people tend to cultivate as possible answers to their subjective lack can rather be thought of as misleading and deluding. Jones and Spicer (2005) clearly illustrate this with respect to the notion of entrepreneurship. Enterprise discourse cultivates signifiers (e.g. knowledge, creativity, and self-actualization) as if these were sublime objects that could be obtained, but in the end, no foundation can be linked to these. In our opinion, management practice and change management can be “redefined” by Lacanian psychoanalysis, precisely through getting rid of the belief that the lack can be mastered through work (Huber, 1999). People at work should be discouraged from relating their professional role and the results of their work to their ideas on which they are. The reason for this is both ethical and practical. The ethical side of it means that a principal choice is made to give space to the divided nature and the particularity of each subject. The practical reason, in its turn, is to be situated at the level of negative side-effects. Recent research indicates that too strong identifications
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with a professional role or too strong beliefs in possible outcomes of work are linked up with experiences of professional burnout, and that effective interventions prove to be those that divert people from processes of imaginary identification to aspects of symbolic determination (Ollivier, 1995; Vanheule et al., 2003; Vanheule and Verhaeghe, 2004).
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Intervention in organizational problems: paying attention to symbolic determination Lacanian psychoanalytic intervention in organizations starts from the idea that underlying organizational problems, subjective truth can be assumed, and that this truth needs to be approached through people’s discourse. Discourse is thought of as determinative in relation to (organizational) problems, and as a result, the peculiarities of organizational and individual discourse are the objects of intervention. Human behaviour at work (including the most dysfunctional) is hereby considered as an effect of the place occupied by subjects in the discourse of the organization (for example, the repressed discourse of the company founders) with the sanction of certain words that weigh upon their destiny. Consequently, in order to “break out of the cycle of repetition” (Enriquez, 1994, p. 13), the aforementioned subjects have, by way of an antidote, to set in motion a process of “symbolization” aimed at modifying their relationship to the signifiers that closely condition their professional inscription, and thereby at recovering new scope for action. This symbolic work, which consists here in reorienting psychic contents and metabolizing lived experiences by a “putting into words” – individual and/or collective – proves to be at once complex and difficult and indeed regularly undermined by numerous resistances, blocks, or retreats. However, once a certain level of symbolizing activity is reached, it enables working subjects, who have locked themselves into a rigid codification (where the meaning of their action is channelled or repressed and a paralysing imaginary thereby reinforced) to break through the discourses and habits in which they got stuck (for practical examples, see Arnaud, 2002, 2003a). Within the framework of these different actions, it is incumbent upon the intervening professional to refrain from occupying the position of expert, called upon to provide the expected answers, but rather to adopt the position of an analyst who questions practices, encourages symbolization, and pays attention to peculiarities in people’s accounts of their work. To do so, one must agree to constantly throw into question one’s perceptions and attitudes, and one’s own relation to the role one occupies in the organization. The space for subjectivity in the organization: respect the subject, manage the actor In our view, such an analytic positioning entails a change in status and finality for organizational change and even for management. With psychoanalysis, indeed, there is no longer any question here of leaving aside irrationality in organizational processes, and of denying the unconscious determination of organizational (dis-)functioning (Egan, 1994). We should not resign in the face of these phenomena, but rather add these to our range of action. This does not mean that we should act like what Lacan (1966) ironically called “engineers of the soul”: professionals who instrumentalize knowledge about the unconscious, in order to manipulate people’s functioning, purely to the advantage of corporate culture and immediate gain (Amado, 1988; Aubert and De Gaulejac, 1991; Enriquez, 1989, 1990; Schwartz, 1990). Between the attitudes of inattentiveness and
omnipotence, we advocate the emergence of a practice that accepts working on and with lack, in an atmosphere where the subject is respected. Our experience teaches that paying attention to subjectivity removes the necessity for this subjectivity to find its expression in aspects of the organization’s regular functioning, which then presents itself as irrational or pathological. The most important shift an organization has to make in this respect is to create an inner space; an inner space where the process of symbolization is tolerated, enabled and even encouraged, and where people can express something of their own subjectivity. Practically, such a space can be created by means of daily monitoring in different groups and sub-groups of the company (e.g. listening to discourses that arise during operational meetings, and then intervening upon these discourses); by means of professional analysis groups (modelled on “Balint groups” for example), where the subjects in a workgroup are regularly brought together in order to discuss individual and collective realizations and failures; or by creating possibilities for individual consultation and psychoanalytically informed coaching. Within this framework of action, incompleteness is accepted: everything is always to be started anew and to be reinvented (Arnaud, 1995, 2003b). This brings us to the idea that a management practice which suits the status of the subject is a “work in progress” which operates within a framework of contradictions (Brabet et al., 1993). This respect for the subject in no way prevents one from managing the actor. One can manage people according to the precepts of personnel management, while preserving their status as subject (constitutionally unsatisfied), and while leaving them a space where they can authentically pose the question of their desire (for example, in practice analysis groups) and where they can be listened to analytically (on the grounds that the subject changes with the act of saying). However, let us note that to open the loci of speech, where the subject can restart the chain of unconscious signifiers that runs through it, cannot be reduced to letting every individual speak there to say what he/she wants (as may be the case in pure expression groups). Paradoxically, to listen to a person in what he or she claims to say does not enable one to hear the person speak truth. Truth in its Lacanian sense is at odds with what the ego intends to express. As a result, attention to discourse beyond the intentions of the speaking ego(s) is most important. Moreover, to say that language is the cause of the subject, and that for this reason, an unconscious structured like a language determines the subject’s nature even to the extent that its nature escapes the ego, is to link the ego to illusion. The ego is then equivalent to the illusion that things can be grasped and understood. Consequently, the subject is not to be understood as an agency that knows the truth; it is only the place where truth comes into expression. Any project to reintroduce the subject into management does not, therefore, imply asserting the rights of this subject over the firm (and subordinating managerial practice to psychoanalysis); rather, it is simply a question of giving this continent of subjectivity its place on the map of the organization, where it would appear as a “natural reserve” to be preserved at all costs. This would be to recognize that man does indeed have an intimate dimension, which does not need to be controlled. To reconstruct management “with” the subject is, in particular, to assert that individuals are responsible for their psychic identity, whether they like it or not, and that the goal of the manager is to create the conditions in which the risk is taken that they will like it. It is in this perspective, then, that we can trace the limits of the scope
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for managerial intervention in this domain: it is a question of considering the subject (of the unconscious) without approaching it, to treat the subject without touching it, that is to say, to leave people free to work, in order to restore a certain innovative fluidity to the firm’s relational dynamics (Arnaud, 2002). Implications The professional symptom (stress, burnout, etc.), in the perspective adopted here, is the sign of a failure of dualist thinking in relation to the subjective lack (Vanheule et al., 2003; Vanheule and Verhaeghe, 2004, 2005). Indeed, faced with the daily occurrences of the existential questions raised, both at work and elsewhere – unfulfillment in relation to the dream of totality, the illogical behind the temptation of the rational, the ambiguous beside the desire for transparency, or the piercing doubt in place of the hoped-for certainties – dualist thinking almost always takes over, and alternately asserts itself in a paranoid mode (it is me or her/him, it is us or them), a phallic mode (“to have balls or not”), or an activist mode (to not say what one does or to not do what one says). In our interpretation, intervention that starts from this dualist perspective only perpetuates what it fights. Now, this dualist thinking proceeds spontaneously from the omission of a third path that we could call “ecological” in that it makes of lack and its recognition the fulcrum for the elaboration of original solutions for the subject, and therefore, eventually for the firm (Arnaud and Guinchard, 2003); and magic (numerological, astrological, or other) is invoked, as in certain recruitment or motivation practices (Amado and Deumie, 1991), in an attempt to respond to what spontaneously presents itself as irrational. Why then such confusion? It is precisely, we believe, because the firm has not undertaken its “psychoanalytic revolution.” Quite the opposite: for over 50 years, managers have been considering that behaviour can be the a and v of the industrious person and does not warrant further questioning of the supposed unicity of its meaning. From that moment on, the black box, which links input and output, is then very opportunely invoked in order to conceal that which constitutes the fundamental singularity of the subject (Arnaud et al., 2008). Within this context, propriety and preservation of private life function as moral legitimations for the cultivated ignorance, even if insane recruitment and induction practices reduce subjectivity to a vestige in which anybody will feel unease. Moreover, it is not only “the company” that is involved in all this; indeed, many individuals play this the game, in the name of success or out of a fascination with gaining power and money. However, there is a possibility, once the damage done, to turn the page on a subjectivity never revealed. At this level, psychoanalysis can come up with its alternative. Unlike positivist behaviourism, and its obscure corollary, the spiritualist temptation, psychoanalysis in general – and Lacanian theory in particular – teaches, in contrast, that the mysterious in man is not so far off, that the irrational is not inaudible, the uncertain not unmanageable, and that lack is not lapse. It also opens up the possibility that the inalienable questions of sex and power (Enriquez, 1997), of love and death (Sievers, 1993), be taken into account, in ways other than by their avoidance in all places where man is at work. Finally, the analytic clinic reminds one that relationship with others, including in a professional context, can hardly be learnt; that the “human factor” is not a gene that can easily be manipulated (because, it is as other that it determines us), but is instead an uneasiness that can be analyzed; and that, when
it comes to human management, it is not so much a matter of curing symptoms as of hearing them. Here is what, at any rate, gives scope to an action that will leave to others the task of slipping on all that may occur between a transmitter and a receiver. Here, we believe, is where is to be found a possible psychoanalytic ecology of human resources. In the end, the subject, certain Lacanian psychoanalysts conclude, operates as the empty square in brain teaser puzzles that organizational functioning can represent: at once, necessary to ensemble movement and forever escaping. But, as Leclaire (1996, p. 312, own translation) writes again: Far from being, as one likes to think, the intolerable fault into which “existential anxiety” is said to rush, discordant relationships are indeed, in the opening they leave, more relevant in dealing with life’s challenges than are concordant relationships, which, for their part, can only close in oppressive totalities. Notes 1. The term “signifier” is a concept Lacan borrowed from linguistics. It refers to the ambiguous dimension of our words: a word has no definite meaning and only obtains meaning within a context. Hence, during communication, every signifier has to be interpreted by the receiver of the message. 2. See Lacan (1953, p. 49): “The unconscious is that part of the concrete discourse, in so far as it is transindividual, that is not at the disposal of the subject in re-establishing the continuity of his conscious discourse.” References Amado, G. (1988), “Cohe´sion organisationnelle et illusion collective”, Revue Franc¸aise de Gestion, No. 69, pp. 37-43. Amado, G. and Deumie, C. (1991), “Pratiques magiques et re´gressives dans la gestion des ressources humaines”, Revue de GRH, No. 1, pp. 16-27. Arnaud, G. (1995), “Une logique de la transversalite´: la gestion des ressources humaines a` la lumie`re de la psychanalyse”, paper presented at Transversalite´ de la GRH – Actes du 6e Congre`s de l’AGRH, pp. 44-54. Arnaud, G. (1998), “The obscure object of demand in consultancy. A psychoanalytic perspective”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 7, pp. 473-84. Arnaud, G. (2002), “The organization and the symbolic: organizational dynamics viewed from a Lacanian perspective”, Human Relations, Vol. 55 No. 6, pp. 691-716. Arnaud, G. (2003a), “A couch or a coach? A Lacanian perspective on executive coaching and consulting”, Human Relations, Vol. 56 No. 9, pp. 1131-54. Arnaud, G. (2003b), “GRH et psychanalyse: quelle innovation e´piste´mologique?”, Revue de Gestion des Ressources Humaines, No. 50, pp. 77-94. Arnaud, G. and Guinchard, R. (2003), “Tristes topiques”, non-published paper. Arnaud, G. et al. (2008), Le de´sir de travail, Dunod, Paris, forthcoming. Aubert, N. and De Gaulejac, V. (1991), Le couˆt de l’excellence, Le Seuil, Paris. Barry, D. (1997), “Telling changes: from narrative family therapy to organizational change and development”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 30-46. Brabet, J. et al. (1993), Repenser la gestion des ressources humaines?, Economica, Paris.
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Bracher, M. (1996), “Lacanian resources for organizational consulting”, paper presented at Annual Symposium of the ISPSO, non-published paper. Egan, G. (1994), “Le non-dit dans l’entreprise et ses couˆts”, Proble`mes Economiques, No. 2372, pp. 1-7. Enriquez, E. (1989), “L’individu pris au pie`ge de la structure strate´gique”, Connexions, No. 54, pp. 145-61. Enriquez, E. (1990), “L’entreprise comme lien social: un colosse aux pieds d’argile”, in Sainsaulieu, R. (Ed.), L’entreprise – une Affaire de Socie´te´, Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, Paris, pp. 203-28. Enriquez, E. (1994), “La psychosociologie au carrefour”, Revue Internationale de Psychosociologie, No. 1, pp. 5-15. Enriquez, E. (1997), Les Jeux du Pouvoir et du De´sir Dans L’entreprise, Descle´e de Brouwer, Paris. Francis, H. (2003), “HRM and the beginnings of organizational change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 309-27. Gabriel, Y. et al. (1999), Organizations in Depth, Sage, London. Guinchard, R. (1998), “Du travail a` l’œuvre”, Re´alite´s Industrielles, November, pp. 37-42. Hinshelwood, R.D. and Chiesa, M. (2002), Organisations, Anxieties & Defences, Whurr, London. Huber, G. (1999), Le sujet de la loi, Michalon, Paris. Jones, C. and Spicer, A. (2005), “The sublime object of entrepreneurship”, Organization, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 223-46. Kets de Vries, M.F.R. et al. (1991), Organizations on the Couch, Jossey-Bass, Oxford. Lacan, J. (1953), “The function and field of speech and language in psychoanalysis”, in Lacan, J. (Ed.), Ecrits – A selection, Routledge, London, 1977, pp. 30-113. Lacan, J. (1955), “Variantes de la cure type”, in Lacan, J. (Ed.), Ecrits, Le Seuil, Paris, 1966, pp. 323-62. Lacan, J. (1957), “La psychanalyse et son enseignement”, in Lacan, J. (Ed.), Ecrits, Le Seuil, Paris, 1966, pp. 437-58. Lacan, J. (1958), “The direction of treatment and the principles of its power”, in Lacan, J. (Ed.), Ecrits: A Selection, Norton, New York, NY, 1977, pp. 226-80. Lacan, J. (1959), “On a question preliminary to any possible treatment of psychosis”, in Lacan, J. (Ed.), Ecrits – A Selection, Routledge, London, 1977, pp. 179-225. Lacan, J. (1960), “The subversion of the subject and the dialectic of desire in the Freudian unconscious”, in Lacan, J. (Ed.), Ecrits – A Selection, Routledge, London, 1977, pp. 292-324. Lacan, J. (1966), Ecrits, Le Seuil, Paris. Lacan, J. (1970), “Radiophonie”, in Lacan, J. (Ed.), Autres Ecrits, Le Seuil, Paris, 2001, pp. 403-49. Leclaire, S. (1996), Demeures de l’ailleurs. Ecrits Pour la Psychanalyse 1, Arcanes, Paris. Long, S. (1991), “The signifier and the group”, Human Relations, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 389-401. Long, S. (1992), A Structural Analysis of Small Groups, Routledge, London. Maccoby, M. (1995), Why Work ? Motivating the New Workforce, Miles River Press, Alexandria. McSwite, O.C. (1997), “Jacques Lacan and the theory of the human subject – how psychoanalysis can help public administration”, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 43-63. Malone, K.R. (2000), “Subjectivity and the address to the other”, Theory & Psychology, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 79-80.
Muller, J. and Richardson, W. (1994), Lacan and Language, International Universities Press, Madison. Obholzer, A. and Zagier-Roberts, V. (1994), The Unconscious at Work, Routledge, London. Olgivie, B. (1987), Lacan. La Formation du Concept de Sujet (1932-49), Presse Universitaire Franc¸aise, Paris. Ollivier, B. (1995), L’acteur et le sujet. Vers un Nouvel Acteur E´conomique, Descle´e de Brouwer, Paris. Parker, I. (2003), “Jacques Lacan, barred psychologist”, Theory & Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 95-115. Schwartz, H. (1990), Narcissistic Process and Corporate Decay, New York University Press, New York, NY. Sievers, B. (1990), “La motivation: un ersatz de significations”, in Chanlat, J.F. (Ed.), L’individu Dans L’organisation. Les Dimensions Oublie´es, ESKA, Paris, pp. 337-61. Sievers, B. (1993), Work, Death and Life Itself, De Gruyter, Berlin. Vanheule, S. and Verhaeghe, P. (2004), “Powerlessness and impossibility in special education: a qualitative study on professional burnout from a Lacanian perspective”, Human Relations, Vol. 57 No. 4, pp. 497-519. Vanheule, S. and Verhaeghe, P. (2005), “Professional burnout in the mirror – a qualitative study from a Lacanian perspective”, Psychoanalytic Psychology, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 285-305. Vanheule, S., Lievrouw, A. and Verhaeghe, P. (2003), “Burnout and intersubjectivity: a psychoanalytical study from a Lacanian perspective”, Human Relations, Vol. 56 No. 3, pp. 321-38. Verhaeghe, P. (1998), “Causation and destitution of a pre-ontological non-entity: on the Lacanian subject”, in Nobus, D. (Ed.), Key Concepts of Lacanian Psychoanalysis, Rebus, London, pp. 164-89. Verhaeghe, P. (1999), Does the Woman Exist?, Rebus, London. Further reading De Gaulejac, V. (1997), “Psychosociologie et sociologie clinique”, in Aubert, N., de Gaulejac, V. and Navridi, K. (Eds), L’aventure Psychosociologique, Descle´e de Brouwer, Paris, pp. 157-69. Duda, C. (2002), “Le langage ne sert pas a` communiquer, il sert a` e´changer ce que fabrique le de´sir”, Ressources Humaines & Management, No. 6. Leclaire, S. (1998), Diableries. Ecrits Pour la Psychanalyse 2, Arcanes, Paris. Rassial, J-J., Bidaud, E. and Levy, P. (2001), “La crise du sujet”, Connexions, No. 76, pp. 105-13. Verhaeghe, P. and Vanheule, S. (2004), “Psychoanalysis in times of science”, Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 118-25.
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Jennifer Frahm Department of Management University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, and
Received August 2002 Revised April 2004 Accepted January 2005
Kerry Brown School of Management, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Abstract Purpose – Change receptivity is recognised as an important factor in successfully implementing organizational change strategies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of change in the initial stages of a change agenda within a public sector organization and analyze the communication of change. It traces the resultant receptivity to organizational change. The paper investigates whether organizational change communication is a crucial element in employees’ receptivity to change. Design/methodology/approach – A case study design is employed and the multiple methods employed include surveys, focus groups, archival data and participant observation. Findings – The findings indicate that the initial change communication is problematic. The employees respond to a lack of instrumental change communication with a constructivist communication approach in order to manage the implications of continuous change. Research limitations/implications – This research provides an overview of the first 100 days of change in a public sector organization only, and so the limitations of single case studies apply. However, the close investigation of this phase provides further research directions to be addressed. Practical implications – The findings suggest managers need to align employees’ expectations of the change communication with understanding of the change goal. Originality/value – The primary value of the paper is in using a communicative lens to study the change process. Keywords Organizational change, Communication, Change management Paper type Research paper
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 370-387 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740191
Introduction Receptivity of employees to organizational change is an emerging and significant issue for those involved in creating successful change implementation strategies. Avoiding problems associated with change fatigue and change resistance are important considerations given ongoing agendas for change in contemporary organizations. We argue that organizational change communication is a crucial element in employees’ receptivity to change and accordingly, use an organizational change communication lens to map and analyse organizational change in a public sector organization. A recent call for empirical studies in relation to organizations engaged in continuous change and change receptivity (Pettigrew et al., 2001) highlights the importance of undertaking further research in this area.
This study describes the findings of the first 100 days of change in a public sector, not-for-profit organization engaged in technology diffusion, Tech D. We had the unique opportunity to gain access to the organization prior to the change process being undertaken, and thus could track the receptivity and the communication efforts in real time, over time. In particular, we focus on how the way organizational change communication impacts on change receptivity in the context of continuous change. The findings arise from the initial data collection, with primary data collection tools being participant observation, document analysis and focus groups. The temporal setting was the first “100 days of change”. The initial change sequence is important to an organization, as the responses to the initial change implementation can signal the likelihood of successful implementation (Amburgey et al., 1993). In this case, the time period also carries political value for a new CEO, as ultimately the board of directors will be looking to see some “early wins” to validate its choice of the new CEO as a successor to the past CEO (Gaines-Ross, 2000). The information collected over this time period will be used to compare later data collections in order to map the process of organizational change over a three-year period, and thus satisfy the quest for temporal and processual research on change (Pettigrew et al., 2001). In viewing the organizational change process as a communication problematic (Bourke and Bechervaise, 2002), the research will focus on the organizational change communication in terms of formal communication, memos and briefings, as well as conversations and dialogue about the change process. First, the literature on organizational change communication is reviewed and then the research methods and setting are described. The findings indicate that initially, an instrumental, one-way view of communication occurs, with deficits noted in formal and manager/employee communication. The employees then use a constructivist communication approach in order to manage the implications of continuous change. The consequences for managing planned and emergent change will be discussed. Organizational communication and change An implicit, normative assumption that communication is simply a linear process and a methodologically fractured field characterizes the research on organizational change communication. Despite many change scholars (Axley, 2000; Doyle et al., 2000) arguing that communication is necessary and good, organizational change communication is little studied explicitly (Eisenberg et al., 1999, p. 135). Doyle et al. (2000) contend this lack of empirical research leads to practitioners frequently lacking success in change communication goals. As Salem (1999, p. 21) notes, integration of organizational communication research remains a primary challenge. In understanding organizational change communication, we use two frameworks to inform the discussion; an instrumental framework, that reflects the managerial use of communication to effect change (Putnam, 1999) and a constructivist approach, that focuses on how organizational change is created by communication change (Taylor and Van Every, 2000). Planned change is often analysed using an instrumental framework and utilising a transmission theoretical model of sender-message-receiver-feedback-interference (Shannon and Weaver, 1949). However, emergent organizations can be analysed in terms of a constructivist framework, using critical theory (Taylor and Van Every, 2000). Weick and Quinn (2000, pp. 373 – 81) validate the different change communication perspectives when they suggest the role of change agent in planned change is that of
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prime mover (i.e. sends message to change behaviour) and in continuous change models (emergent change) the change agent is seen as sense-maker of the active dialogue that creates the organization. Therefore, in investigating how organizational change communication impacts on change receptivity we are cognizant of the two approaches and recognise that there may be a shift in focus of the research if the organization in question starts with a planned change approach in order to become a continuous change organization. Most of the studies in the management literature rely on the first framework as a way of understanding organizational communication and change. It is argued: Communication is the process on which the initiation and maintenance of organizational change depends. . . Ultimately the success of any change effort depends on how effectively the strategy for and the substance of the change is communicated to those who are the targets of change (Witherspoon and Wohlert, 1996, p. 378)
Understanding employees as “targets of change” suggests planned change, and does not consider the proactive and “driver”-like roles those employees pursue in continuous change efforts. This difference can be explored from a constructivist perspective in terms of how employees make sense of change and construct their new realities. In their study, Witherspoon and Wohlert (1996) found that information is distributed downward and differentially. Information was found to be a commodity to be brokered and a scarce resource to be guarded and that the flow of information stops at supervisor level. This finding raises questions concerning how lower level employees make sense of change without information provided by supervisors. We contend this aspect should be examined more closely through an empirical study of continuous change, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the communication flow. Lewis and Seibold (1998) investigated how communication affects the successful implementation process, and determined that communication is central to predicting outcomes of planned change. They argue the central communication processes involved in the implementation of planned change has received less attention by communication scholars. However, the communication process involved in the implementation of emergent changes has received even less attention. In signaling future research directions Lewis (2000a, b) argues that more research which details the specifics of change processes, and which addresses questions of how change is communicated, by whom, and with what result is needed. This paper specifically addresses these aspects in terms of the relative effectiveness of communication strategies. The research directions outlined by Lewis (2000a, b) can be considered typical of instrumental communication research. When considering the second framework, some management studies investigate organizational communication in terms of discourse and dialogue. Butcher and Atkinson (2001, p. 554) argue that the active management of language in the context of change has received less attention and that language norms and taboos can be a key anchor to maintaining the status quo of the organization. They highlight “framing” as a potential area to pursue in change management research. This avenue is supported by Graetz’s (2000, p. 551) work on case studies about strategic change leadership. Whilst the change agents in Pilkington Australasia were communicating the change, they were not necessarily doing so with the appropriate “enthusiasm and vigour” and thus apathy became a crucial framing issue in the implementation (Graetz, 2000).
In contrast, Smith et al. (1995, p. 28) reported on the difference in change receptivity during the communication process of a large change initiative with the State Transit Authority in Victoria. After a series of continuous discussion sessions and other site inspections, the employees were given a sense of ownership of the change. This process resulted in a commitment to the change and a sense of enthusiasm and personal challenge. Through ongoing dialogue the participants of the change process created new meaning and acceptance. In summary, after a preliminary investigation, there are several previously unexplored and productive research directions to follow. Our primary aim is to investigate the relationship between change communication and change receptivity. Our secondary purpose is to undertake research on continuous change organizations to establish further empirical studies of the context of organizational change. This research has the potential to progress beyond the current understanding of change receptivity, which then leads to increasing the success rates of change implementation. A deeper understanding of the processes that facilitate continuous change will enable organizations to adapt to the challenges that exist in today’s business environment. Continuous change organizations Organizations that undergo continuous change are argued to have the “ability to change rapidly and continuously, especially by developing new products (core competence and culture driven)” (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997, p. 1). The changes are “those that are ongoing, evolving and cumulative . . . small uninterrupted adjustments . . . ” (Pettigrew et al., 2001, p. 704). These continuous change organizations have had limited treatment in the literature; the case-studies provided so far can be classified as either public sector organizations, learning organizations or firms engaged in New Product Development (NPD). An initial scan of the literature suggests that each of these contexts displays varying degrees of change receptivity. Much of the previous research uses NPD Teams as the unit of analysis (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997; Miner et al., 2001). These studies interpret continuous change as innovation, and consequently focus on NPD. Continuous change research has consisted largely of case-based studies as is appropriate in new areas of research (Eisenhardt, 1989). With the emphasis being on NPD, the samples have consisted mainly of technically-oriented employees. Brown and Eisenhardt (1997) and Miner et al. (2001) have highlighted the necessity to create semi-structures that allow flexibility and order to co-exist in order to facilitate continuous change. Miner et al. (2001) and Sitkin et al. (1998) situate continuous change organizations in the organizational learning literature. In terms of findings, Brown and Eisenhardt (1997) highlight the importance of communication and future probe teams in managing the continuous innovation processes. All of these studies are concerned with emergent change in the form of NPD. In doing so, they are studying a population that is pro-innovation, and therefore, quite positive about continuous change as their role is to be innovative. It is also important to note that in these studies the product/product lines and supporting technology are continuously changing, not necessarily the structure of the organization. This situation creates a research need to balance this initial work with a research agenda that focuses on organizational innovation. Studies from Hazlett and Hill (2000) and Baden-Fuller and Volberda (1997) suggest different organizational settings (i.e. public sector organizations) may produce different results. The type of continuous change discussed includes changing political
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environments and the move towards economic rationalism. Their studies showed that in the public sector context, continuous change is associated with high levels of change fatigue. This result is also confirmed in preliminary findings from another study of a state government department with a large-scale culture change program (Brown et al., 2000). This early work indicates there is ample opportunity to explore what continuous change may mean in particular contexts, and then to identify the factors that enable continuous change (i.e. semi-structures, future probes) and those that act as a barrier. Few of these studies examine the situation in which the organization is intent on becoming a continuous change organization, for example, by adopting a learning organization framework (Senge, 1992). However, the work on continuous change also highlights the importance of change fatigue and resistance as part of the continuous change process. Although Pettigrew et al. (2001) establish that change receptivity requires more research, it is difficult to find an established definition. In order to do so, we now discuss the research related to change receptivity. Change receptivity Change receptivity (Pettigrew et al., 2001) is a relatively new term, and this paper contends that change receptivity embraces a number of responses to change, ranging from the negative to the positive. It is considered a measure of how receptive a person, group or organization is to change. Accordingly, this embraces a number of responses such as frustration, uncertainty, positiveness, passive acceptance and change contempt and can be conceptualised as multidimensional attitudes to change (Piderit, 2000). Table I classifies the different dimensions of change receptivity. Our overview of the change receptivity literature (Buchanan et al., 1999; Eby et al., 2000; Ket de Vries and Balazs, 1997; Lawson and Angle, 1998; Mabin et al., 2001; Miller and Taylor, 1995; Okumus and Hemmington, 1998: Piderit, 2000; Smith et al., 1995; Weber and Weber, 2001) suggests that most studies have focused on individual factors such as personality attributes and cognitive processes, and accordingly have used surveys as instruments of data collection. Consequently, this approach ignores collective responses to change and produces a need for group level analysis and qualitative approaches to provide deeper insight. There is also a lack of receptivity literature deriving from continuous change efforts – all of the above studies related to single, one-off planned change initiatives. Accordingly, our research addresses how organizational communication impacts on change receptivity employing group and individual level analysis, and uses a case-study analysis of a firm that is intent on transforming to a continuous change organization. Change setting The case-study researched in this paper is a public sector organization chartered with technology diffusion, and whose new CEO has stated that he wants the organization
Table I. Range of change receptivity responses
Negative
Neutral
Positive
Change contempt Frustration Change fatigue Fear
Passive acceptance Change readiness Ambivalence
Pro-innovation Change commitment Excitement
to be “continuously changing, a learning organization of the Senge (1990) type”. The organization has less than 75 employees and the occupations range from foundry workers, engineers, model finishers and business consultants. The organization is operating under seemingly volatile conditions, subject to political change, both in state and federal budgetary decision-making as well as subject to a high degree of technological obsolescence. Increased defence spending has reduced the federal government funding available for technology initiatives. The charter of Tech D also involves sourcing high-capital-cost new technology in order to facilitate uptake within state and national firms in the manufacturing sector. Accordingly, at the time of research, the organization was not yet “typical” of continuous change and is undergoing a directed change effort. Given the turbulent environmental context, the CEO is not following a planned change path – the change effort is being adapted as new information is presented. The organizational change process ongoing at Tech D can be described as a directed transformation, with the CEO using restructuring, culture change, high performance work teams, and process re-engineering as the methods for achieving the transformative goal of developing a continuous change organization. Method In this particular case-study we used multiple methods, including participant observation, documentation, focus group interviews, and organizational surveys for data collection. This approach enabled the data collected to be triangulated across methods. Triangulation of methods is advised as a way of overcoming construct validity as multiple sources of evidence provide multiple measures of the same phenomena (Yin, 1994, p. 92). Multi-method data collection is also a hallmark of process research, enabling the researcher to study events as they unfold over time (Hinings, 1997). Participant observation With participant observation the researcher is immersed in the experience, collapsing the traditional separation between subject and object of study (Yin, 1994) and can access “real time” data, unencumbered by the constraints of selective and reconstructed recall. In this study, we were provided unfettered access to the organization, and access to formal management and staff committee meetings, as well as informal meetings, gatherings and lunchroom discussions was unqualified. Such access allowed for the improvement of internal validity through triangulation of data between the interviews, focus groups, formal correspondence and observations. This type of participant observation has elements of the ethnographic tradition (Dawson, 1997). Document study Data were also gathered from organizational documents. The organizational documents consist of e-mails pertaining to the changes, the communication plan, the strategic planning records, intranet logs, and the minutes of change meetings. Hermeneutic analysis or textual interpretation of company documentation bolsters the case study methodology (Forster, 1999). Focus group interviews Three reasons determined the choice of focus groups as a medium for obtaining the perceptions of employees. It is argued that change resistance is caused by individual
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factors, group factors and organizational factors (Mabin et al., 2001). Focus groups, therefore, provide the opportunity to observe the interaction of individuals within, in this case, their own working groups (Morgan, 1988). The use of focus groups also allows for the efficient collection of greater quantities of rich data. Conducting the focus groups in the employees’ environment aids the quality of such data (Morgan, 1988). We used four main questions to elicit the group’s understanding of what type of change was occurring, how they felt about that, and how they believed the communication of change was being handled. Additionally, as “continuous change” is a relatively new area of study, and a senior management initiative, we felt it important to obtain the perceptions of the work groups about continuous change. This approach would enable management to have a better understanding of the impact of their initiatives as well as provide a clearer understanding of what “continuous change” is. The questions were: . In terms of the organizational change process – how would you describe what TECH D is doing? . How would you describe the communication of the changes within TECH D? . How do you feel about the organizational change process? . What does continuous change mean to you and how do you feel about continuous change being a goal of TECH D? During April and May 2002, five focus groups were conducted. The participants of the groups were constituted from the five major functional work divisions. This method enabled us to look for group level effects, as well as protect the participants from “spilling secrets” to participants from another group. After witnessing the “silo” effect in the organization, we made the choice not to mix people from different divisions, in order to encourage full and frank discussion. For this reason managers were also excluded. A total of 28 staff members participated with the smallest focus group consisting of only two participants and the largest involving nine. The time of each focus group varied from 45 to 90 minutes, and the focus groups took place in a meeting room on site. All but one focus group were taped and transcribed before analysis. One focus group had a follow-up meeting with the CEO the next day and this enabled the researcher to confirm the main findings and preliminary analysis with the members. The remainder of the participants were provided with a research summary page of their focus group discussion, so that they could ensure that the contents were an accurate representation of the focus group’s dialogue. All groups agreed with the representations. Organizational survey Weber and Weber (2001) have noted few studies collect data on attitudes before and after change, so this study conducted a survey to determine the organization’s openness to change prior to the start of the continuous change process. This acts as a basis for comparative measures over the change process within the organization. Follow-up questions will be asked to evaluate possible changes in employee perceptions of openness to change and reasons for these changes will be explored. The questionnaires were administered to all organizational members not on leave, and with the exception of the CEO, with 69 questionnaires administered. Each questionnaire was attached to a self-addressed reply paid envelope and the response rate was 44 (64 percent).
Change receptivity was assessed using a set of items adapted from Klecker and Loadman’s (1999) study measuring Principal’s Openness to Change. This scale was originally adapted from Dunham, et al. (1989) Inventory of Change in Organizational Culture. The 18-item questionnaire used, measures respondents’ attitudes to change with a five-point Likert scale (1 ¼ strongly disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree). The items used in our study consisted of a listing of change scenarios as described by the CEO of the case study organization, and the scenarios were applied to a hypothetical organization. Results and discussion Table II provides the interpretation from the “between method” triangulation over the first 100 days of change. These results are now discussed using the four main questions posed in the focus groups, with supplementary evidence from the document analysis, participant observation and survey results. Results for employee receptivity showed very high means on each factor, cognitive (think), behavioral (act), and affective (feel), indicating the majority of the respondents felt positive and accepting of the proposed changes. The mean score of the cognitive scale was 4.17, the mean score for the behavioral scale was 4.10, and the mean score of affective scale was 4.19 (scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest score). However, as the following discussion reveals, being very open to change did not indicate there was continued positive receptivity to change throughout the process. Groups’ description of change: restructuring and uncertainty Broadly, the responses to this question could be summarised as categorising the change process as a method, i.e. either restructuring, or downsizing (redundancies). It was established that the redundancies were a symbol of the restructuring. The groups were mixed in their feelings about the redundancies with discussion ranging from the rational need for redundancies such as “It’s unfortunate but a healthy part of [change] – when you’re gardening you’re always picking off the leaves to help the tree grow” to the more fearful implications of the redundancies, for example, “there’s a fear about from people coming and going”. All groups expressed dissatisfaction with elements of how the redundancies were implemented. The language used to describe redundancies once again varied from the rational “I can identify with the management decision re the redundancies, but I don’t particularly like the way they have been implemented” to a more sinister tone, for example, “cloak and dagger approach” and “sudden disappearance overnight”. All groups followed up this question with discussions of uncertainty about what was going on and in which direction the change was heading. The participants expressed a concern at the lack of organizational vision and direction. Participant observation and document analysis revealed a number of reasons for this finding. First, the initial planning day had been unsuccessful in achieving a clear vision and purpose statement. Second, the CEO told staff in management meetings and informal discussions on a number of times that he was not clear on what the vision was. The vision and purpose became considerably clearer by the end of the 100-day period and this reflects a reality of communicating uncertain information. The idea that there are two stages of organizational change, planning and implementation, can be described as a myth. It is more likely that when changes are complex, the plan evolves along with
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Table II. Selected interpretation from between method triangulation
Change receptivity
Focus groups three months later
Reframing of the term continuous change
Range of attitudes towards change
Lack of communication major focus
Uncertainty and ambiguity
Respondents have a high mean Emphasis on restructuring and on affective, cognitive, and behavioural scales of openness redundancies to change.
Survey data
Participant observation
Development of specific change newsletters designed to celebrate achievements
Public letters of criticism of the At the beginning of change company to the CEO affirming process, employees are excited at the prospect of change, keen commitment to change to be involved, and looking forward to a new work place. During the change process: Discontent with labelling of change process as “Continuous Shocked at redundancies fearful of future frustrated at change” speed of change or direction of change Anxious about ambiguity Demanding statements of direction from CEO Enthusiasm from those close to CEO Discontent with number of outside consultants bought in Cope with change by taking on organizational roles: i.e. the stoic, the champion, the counsellor Initial CEO briefings were met with silence, nonplussed acceptance, or covert contempt. Later CEO briefings received with challenges and questions Introduction of intranet discussion boards (low usage)
Archival data (e-mails and newsletters)
Staff responding to change team interventions with more positive feelings/attitude to change. Still pockets of discontent
High levels of expectation initially led to disappointment and anger with initial implementation, i.e. redundancies and restructure Change team and CEO responded by introducing more initiatives such as intranet discussion board, and newsletters, and CEO addresses/e-mails to all staff
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the implementation (Larkin and Larkin, 1994). Third, there was not a concerted communication strategy designed to communicate the outcomes of the initial planning day. This impacted the participants on multiple levels, ranging from a strategic perspective to operational decisions, and day-to-day tasks. Issues were raised in the focus groups and via the e-mail and intranet about “who do I contact now that X is gone” and “who looks after Solutions [external newsletter]” to uncertainty about what type of customers to approach. There was divergence amongst the participants about the speed of change over the first 100 days. Many participants expressed frustration at how slow the process was occurring; yet others were equally vocal in expressing surprise at how much had been accomplished and the speed of change. This finding underscores the social construction of time. When these responses were further explored it became apparent that those individuals who had close involvement with the change team or were part of a group whose manager consciously worked at keeping line of communication open, perceived that there was much happening. The researcher attended a number of the weekly team meetings. The one focus group that perceived that much had been accomplished worked with a manager who conducted “group check-ins” and expected all team members to reveal personal and professional goals for the week. This style of management facilitated trust and openness within the team, and the team members were comfortable asking that manager about the changes and potential implications. If the group did not have open lines of communication with their manager, they perceived that there was not a lot happening: “We’ve covered a lot in a small time – but some of the problems is the communication gets lost”. This finding underscores the importance of the change team and the middle managers as conduits of information regarding achievements and performance. As earlier noted there were a number of changes being introduced in the first 100 days. The finding that four of the five groups understood the organizational change in terms of only one of these changes occurring can be explained by the impact that restructuring has on work groups. In the early stages of change – the restructuring was highly visible by way of the unexpected redundancies, e-mails from those made redundant sending farewell e-mails, and an influx of external consultants. These events were symbols of the change process and became a focus of the organizational work groups. Each of the groups interviewed had their own culture including group rules, norms and values and therefore the prospect of a restructure meant that those subcultures were threatened. With a lack of management communication about the change process, it is difficult to classify this finding as an instrumental approach to change communication. However, the resultant focus on restructuring indicated a constructivist approach to change, whereby the employees were actively making sense of what was happening, and generating an understanding that change means restructuring. Restructuring is not the only process being undertaken at Tech D, but the other change initiatives such as culture change, 360 degree feedback, and process improvement were subsumed by groups’ collective focus on restructuring. Accordingly, believing that their “work-life” was about to change, the groups initiated information-seeking behaviour. Many employees find ambiguity and uncertainty in the workplace uncomfortable, particularly if they have been used to a high degree of predictability. In discussing organizational vision and direction,
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the members sought clarification and justification for why they were being subjected to the discomfort of change ambiguity. Recent literature on downsizing (Larkin and Larkin, 1994; Merryman, 1995) suggests that the optimal way of handling the loss of a staff member is for managers to gather their groups together at the same time and communicate who has been made redundant, why, and most importantly what this means to the remaining employees. The role of the manager is to make sense of this experience in terms of how will things be different, i.e. who will pick up on X’s role and tasks. The message needs to provide information on why the person has been made redundant and how the decision was made. To this end, the findings about the middle managers not passing down information concurs with Witherspoon and Wohlerts’ (1996) findings on the information flow being downwards and differential. While the transmission of information belies an instrumental approach, once it stops, the employees react with a constructivist approach. Future research will determine whether this pattern will continue. Communication of change: problematic Consistent with earlier in-house surveys conducted by management consultants on organizational climate (Gibson, 1999; Frahm and Brown, 2002), organizational communication remains problematic. Using the instrumental approach, organizational communication is defined by Daft (1997, p. 560) as “the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people, usually with the intent to motivate or influence behaviour”. More recently in an innovation context, organizational communication has been described as an information processing and uncertainty reduction activity. This definition would imply that the information exchange and processing activities at Tech D are not sufficient in meeting the needs of employees. The responses to this issue were the most consistent across groups of all the responses to the questions. It was perceived that managers are responsible for communication breakdowns – the middle managers were attributed with responsibility for communicating what is happening at a senior level about the change, and in all but one case this was described as insufficient. The participants also highlighted the lack of formal channels, stating they had a preference for face-to-face communication and this was lacking. There were limited feedback channels and communication flowed in a downwards direction-what communication occurs about change comes from above, and it is not perceived that there is a mechanism to feed “up” information, for example, “Given-up – it”s a one way valve, you can”t get back up it”. In the absence of formal communication and information about the changes, rumours and grapevine discussions are filling the gap, and this finding validates our proposition that a constructivist approach to change communication becomes dominant by default. In contrast to these findings, there was a general sense of satisfaction with the CEO’s personal communication style in that he is perceived to be open, frank and approachable. Those who were closest in proximity to the CEO spoke confidently about being able speak with the CEO about change issues. This situation may indicate that the current communication channels had deteriorated in the time preceding the new CEO’s appointment and sufficient time had not elapsed to transfer the CEO’s supportive communication style to the middle managers and the lower level employees. It appears that there is also a lack of formal communication channels such as dedicated
group meetings, “whole-of-staff” get togethers, weekly reports and staff newsletters. The intranet is seldom used and the content on the intranet is outdated. This contradiction may be understood in terms of the CEO’s preferred change communication approach. He has already openly spoken of his desire to follow a Senge path, and implicitly a dialogic approach to creating a learning organization. This requires a personal commitment to openness, respect and listening. It appears an instrumental communication style is contrary to the CEO’s personal beliefs on appropriate communication. However, employees within the organization seem to express a preference for traditional change communication models such as instrumental. Managing this tension entails a change in management attitude to the importance of communication. Currently, it appears communication is considered an adjunct responsibility to the management function, and in many cases it is not raised at all. This means that much of the organizational change communication occurs as an ad hoc response or through informal channels of communication. The finding that the CEO is considered open and approachable is positive, but it is argued that this type of communication should not diminish the importance of formal communication. Likewise, whilst the value of ad hoc and informal communication should not be diminished, it cannot replace formal communication for consistency and timeliness. It is easy to blame middle managers as being responsible for communication breakdowns, however communication is a symbol of organizational culture (Schein, 1982). If the existing organizational culture does not value information exchange and processing, then it is unlikely that the managers will deviate from the norm. Additionally, very few of the employees took responsibility for communicating their needs and providing feedback. These findings regarding organizational communication indicate that Tech D requires a significant shift in cultural values for the employees’ perception of organizational communication quality to improve. The observation that the CEO is perceived to be open and frank indicates the cultural shift is possible, as cultural change requires commitment from the top (Kotter and Heskett, 1992). Change receptivity: multi-dimensional attitudes to change As previously discussed, change receptivity encompasses a number of responses and we found a broad range of attitudes on site. The importance of these responses lies in the success of change programmes. The failure of many major corporate change initiatives can be attributed to employee resistance (Maurer, 1996; Maurer, 1997; Spiker and Lesser, 1995; Waldersee and Griffiths, 1997). In the first 100 days of change, the responses to this question indicated that staff were primarily responding on an individual level, not at a group level. Within each group there were many different responses to the question. Those who spoke of frustration were typically frustrated by a lack of involvement in the change process, and frustrated by a lack of information about the changes. The lack of information was also responsible for those who were feeling uncertain about the changes. There were sub-groups who were quite positive about the changes and saw change as a welcome response to perceived organizational problems carried over from the past, as well as being an opportunity for personal gain. These were also participants who had a higher degree of involvement in the change process than other participants.
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The group members who described their feelings as being accepting could see the difficulty of the process, despite their disappointment at how change had occurred (or not occurred). Acceptance was also one group’s coping mechanism with the strain of change – “It’s just something that has to happen, it’s part of the process, there’s no way around it”. The participants who expressed change contempt did so as a response to implementation issues and perceived failings of management to handle the change process. This contempt mainly related to the handling of the redundancies. The findings indicate that there is a relationship between the change communication and the responses to the question about change receptivity. Those who were frustrated and contemptuous did not perceive that they had a “voice” or enough information to help them make sense of the changes. Conversely, those who had strong relationships with middle managers who were very communicative, or who were geographically close to the senior management and had more access to reliable informal communication, were more accepting or positive about the changes. Like the participants in Smith et al.’s (1995) study, those who had higher levels of participation and dialogue responded more positively to change. Continuous change: a dialogue that reframes Continuous change, in management theory, has the capacity to create “cumulative and substantial change” (Pettigrew et al., 2001, p. 704). In seeking the perspective of those undergoing this change, it was apparent that there was considerable difference between what the employees understood continuous change to be and what management theory defines it to be. This difference is critical as communication scholars as far back as Aristotle in 350 B.C. suggest that for communication to be successful in changing behaviour it needs to be receiver-oriented (Larkin and Larkin, 1994, p. xii). Thus, if there is a difference between the employees” understanding of a concept and that of their managers the change will not be as effective. The importance of the language of organizational change and of word choice became very apparent when considering the responses to this question. All but one of the groups preferred the term “continuous improvement”; for example, “Everyone can work with continuous improvement – “cause then you are making things better”. The participants were comfortable with the concept of “continuous” but not “change”. Change had negative connotations attached such as “a buzzword” “change for change sakes” “not secure or positive,” and “personnel turnover”. In terms of conceptual understanding and value to Tech D, the groups understood continuous change (improvement) to be useful as a way of “continually looking for a better way of doing things in a more efficient way” and possessing “evolutionary” scope. Continuous improvement appears to have substantial support as a change goal. However, one group specified that it did need to be linked into task analysis and learning. Another group cautioned against indiscriminate continuous change, for example, “I think that’s one of the things when you are involved in continuous change you are always questioning why you could be changing, with valid reason”. This finding moved away from the instrumental view of communication of change, and demonstrated a discourse – and dialogue-driven approach to the impending change. The participants constructed a new organizational understanding of the change goal. In summary, the lack of a formal change communication strategy led to a primary focus on the restructuring and information seeking behaviours. Information was not
forthcoming and the CEO carried a different perspective about what change communication should be. The middle managers held what information they had close, and the resultant vacuum led to the employees constructing their own information through grapevines and informal discussions. This situation led to decreased receptivity to the change process and was manifested in cynicism, contempt, uncertainty and frustration, and for those close to the managers, acceptance and positiveness about change. The discussion about the word “change” provides guidance to management as to the progress of the transformation. It also establishes the empirical evidence for the secondary research purpose to understand the contextual implications of change. In the management literature (Baden-Fuller and Volberda, 1997; Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997; Hazlett and Hill, 2000; Miner et al., 2001; Sitkin et al., 1998; Zorn et al., 2000) a continuous change organization is described in three ways: (1) a public sector organization continually undergoing change; (2) a learning organization; and (3) an organization engaged in NPD. An initial sweep of this literature indicates that those organizations in the public sector undergoing change do so with substantial resistance, that is, employees do not like change, and may display a resigned acceptance and/or contempt. However, those who are engaged in NPD are quite positive about change, and very pro-innovation. Given that Tech D is currently a public sector organization, with a CEO who espouses a learning organization focus, and is engaged in NPD activities, it will be interesting to track the transition to a continuous change organization. The finding that work groups are not comfortable with the term continuous change does parallel with the results from public sector studies. However, the fact that they have “reframed” the term into one that is more acceptable is indicative of a learning organization and emphasises the constructive nature of language in change (Butcher and Atkinson, 2001). The preference for the term continuous improvement is not surprising given the manufacturing context of the organization. Continuous improvement can be defined as “one of the activities whereby process and procedures are implemented that contribute to organizational goals through the continuous improvement of work processes, work places and work interactions” (Berlin, 2000). It is a term that consistently used in the total quality management literature (Berlin, 2000; Bessant et al., 2001) and this is a dominant approach in manufacturing organizations. The main criticism of continuous improvement is that it is prescriptive and does not cover implementation, assumes a “tool” focus and neglects behavioural and cultural approaches (Bessant et al., 2001). What is important, though, is that Continuous Improvement has an evolutionary, positive connotation to it for the employees of Tech D, and thus to use this term within Tech D rather than Continuous Change will not deter the change goals. Depending on how fast the organization’s culture changes, the term continuous change may be re-introduced later. Concluding remarks The final finding offers the most significant contribution to management theory and practice. Organizational communication scholars are only just starting to pursue new directions for organizational communication that departs from the instrumental and linear-like use of communication in achieving change goals. It then follows that there is
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a lag in applying these new constructivist approaches to the management literature. It implies potential in actively involving employees, not just “to make them feel included” and therefore more receptive to change. It recognises the constituents of the organization as human capital, capable of generating knowledge and ultimately creating a continuously changing organization. This approach provides challenges for leaders and managers alike and moves the concept of the learning organization into a dynamic processual reality. Many managers and employees operate with a fundamental understanding of change programmes resulting from traditional three-step models of planned change (Lewin, 1951). The tension between the CEO’s espoused constructivist communication style and the existing employee expectation of an instrumental communication style presents as a lack of clarity in relation to what continuous change means. This suggests that those leading emergent change processes need to ensure that employees and managers expectations align with understanding of the change goal, and the accompanying styles of communication. This research has strengths and limitations. One of the major strengths is the in-depth nature of the research and multi-method data collection, across all levels of the organization that allows additional insight into areas not yet covered at length in previous studies. The willingness of the participants to discuss early analysis, and to engage with researchers in the ongoing research project, has also enabled this account to be grounded in the “voices” of the organization, and illustrate the varying implications of communicative management of change receptivity in the first 100 days of change. The limitation inherent with this type of study, though, is the use of a single case-study and thus has limitations in transferring the lessons learned. With this in mind, later stages of our research will involve access to further cases, and replication of the research methods. References Amburgey, T.L., Kelly, D. and Barnett, W.P. (1993), “Resetting the clock: the dynamics of organizational change and failure”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 38, pp. 51-73. Axley, S.R. (2000), “Communicating change: questions to consider”, Industrial Management, Vol. 42 No. 4, p. 18. Baden-Fuller, C. and Volberda, H.W. (1997), “Strategic renewal: how large complex organizations prepare for the future”, International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 95-120. Berlin, C. (2000), “Continuous improvement as seen from groups and improvement agents”, Total Quality Management, Vol. 11 Nos 4-6, pp. 486-92. Bessant, J., Caffyn, S. and Gallagher, M. (2001), “An evolutionary model of continuous improvement behaviour”, Technovation, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 67-77. Bourke, S.M. and Bechervaise, N. (2002), “In search of a practical communication based theory on transformational organisational change”, paper presented at Hawaii International Conference on Business, Honolulu, HI. Brown, S.L. and Eisenhardt, K.M. (1997), “The art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 42, pp. 1-34. Brown, K., Ryan, N. and Flynn, C. (2000), Corporate Change in the Queensland Department of Main Roads, Department of Main Roads & QUT Publications, Brisbane.
Buchanan, D., Claydon, T. and Doyle, M. (1999), “Organisational development and change: the legacy of the nineties”, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 20-38. Butcher, D. and Atkinson, S. (2001), “Stealth secrecy and subversion: the language of change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 554-69. Daft, R.L. (1997), Management, 4th ed., Dryden Press, Fort Worth, TX. Dawson, P. (1997), “In the deep end: conducting processual research on organizational change”, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 389-405. Doyle, M., Claydon, T. and Buchanan, D. (2000), “Mixed results, lousy process: the management experience of organizational change”, British Journal of Management, Vol. 11, pp. 59-80. Dunham, R.B., Grube, J.A., Gardner, D.G., Cummings, L.L. and Pierce, J.L. (1989), “The development of an attitude toward change instrument”, paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. Eby, L.T., Adams, D.M., Russel, J.E.A. and Gaby, S.H. (2000), “Perceptions of organizational readiness for change: factors related to employees’ reactions to the implementation of team-based selling”, Human Relations, Vol. 53, pp. 419-42. Eisenberg, E.M., Andrews, L., Murphy, A. and Laine-Timmerman, L. (1999), “Transforming, organizations through communication”, in Salem, P. (Ed.), Organizational Communication and Change, Hampton Press, Cresskill, NJ, pp. 125-50. Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989), “Building theories from case-study research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 532-50. Forster, N. (1999), “The analysis of company documentation”, in Cassell, C. and Symon, G. (Eds), Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research: A Practical Guide, Vol. 9, Sage, London. Frahm, J. and Brown, K. (2002), Survey 1 – Organisational Change and Change Receptivity, Tech D, Brisbane, February. Gaines-Ross, L. (2000), “The first 100 days”, Across the Board, September, pp. 10-13. Gibson Associates (1999), Queensland Manufacturing Institute Climate Study, Gibson Associates Management Consultants, Brisbane. Graetz, F. (2000), “Strategic change leadership”, Management Decision, Vol. 38 Nos 4-6, pp. 550-62. Hazlett, S.A. and Hill, F. (2000), “Policy and practice: an investigation of organizational change for service quality in the public sector in Northern Ireland”, Total Quality Management, Vol. 11 Nos 4/6, p. S515. Hinings, C.R. (1997), “Reflections on processual research”, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 439-503. Ket de Vries, M.F.R. and Balazs, K. (1997), “The downside of downsizing”, Human Relations, Vol. 50 No. 1, pp. 11-44. Klecker, B.M. and Loadman, W.E. (1999), “Measuring principals’ openness to change on three dimensions: affective, cognitive and behavioral”, Journal of Instructional Psychology [H.W. Wilson – Educ], Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 213-26. Kotter, J.P. and Heskett, J.L. (1992), Corporate Culture and Transformation, The Free Press, New York, NY. Larkin, T.J. and Larkin, S. (1994), “How to communicate when everything is uncertain”, in Larkin, T.J. and Larkin, S. (Eds), Communicating Change: How to Win Employee Support for New Business Directions, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, pp. 227-39. Lawson, M.B. and Angle, H.L. (1998), “Upon reflection”, Group and Organisation Management, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 289-331.
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Lewin, K. (1951), Field Theory in Social Sciences, Harper & Row, New York, NY. Lewis, L.K. (2000a), “‘Blindsided by that one’ and ‘I saw that one coming’: the relative anticipation and occurrence of communication problems and other problems in implementers’ hindsight”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 44-67. Lewis, L.K. (2000b), “Communicating change: four cases of quality programs”, The Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 128-55. Lewis, L.K. and Seibold, D.R. (1998), “Reconceptualizing organizational change implementation as a communication problem: a review of literature and research agenda”, in Rolloff, M.E. (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 21, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 93-151. Mabin, V.J., Forgeson, S. and Green, L. (2001), “Harnessing resistance: using the theory of constraints to assist change management”, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 25 Nos 2-4, pp. 168-91. Maurer, R. (1996), “Using resistance to build support for change”, Journal for Quality & Participation, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 56-63. Maurer, R. (1997), “Transforming resistance”, HR Focus, Vol. 74 No. 10, pp. 9-10. Merryman, A. (1995), “Downsizing: managing the pain and gain”, HR Focus, Vol. 71 No. 12, pp. 22-3. Miller, D.T. and Taylor, B.R. (1995), “Counterfactual thought, regret, and superstition: how to avoid kicking yourself”, in Roese, N.J. and Olson, J.M. (Eds), What Might Have Been: The Social Psychology of Counterfactual Thinking, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 305-31. Miner, A.S., Bassoff, P. and Moorman, C. (2001), “Organizational improvization and learning: a field study”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 46 No. 2, pp. 304-37. Morgan, D.L. (1988), Focus Groups as Qualitative Research, Sage, Newbury Park, CA. Okumus, F. and Hemmington, N. (1998), “Barriers and resistance to change in hotel firms: an investigation at unit level”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 10 No. 7, pp. 283-8. Pettigrew, A.M., Woodman, R.W. and Cameron, K.S. (2001), “Studying organizational change and development: challenges for future research”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 697-713. Piderit, S.K. (2000), “Rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence: a multidimensional view of attitudes towards change”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 783-94. Putnam, L. (1999), “Shifting metaphor of organizational communication: the rise of discourse perspectives”, in Salem, P. (Ed.), Organizational Communication and Change, Hampton Press, Cresskill, NJ, pp. 45-69. Salem, P. (1999), “The changes and challenges for organizational communication in the next century”, in Salem, P. (Ed.), Organizational Communication and Change, Hampton Press, Cresskill, NJ, pp. 3-30. Schein, E.H. (1982), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Senge, P.M. (1990), The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, DoubleDay Currency, Boston, MA. Senge, P.M. (1992), Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Random House Australia, Sydney. Shannon, C.E. and Weaver, W. (1949), The Mathematical Theory of Communication, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL.
Sitkin, S.B., Sutcliffe, K.M. and Weick, K.E. (1998), “Organizational learning”, in Dorf, R. (Ed.), The Technology Management Handbook, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 70-6. Smith, V.C., Sohal, A.S. and D’Netto, B.D. (1995), “Successful strategies in managing change”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 22-33. Spiker, B.K. and Lesser, E. (1995), “We have met the enemy”, Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 17-21. Taylor, J.R. and Van Every, E.J. (2000), The Emergent Organization: Communication as its Site and Surface, Laurence Erlbaum and Associates Inc, Mahwah, NJ. Waldersee, R. and Griffiths, A. (1997), “The changing face of organizational change”, CCC Paper No. 065, Centre for Corporate Change, Australian Graduate School of Management, The University of New South Wales, Sydney. Weber, P.S. and Weber, J.E. (2001), “Changes in employee perceptions during organizational change”, Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, Vol. 22 No. 6, pp. 291-300. Weick, K. and Quinn, R.E. (2000), “Organizational change and development”, Annual Review Psychology, Vol. 50, pp. 361-86. Witherspoon, P.D. and Wohlert, K.L. (1996), “An approach to developing communication strategies for enhancing organizational diversity”, The Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 375-87. Yin, R.K. (1994), Case Study Research Design and Methods, 2nd ed., Sage, London. Zorn, T.E., Page, D.J. and Cheney, G. (2000), “Nuts about change: multiple perspectives on change-oriented communication in a public sector organization”, Management Communication, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 515-66. Further reading Peters, T.J. and Waterman, R.H. (1982), In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-run Companies, Harper & Row, New York, NY. About the authors Jennifer Frahm is a Lecturer within the Organisational Studies Group of the Department of Management, University of Melbourne, Australia She engages in commercial research consultation with private and public sectors. Her research interests include organizational communication, innovation and emergent change models. Jennifer Frahm is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
[email protected] Kerry Brown is the Director of the Work and Industry Futures Research Program in the Faculty of Business, Queensland University of Technology. She is a Professor in the School of Management and her research interests include public sector organizations, culture change and industrial relations. E-mail:
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Developing internet operations and subcultural dynamics An exploratory study
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Emmanuel Ogbonna and Lloyd C. Harris Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Received April 2004 Revised December 2004 Accepted February 2005
Abstract Purpose – It is commonly argued that the exponential growth in the application of internet technology is one of the most important recent developments in business and management. However, although much research has been conducted on the strategic and operational aspects of the internet, there is a surprising dearth of research on the organizational cultural dynamics of this technological innovation. The purpose of this study is to examine the implications of introducing an internet-led strategy on organizational culture. Design/methodology/approach – Specifically, the study explores the attempts by management to exploit the introduction of internet operations as a catalyst to transform the culture of the organization. Findings – It is argued that although a number of factors (such as organizational centrality and senior management patronage) increased the profile of the Internet Operations Unit, the attempt by this unit to dominate subcultural dynamics was met with difficulties, dissenting voices and issues that were not wholly consistent with the wishes of senior management. Originality/value – The paper offers insight into the emergent subcultures and the attempts of their members to increase their visibility and influence within the organization as a whole. Keywords Organizational culture, Internet, Financial services Paper type Research paper
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 388-408 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740209
The significance of the internet to the world economy is increasingly being acknowledged. Arthur Andersen Consulting estimates that e-commerce sales in Western Europe was approximately $430 billion in 2003 while Forrester forecasts 2004 e-commerce sales of roughly $1.5 trillion in Europe and Asia of which nearly 93 percent will be business-to-business and Jupiter Communications predicts a level of US business-to-business e-commerce of $6,300 billion in 2005. Such examples of the exponential growth in the application of internet technology have stimulated research interest in the fields of information systems management (see special issue in Journal of Management, 2001), marketing (Anderson and Srinivasan, 2003) and operations management (Boyer, 2001). These studies have typically employed what could be labeled a “technological determinist perspective” (McLoughlin, 1999) and stressed the immense capacity of the internet to revolutionize the functioning of organizations (Amit and Zott, 2001; Raghurama et al., 2001). In particular, it is commonly claimed that the internet has significant potential to transform not only the ways in which businesses compete (Boyer, 2001) but also the manner in which organizational members interact with each other and with their external environments (Kickul and Gundry, 2001). However, paradoxically, although numerous studies have been conducted on the technical aspects of the internet and the commercial benefits that it brings to
organizations; few studies have examined the impact of this technological innovation on intra-organizational human dynamics. More specifically, systematic evaluations of how the internet impacts on existing organizational cultures, especially where the management of traditional, non-technological firms attempt to exploit the “advantages” of this technology by developing internet operations are lacking. This paper constitutes an attempt to encourage theory building on the implications of establishing internet operations on prevailing organizational cultures. The central aim of this study is to explore, describe and supply empirical insights into the nature of the impacts of establishing internet operations in terms of the perceptions, evaluations and interpretations of organizational members[1]. In this regard, an objective is to examine how the subcultural map of an organization is affected when a radically new operation (such as internet operations) is introduced and to uncover whether and how this impacts on interpretations of the espoused cultural hierarchy and the informal cultural make-up. The paper begins with a brief background literature on the pertinent aspects of organizational culture research. This is followed by a review of studies exploring the application of internet in organizations. Thereafter, a review of the studies which have linked the internet and organizational culture is provided, leading to a discussion of the methodology and a presentation of the findings of the study. The paper culminates in a discussion of the research and practitioner implications of the findings. Organizational culture research Consistent with the work of Geertz (1973), this study defines culture as: . . . the pattern of symbols, beliefs, values and assumptions that help organizational members to rationalize their experiences and expectations as they seek to maintain their membership of their unit and the organization.
This reflects a general consensus of organizational culture researchers, who commonly agree that the concept is rich, dynamic and complex (Pettigrew, 1979; Hatch, 1993; Alvesson, 2002). In recognition of such confounding but endearing qualities, researchers have developed different ways of conceptualizing culture. Although various labels have been applied to these diverse approaches (Barley et al., 1988; Schultz, 1995), it is commonly agreed that there are considerable overlaps between the categories (Alvesson and Berg, 1992; Rowlinson and Procter, 1999; Martin, 2002). Scholarly interest in organizational culture has a long history and can be traced back to early studies that commonly explored the value of culture as a concept for understanding and analyzing organizations (Jacques, 1952; Eldridge and Crombie, 1974). However, it was not until the late 1970s that sustained research interest into culture began in organizational theory. The contribution of Pettigrew (1979) served as a catalyst for research in this area and his conception of culture as a family of concepts rather than a unitary concept drew attention to some of the conceptual difficulties that have continued to characterize the concept. Although the more theoretical perspectives on culture recognize the pluralistic and dynamic nature of the concept, many researchers still conceptualize it merely as shared organizational values (Golden, 1992; Berthon et al., 2001). In this regard, some scholars have pointed to the problematic nature of the notion of “shared values” in organizational settings (Gregory, 1983; Tolbert and Barley, 1991; Martin, 2002) and
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many have noted the tendency for the search for shared values to encourage the adoption of simplistic and integrative views of culture (see criticisms by Meyerson and Martin, 1987; Meyerson, 1991). This conundrum has led a number of theorists to argue that one way of advancing organizational culture research is to examine the ways in which different groups (or subcultures) in organizations develop their own “world views” (Van Maanen and Barley, 1984; Watson, 1994), the ambiguities and contradictions that characterize this process (Meyerson, 1991), whether and which aspects of these values cut across the organization (Bloor and Dawson, 1994) and whether and how a certain subculture might seek to dominate organizational activities (Tolbert and Barley, 1991; Harris and Ogbonna, 1999). It is this broad argument that informs the approach adopted in this study. Although there is little consensus on the definition of subcultures, researchers frequently agree that not all subcultures express opposing views to the dominant culture (Martin and Siehl, 1983; Bloor and Dawson, 1994). In this regard, Martin and Siehl (1983) have provided a typology of organizational subcultures, which shows that some subcultures may develop closer identification and even promote the dominant values of the organization (for example, enhancing subcultures) or have values which co-exist in harmony with the dominant subcultures (orthogonal subcultures). In contrast, members of countercultures frequently hold values that are in direct conflict with the dominant organizational values and such subcultures threaten coherence in every aspect of the organizational activity. Similarly, Clarke et al. (1997) have observed that although certain subcultures may be different from the dominant culture, such differences cannot be so strong as to lose total identification with the parent culture. Such views suggest that the interest of subculture researchers should be the exploration of the factors that encourage (or discourage) identification with core organizational values and those which facilitate peripheral values amongst diverse groups (Jermier et al., 1991; Sackmann, 1992; Hofstede, 1998). Insights into organizational subcultures can also be found in research into groups and inter group relations. For example, studies of work group behavior have examined the mechanisms through which groups generate cohesiveness and engender compliance amongst their members (Bettenhausen and Murnighan, 1991). Like research into organizational subcultures, studies of inter group relations have also been linked to organizational centrality and power. For instance, Byoung-Hoon and Frenkel (2004) analyze the relationship between contract and regular groups of employees in one firm and conclude that the regular employees were more powerful in a number of respects and that they enjoyed management patronage due to their organizational centrality. Ogbonna and Harris (2002) note that while value can be gained from exploring cultural issues from the perspective of power and politics, the concepts should not be confused. That is, they argue that organizational culture, power and political behavior should be viewed as distinct (if allied) concepts. However, Ogbonna and Harris (2002) go on to suggest that while politics may be a representation of power-interplays in the interaction between individuals and groups, organizational culture should be viewed as the source informing such subsequent behavior. Indeed, some researchers find that organizational culture is strongly related to organizational power and politics, with a number of scholars arguing that organizational cultures and subcultures are best analyzed from the perspectives of organizational power and politics (Piercy, 1989; Whittington and Whipp, 1992). Thus, consistent with the current study,
Whittington and Whipp (1992) conclude that to study an organization’s culture is meaningless without incorporating the concepts of power and politics. The internet “phenomenon” Prior to a discussion of the impact of the internet, it is useful to define a number of terms. This paper defines the internet as an electronic medium that facilitates a range of transactions principally through the world wide web. This definition is deliberately generic and is designed to incorporate a variety of electronic channel transactions such as e-mails, intranet and other network assisted transactions although there is a greater focus on web-based transactions. The term “internet operations” is used to describe those activities of an organization that are established and developed to organize and manage communication, interaction and exchange via the internet. In a recent article, Amit and Zott (2001) observe that no single existing conceptualization can sufficiently explain the phenomenon of the internet and e-business. Such comments not only reflect the diverse theoretical and practitioner interests into the internet but also denote the fast pace at which the technology is growing. Technological determinism commentators have generally propounded the capacity of the internet to revolutionize the functioning of organizations (Bellman, 2001; Raghurama et al., 2001). Such claims have encouraged an increasing number of organizations to adopt the internet as their pivotal competitive tool. Such observers argue that the attraction of the internet is attributable to its significant cost advantages over traditional forms of business operations. For example, it has been argued that the internet is a relatively cheap tool of communication, transaction and delivery (Peterson et al., 1997; Yakhlef, 2001; Martin and Matlay, 2003). Similarly, writers have alluded to the ways that the internet enhances the opportunities that companies have to engage in international marketing and globalized management of information (Berthon et al., 1999; Dewett and Jones, 2001). Furthermore, it has been claimed that the internet is radically transforming the ways in which businesses compete. In this regard, it is asserted that the internet makes it easier for consumers to generate significant competitive information and to undertake a range of comparative analyses at relatively low transaction costs (Hardaker and Graham, 2001). Other researchers have noted that the internet has the potential to make the objective of “just-in-time” systems more realizable in some business sectors, thereby increasing the efficiency of the supply chain (Bellman, 2001). Although numerous researchers have propounded the benefits of the internet, it is worth noting that more critical scholars have discussed the problematic nature of this and previous technological innovations. For example, it has been argued that such information systems are not “immutable givens.” Rather, they can be seen providing individuals and groups the opportunity to “appropriate” and/or even “re-invent” the technology in pursuit of their own goals (Boland, 1987; Agre, 2002). It is beyond the scope of this review to undertake a comprehensive discussion of all these issues; however, consistent with the aims of the paper, what follows is a brief review of those issues that relate to organizational alignment with particular emphasis on organizational culture. The internet and organizational culture It is perhaps surprising that although the study of culture within organizational theory became popular as a result of a significant change in the economic and
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competitive landscape, the momentous change resulting from the development of the internet has not been matched by interest from organizational culture researchers. However, although there is a paucity of studies linking the internet and organization culture, an examination of the literature finds a number of compelling reasons for more research initiatives in this area. For example, some studies of the internet and internet operations point to the need for managers to develop a culture of continuous innovation in both the delivery of goods and services (Iansiti and MacCormak, 1997) and the entire organizational processes (Kickul and Gundry, 2001). Similarly, it has been argued that success in the new internet-led digital environment is likely to accrue only to organizations that harness their internal and external resources to develop the appropriate adaptive capacity for the internet (Hodgetts et al., 1999; Boyer, 2001). The few studies that have provided direct or indirect linkages between the internet and other information technologies and organizational culture have largely adopted a technological imperative perspective. In this regard, the work of Dewett and Jones (2001) has shown that the speed with which information is shared between people and across departments means that information technologies (such as the internet) constitute a powerful medium for sharing organizational values, beliefs and norms. That is, such studies highlight the capacity of the internet to act as a tool for promoting cultural norms through the targeted dissemination of information across individual units and departments. Studies have also focused on the cultural issues associated with the implementation of the internet or related technological applications. In this regard, Boddy and Boonstra (2000) argue that internet projects are more likely to be successful in organizations with innovative and adaptive cultural traits. Similarly, Kanter (2001) observes that traditional “bricks-and-mortar” organizations (in contrast to technological or “dot com” companies) are more likely to encounter problems with the implementation of internet operations, since powerful influences within such organizations may thwart any attempt to introduce any new operations that may challenge the status quo and disrupt existing routines (Edmondson et al., 2001). Furthermore, Romm et al. (1991) note that there are frequently differences in the orientations and ways of doing things in information technology departments when compared to other departments in organizations. This view suggests that the potential for subcultural clashes is greater where new information systems are implemented or new information technology units are added in traditional organizations. Research into the adoption and use of information technology also provides interesting insights in this area. For example, scholars have observed that individual characteristics such as age, experience, education and skills are likely to influence the adoption of information technology (Thong and Yap, 1995; Winston and Dologite, 2002). Similarly, it has been argued that personal perceptions of executives play a major role in their disposition towards information technology. In this regard, it is commonly noted that as entrepreneurs in family-owned businesses advance in age, their level of risk averseness increases to the extent that they frequently reduce their willingness to change or to adopt new information technologies (Ward, 1997; Davis and Harveston, 2000). Overall, the brief reviews of the culture and internet literatures find that the two topics are both popular and contentious. Although it has been argued that the recent developments in internet technology is a similarly significant departure from the established order, no study has yet provided a systematic empirical evaluation of
the organizational culture implications of the internet. It is this gap in knowledge that provides the rationale for this study. Research design and methods The research reported here is an in-depth qualitative case study of a single organization. The choice of research method is influenced by two inter-linked reasons. Firstly, organizational culture researchers have been urged to adopt research methods that focus on identifying the patterns of meanings that organizational members ascribe to their “world” rather than imposing their own externally derived paradigms (Gregory, 1983; Reichers and Schneider, 1990; Schein, 1990). Similarly, it has recently been acknowledged that, although under-utilized in information systems research, qualitative research could add significant insights to the understanding of the human dynamics of information systems (Teo and King, 1997). Secondly, the limited theoretical and empirical stock of knowledge on the organizational cultural implications of the internet points towards the appropriateness of the case study as a research strategy (Yin, 1989; Eisenhardt, 1989; Dutton and Dukerich, 1991). In this regard, consistent with the suggestion of Dyer and Wilkins (1991) that single deep case studies are more effective than multiple cases in providing insights into organizational problems, this study was conducted in a single organization. The data gathering for this study relied on a range of sources that are common in cultural analyses and that are recommended in qualitative studies of the human dynamics of information systems. For example, the case organization provided access to a vast array of archival information going back to 1990. This included minutes of meetings, memoranda, internal and external consultancy reports, press cuttings, staff surveys and company publicity material. The research team was also granted access to the company’s intranet system and one of the researchers spent three days at the head office analyzing information from this source. In addition to, the formal sources of data, it was possible to undertake a limited observation of work. Such opportunities arose when the researchers were invited to be present (although not participate) in some of the meetings that coincided with the topics of the research and that were held during the period of data collection. However, by far the most important source of data was the face-to-face interviews with organizational members. A total of 54 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were open ended, lasted between 50 and 90 minutes, were mostly audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A broad interview guide was created by the authors prior to initial data collection. However, during the data collection process, this guide was altered and amended as appropriate. This follows the Lincoln and Guba (1985) recommendation that for interview-based exploratory research, an “emergent interview schedule” is most suitable. A key aim was to understand individual and collective interpretations of work and life in the organization in relation to the initiation of the internet-led strategy and to understand individual roles, relationships and views of the implementation of the structures and systems designed to support this strategy as well as their perceptions on the impact of these changes on the relationships between people in the organization. The informants represent a vertical slice of the organizational hierarchy and were carefully chosen to reflect a mix of age, position, gender, and experience with the organization. It was sometimes necessary to undertake repeat interviews (for example, with the web designers, the senior marketing manager, the head of
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human resources, the senior benchmarking manager and three frontline employees) to clarify or explore important issues which emerged in the preliminary review and analysis. Table I presents a summary profile of the informants. To aid the process of data analysis, a systematic approach to the evaluation of transcripts was adopted. This procedure is akin to that of Turner (1981) in that it employed open, axial and selective coding processes (Kruegar, 1994) leading to the emergence of subcategories and the identification of linkages and relationships (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). The findings section of this paper is dedicated to presenting insights into the nature and dynamics of these interpretations. The case company (codenamed Jondim Financial Services or JFS) is particularly sensitive about releasing certain confidential information for competitive reasons. As such, the negotiation for access to conduct this research was protracted and required the researchers to sign numerous confidentiality agreements. Thus, care is taken not to identify informants by their real names or to reveal any sensitive information that could compromise the organization. However, it is possible to report that JFS has a history dating back to the 1700s. The present configuration of the company was borne out of several mergers and acquisitions. JFS is a leading UK provider of financial services that employs 12,000 people operating from a central head office and 700 branches. The latest annual report shows that the company has an asset base of over £70billion and a net profit of over £300million. Findings Our analysis of the case study data and other information led us to identify insights into three main issues. First, the analysis suggested that the initiation of an internet-led strategy and the establishment of an Internet Operations Unit constituted a cultural shock to the case company. Second, insights were generated into the idiosyncratic nature and dynamics of an internet operations subculture. Finally, data analysis revealed that a central implication of the formation of an internet operations “coterie” is inter-functional political maneuvering and instability. The remainder of the findings section is dedicated to discussing these issues. Establishing internet operations: a case of cultural trauma? A review of archival data and interviews with staff suggests that JFS was a traditional organization in which executives sought to exploit the internet to achieve two related objectives. Firstly, senior managers expressed a desire to meet the competitive challenge of smaller, more flexible and typically internet-only organizations that were eroding their market share. Secondly, a related but not publicly espoused aim was to seize the opportunity presented by the introduction of the internet to “transform” the company culture. Indeed, the comments of many senior executives suggest that this objective ranked highly in the secret machinations of management. As one senior manager argued: We knew we had to do something to protect our market share but the real benefit of this Internet technology is that everyone in the company saw it as a major threat to our business . . . This has enabled us to push a number of transformations in the way we do things . . . These will enable us to meet the challenges of the future . . . (Senior Benchmarking Manager).
While in the early stages some managers were privately skeptical with this rationale for introducing internet operations, such skepticism developed into disquiet and distrust as
3 8
2 2 2 7
3 27
Internet operations
Marketing
Human resources
Area office
Retail support and corporate services
Communication and in-house consulting
Branches
Number of interviewees
Technology operations
Area Senior manager, telephone banking Senior manager, technology services Manager, telephone banking Head of internet operations Senior web designer Senior manager, internet operations E-commerce manager Manager, internet operations Web designer Officer, electronic commerce Web maintenance officer Marketing controller Senior marketing manager Head of human resources Senior manager, human resources Area manager 1 Area manager 2 Head of retail support Senior manager, corporate affairs Senior benchmarking manager Senior operations manager Senior manager, strategic planning Officer, operations Officer, benchmarking Head of communication Head of in-house consulting Manager, in-house consulting 10 Branch managers 5 Customer service supervisors 12 Customer service assistants
Job titles 6 years 5 years 5 years 4 years 18 months 6 months 2 years 4 months 12 months 2 years 2 years 8 years 10 years 21 years 10 years 12 years 9 years 25 years 6 years 6 years 2 years 8 years 12 months 10 months 9 years 3 years 9 years 6 years average 4 years average 3 years average
Length of service
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Table I. Summary of informants
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the change was implemented. Many managers felt that the implementation of an internet-led strategy resulted in widespread disruption and imbalance within the organization which affected the working lives of many individuals and groups. For example, a new department was created to lead the development of the internet-led strategy. This department (internet operations) was separated from the old Technology Operations Unit, whose activities were down-graded and the high-profile or status functions transferred to the new Internet Operations Unit. A senior executive (directly reporting to the CEO) was appointed to lead the Internet Operations Unit with a specific remit to drive the strategy forward. In addition, the annual budget for technology operations was increased from £10 million to just under £80 million, with nearly all of such increases being channeled to the new Internet Operations Unit. It is commonly argued that the establishment of any new function is likely to incur cynicism and/or jealousy from individuals and units from which resources have been diverted (Kurunmaki, 1999). In this regard, the development of internet operations appears to generate responses similar to those when other organizational innovations have been implemented (Detert et al., 2000; McCabe, 2002). For example: The problem is that the Internet Unit is being funded by the stable part of the business . . . We need to strike a balance here . . . People in retail banking are making all the money and it is being channeled to E-Commerce (Area Manager).
However, in the current case, it appeared that managers in the rest of the organization were highly resentful not only of “lost resources” but more broadly because of what they perceived as the significant privileges that the Internet Operations Unit was receiving. Thus, outside of the Internet Operations Unit, other functions typically viewed the new internet function as a “fad” and questioned why executives were not only investing heavily in this area but also permitting privileges not allowed throughout the rest of the firm. For example, one manager claims: I am always amazed at what these people can get away with. They come to work in outrageous clothing and their mannerism is suspect. No one at this branch can behave the way they do and remain in this organization . . . And that’s the instruction from head office so I can’t understand why they should be treated differently (Branch Manager).
As anticipated, the departments that appeared to have lost the most resources as a result of the creation of the internet unit expressed these concerns more forcefully. For example, managers at the Technology Operations Unit were particularly critical about what they saw as the transfer of power from their department to the new Internet Operations Unit. An issue that appeared to encourage the perception that the centrality of internet operations was leading to the creation of an elite group of people was the labor market conditions of internet workers. Many informants spoke of the difficulty that the company was having in attracting and retaining highly skilled internet operations staff. In this regard, data from the company’s personnel records show a 30 percent turnover rate in the Internet Operations Unit compared to an average of 9 percent across the rest of the organization. Thus, the pursuit of an internet-led strategy resulted in increased the dependence of the organization on a few highly skilled employees. As one manager’s comments illustrates, this issue will not only lead to dissatisfaction (and even jealousy) from the other departments but could also have widespread implications for the functioning of the organization:
Literally there are only four people in the whole of the organization that can help us with resolving certain E-operational problems. Unfortunately they are all deployed on special projects and they report directly to the C.E.O. Apparently, these projects are business critical; as such only when they are deemed to be available will we get any of their time . . . this is a problem we’ve had for some time (Senior Operations Manager).
The introduction of a dedicated internet operations department appeared to have favored a particular group of workers who have been able, due to their expertise, and other labor market characteristics, to generate significant recognition and influence at the highest levels of the organizational hierarchy. In this sense, the management of the firm appear to have created conditions wherein internet employees have been able to exploit their formal position and informal power deliberately to further their own ends; arguably a demonstration of partially “successful” subcultural domination (Harris and Ogbonna, 1999). Whether such profound influence is linked to the novelty of the internet in this organization or whether it is related to the characteristics of the internet and internet operations is beyond the scope of this paper and constitutes an issue for further research. These findings were consistent across all functions and hierarchical levels, demonstrating the perceived pervasive impact of a management favored and supported internet function. Overall, these findings suggest that establishing internet operations in traditional non-technological organizations constitute a specific and idiosyncratic change, the effects of which are culturally insidious. The emergence of an internet “coterie”: a subculture of “nerds”? Data analysis suggested that many organizational members believed that the Internet Operations Unit had emerged as a distinct and a powerful “coterie.” Data from the interviews and observation of work strongly indicated that members of the Internet Operations Unit at JFS were appreciably and measurably different from those in the other divisions in a number of respects. In particular, they tended to be younger (the average age of staff in this department was nine years lower than the rest of the organization) and they appeared to express their individuality differently (for instance, through their appearance in informal attire and their use of complex technological language). Furthermore, they seemed to view work differently and they appeared to show a preference for flexible work arrangements without hierarchies and formalization. In addition, they seemed to share distinct sets of assumptions relating to the importance of the “virtual world” and “virtual reality” and they frequently and vociferously expressed their disdain for anyone who did not share such values. Interestingly, the data also indicated that internet personnel tended to view themselves as different from the wider organization with such differences revolving around what was variously described as an “unique skill set” or “passionate creativity.” In these regard, such personnel frequently argued that their peculiar characteristics should be viewed positively by other non-internet workers. As one argued: If they want to call us “nerds” that’s fine but it is clear that this and other companies like it cannot survive without single-minded, determined and creative people like us. We are the people that have the skills that will drive this organization forward . . . (Senior Manager, Internet Operations).
Linked to their perception of individual and collective importance, many employees at the Internet Operations Unit claimed that the internet and internet operations were
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central to the success of contemporary organizations and bemoaned the slow adoption of this technology and the cultural values and beliefs required to support it at JFS: I find it surprising that the rest of this organization has not come to terms with the importance of the Internet . . . Virtual reality is the future of every business and I can tell you that it is only those companies that recognize this that will be successful in this millennium (Senior Web Designer). Some of the people in this company are living in the dark ages when it comes to technology. Most of the managers are not switched on at all. I find it very frustrating to talk to them . . . It’s like you have to explain everything to them . . . It’s really amazing (Web Designer).
Interviews with managers from the other departments in the organization also suggest that, in their view, there were differences in the cultural breadth and depth of internet personnel compared to those in the rest of the organization. Such were the extent of these distinctions that many non-internet-related managers from other departments viewed the internet operations personnel negatively as a powerful “clique” or a “coterie.” Such negative perceptions were expressed in a range of ways: These are individuals who have a wonderful understanding of all things electronic but who are very socially inept . . . (Marketing Controller). They are supposed to use the computer to serve us but they use it for their own good. Their only interest is to incorporate the latest software and innovations . . . It isn’t about what we need; it‘s about pushing the limits of their skills . . . (Senior Operations Manager).
Thus, in terms of breadth, the personnel in this division were perceived to be different in that they were at the forefront of the technological revolution, with many of them being involved in a number of developments which have led to industry recognition and awards. In terms of depth, although the staff at the Internet Operations Unit had some common interests and assumptions, these tended to be broad, and were manifested in a variety of ways that preserved their overriding concern and value for individualism. Significantly, unlike the other units in the organization where teamwork is both encouraged and rewarded, staff at the Internet Operations Unit appeared to prefer an individualized approach to task accomplishment, with each of those interviewed displaying a strong sense of “personal workspace.” Finally, during data gathering, the researchers witnessed an approach to work in this department which can be characterized as “high speed multiprocessing” and distinguished from “multitasking” in that the employees were seen engaging in multiple, complex and often disparate tasks and activities simultaneously with high levels of speed and concentration (for example, talking on the telephone, listening to music and shifting between designing complex web pages and communicating on internet message boards). Two executives contrasted the values and work practices of personnel in the Internet Operations Unit with those of employees in the rest of the organization: These people are real nerds . . . I believe they live in their own little worlds . . . They like to come to work in outrageous clothing, which isn’t good for the JFS image, and they don’t observe basic rules and regulations . . . they’re a real nightmare (Head of Human Resources). I have managed three different teams in this company. I find that my greatest difficulty is with the team that is involved with the Internet . . . They resent being managed and they like
to have their own way all the time and they like to have unchallenged flexibility (Marketing Controller).
The cultural impact of these differences appeared to be manifested in two main ways. Firstly, there was evidence of a significant gap between senior management espoused cultural values for the company and the interpretation of the internet operations staff (particularly the web designers) as to how the company culture ought to be presented on the web pages. For example, while internal documents and company training manuals consistently describe the company as an organization with a long history and established reputation and one that embraces teamwork and rewards collaborative efforts, web designers perceived their brief as one of presenting an organization that is dynamic, radical and that encourages individual freedom. Secondly, there was a gap between the interpreted and designed web pages, and the perceptions of frontline customer service staff regarding the capacity of the organization (and their own individual ability) to deliver the online promises made by the web designers. This is illustrated by the comments of one branch manager and a frontline staff: I would say that the most dissatisfied customers at this branch are those that use the Internet. The head office seem to raise their expectations so much that we always struggle to please them when they come into the branch (Branch Manager). This Internet business is just a big joke . . . The head office people just come up with their big ideas – you know, what would look good on the web site. They promise customers the type of individualized service that we are not capable of delivering . . . What makes it worse is that the computers are right here in the branches and the customers just keep telling us that our web site says this and that . . . The head office just don’t have a clue (Customer Service Assistant).
Thus, although senior executives wanted to use the internet as a catalyst to transform the company culture, the peculiar characteristics of staff in Internet Operations Unit (particularly web designers) was such that the cultural values transmitted to the customers differed markedly from that which management espoused and from that which was desirable in terms of organizational capabilities. In this sense, rather than provide a unifying competitive force (as espoused by management), the internet appeared to expose or even generate serious cultural divisions and tensions. Inter-functional political manoeuvring and instability One of the major effects of the emergence of the new internet operations “coterie” was intra-firm political instability and maneuvering. Indeed, a review of the available minutes of meetings suggests that the introduction of internet operations was perceived as a political issue by many of the individuals concerned. In particular, probably due to senior management’s desire to seize the opportunity presented by the introduction of internet operations to undertake widespread cultural change, different departments appeared to interpret the new policies in ways that advanced their own interests. However, it was managers at the Internet Operations Unit that made the greatest attempt to enhance the power of their department. Indeed, some internal reports show that the senior executive responsible for the Internet Operations Unit and his managers frequently argued that this department should be given more resources
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and that a greater degree of flexibility should be accorded this department relative to other units. For example: It is clear that E-Commerce is the future. We need to have more support to maximize our opportunities in this area . . . More staff, more money, a greater flexibility to manage without the constraints of the centre (Head of Internet Operations).
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However, while most employees accepted the Internet Operations Unit as a powerful “coterie,” there was significant evidence to indicate that different functions (and thus subcultures) held radically different views on the value and worth of the internet to the organization. The comments of managers from different departments demonstrate these divergent interests and perspectives: Technology is great but is that what customers really want? What customers want is to have well-trained staff who are well-motivated and empowered to deliver superior quality service . . . this is the only way to gain advantage in the fierce competitive landscape of the financial services sector (Head of Human Resources). I don’t think that E-Commerce will be the be all and end all of competitiveness. I think that companies that go down the route of focusing all their efforts on E-Commerce and sacrificing their branch network or their telephone operations will find that they will get a lot of customers who might be interested to begin with but will always want to talk to someone before they buy a product . . . (Senior Manager, Telephone Banking Operations). I think that the organization as a whole need to have more of a customer focus . . . If you look at the various silos of the organization you will see that technology is very much leading the organization. We need to have more marketing profile (Senior Marketing Manager).
Similarly, it appeared that managers in the rest of the organization were highly resentful of what they perceived as the significant advantages and privileges that the Internet Operations Unit was enjoying. For example: Every body keeps saying that they [Internet Operations] will make a lot of money but they are not. They have become very powerful . . . They get the biggest slice of the cake and we all have to pay for it . . . I wonder how powerful they will become when they actually start to make money (Senior Manager, Technology Operations).
Interestingly, the departments that appeared to have lost the most resources as a result of the creation of the Internet Operations Unit expressed these concerns more forcefully. For example, managers at the Technology Operations Unit were especially critical about the way in which power was being shifted away from the old Technology Unit. Of particular significance was the resignation of the head of this unit which coincided with the beginning of our research project. While the official reason for this departure was recorded as “mutual agreement,” interviews with staff in the Technology Operations Unit clearly indicate that this executive left the firm in disgust at the erosion of his unit’s responsibilities, power and status. In many ways, the above comments reflect issues of equity and justice in the distribution of organizational resources. That is, the creation of an additional department (or new competitor for limited organizational resources) and the huge transfer of funds to this department were diversely but widely interpreted by many as an unjust reward for the efforts of the existing departments in creating the wealth that
is now being channeled to the new department. This dissatisfaction and the associated resistance contributed to a series of internal conflicts and political maneuvering as individual departments sought to assert or reassert their value to the organization and in order to maintain their perceived legitimacy or relative status. In this sense, the introduction of internet operations and the public endorsement and overt bestowing (by an uncritical management) of a relatively enhanced status to this department have contributed to the development of an organizational subculture which is not only aware of its relative power, but one which is also attempting to exert a strong influence on the future direction of the organization. Indeed, it emerged from records of recent management meetings that the managers at Internet Operations Unit have been campaigning for the entire organization to become more flexible and more aware of technological issues. Such views were also expressed strongly by the interviewees from the Internet Operations Unit. For example, three informants note: My experience at [a well known high technology company] was that web designers thrived on freedom. We were given the freedom to come in when we felt like, to create and to play as we wished . . . We just lived in our own little world . . . It sounds weird but you need that to be successful (Web Designer). If you look at the best and most creative organizations you will see that they all pride themselves in being different, being non conventional . . . If you visit some of the firms in Silicon Valley you will see some wacky people . . . the wackier they are the more creative they are (Head of Internet Operations). I think you need to protect the people who are innovative . . . You don’t need to label them as difficult to manage just because they’re non-compliant . . . If you try to batter the non-compliance out of them you lose the creativity (E-Commerce Manager).
Interestingly, the view that changes are needed in JFS coincide with the views of the senior manager responsible for strategic planning as well as the head of in-house consulting division who was given the responsibility of managing the cultural transformation program. This is also consistent with the previously discussed underlying motive of top management to use the opportunity presented by the internet to transform the culture of the rest of the organization so that it will embrace flexible and innovative work values and practices. However, there was clearly a difference between senior management’s objective of achieving a more “flexible” organization and the “total freedom” desired by internet operations personnel. Indeed, rather than achieve a spread of the values of the internet subculture across the organization, the introduction of internet operations became a contested political issue in which individuals and departments tried to maximize their own self or group interests. Implications and conclusions Although research into the internet and internet operations is still in its infancy, there has been a notable dearth of studies exploring the organizational cultural implications of this technological innovation. This exploratory study suggests that an examination of the impact of establishing internet operations on existing organizational cultures is important for both the development of knowledge on the dynamics of the internet and understanding of advances in organizational culture theory. The remainder of this paper is dedicated to a discussion of contributions, culminating with a brief overview of the limitations of study and suggestions for future research.
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This study supplies one of the first in-depth case studies to focus explicitly on organizational culture and the internet and in so doing highlights important intersections of the two research fields. While others have theorized that this is potentially an important issue (Hodgetts et al., 1999; Boyer, 2001; Kanter, 2001), the present study provides illuminating empirical insights into the nature and dynamics of pursuing an internet-driven strategy and establishing a new internet operations function within a traditional organization. Specifically, the case study of JFS uncovers insights into the markedly differentiated interpretations of organizational members regarding the espoused and actual rationales for change, as well as providing interesting details regarding the perceptions of the process. Furthermore, the case study reveals a raft of broad and specific intra-cultural impacts and implications from a variety of perspectives (including top management, non-internet personnel and internet personnel). The generated insights highlight that, from every intra-firm perspective examined, establishing internet operations in a traditional organization led to significant and profound cultural effects. While top management assumed that establishing a new internet operations function would be comparatively trouble-free and equatable to the establishment of any new function or operation, our findings demonstrate that for the majority of organizational members, the effects of the process of change were unanticipated, more pervasive than predicted and culturally more traumatic than expected. In this sense, a strongly supported executive initiative rapidly developed a distinct identity and culture that grated with wider established-norms or espoused practices. In this regard, the establishment of internet operations may be interpreted as a success of executives (largely from a managerialist perspective) but also, more critically, as an abject failure of attempted but misguided internet-led cultural management. As a “success,” the newly established function appeared to value many management-espoused cultural attributes (such as innovativeness). However, such values were manifested in a variety of means that were not only counter to management wishes, but also generated negative subcultural conflict that threatened stability and organizational cohesion as well as the consistency of cultural communication to customers. Thus, the study raises the question of whether, by establishing internet operations, executives in traditional non-technological organizations are threatening the internal cohesion of their organizations by promoting internet-specific cultural attributes that are alien to such organizations. Despite a diverse range of cultural interpretations, universally, the members of JFS argued that the internet operations department had a radically different culture to other parts of the organization. Although organizational culture researchers have previously alluded to the concept of subcultures (Van Maanen and Barley, 1984; Hofstede, 1998), few have documented or analyzed such a radically different subculture. In the current case, the Internet Operations Unit was perceived by organizational members to differ not only in their general orientation to work but also in the way that the internet legitimized and enhanced the capacity of staff at this unit to enact these differences in ways that no other subculture could. In addition, unlike many other subcultures identified and studied in organizational culture research, internet workers displayed little or no loyalty to a single organization, preferring instead to work on short-term or open contracts which allowed them the flexibility to change their employment. While these internet-related characteristics make the maintenance of
senior management espoused cultural values difficult, they present a useful addition to organizational researchers interested in studying subcultures. Specifically, such breadth of difference cannot by captured by solely integrative approaches to studying organizational culture and reinforces the need for a greater inclusion of differentiation or fragmentation-oriented analyses/interpretations. The above raises the issue of whether the differences between the newly established subculture and the wider traditional subcultures of JFS are attributable to novelty-factors or whether these are driven by the idiosyncrasies of the internet and the nature of the internet operations function. While we propose that further research is needed in this area, our study suggest that the peculiar nature of the internet and the functions undertaken by internet operations departments are key factors in shaping the character of intra-organizational, internet-related subcultures. That is, not only is the Internet Operations Unit a powerful department that ranks alongside other important departments in the organization, it also controls an important means (the internet and intranet) through which management have attempted to articulate and disseminate organizational philosophy. These issues suggest a need to re-evaluate not only how culture is perceived to be created and maintained, but also a need to reconsider how cultural values and beliefs are communicated and perpetuated under different organizational contingencies. In this regard, it would seem prudent to position the internet and intranets as both a manifestation of interpreted culture as well as a potentially powerful (albeit imperfect) means of transmitting cultural attributes. The capability of the internet department to acquire resources, served as visible indications of its enhanced power capacity (Dandeker, 1990) and one which had a profound impact on their interaction and relationships with other departments. Such asymmetrical distribution of power meant that members of the Internet Operations Unit were able to influence the discourse on organizational efficiency. Thus, as in previous studies of organizational transformation (Knights and Murray, 1997; McCabe, 2002), the production and reproduction of organizational meaning (and culture) occurred in political contexts wherein power inequality not only shaped the scope of any intra-departmental negotiations and dialogue, but also impacted significantly on the outcomes. The example of an eight-fold increase in the funding of the newly created Internet Operations Unit in the current case was one indication of the perceived importance of the internet and the power of this unit radically to influence resource allocation in the company. This raises issues of equity and distributive justice in that the creation of this department and the huge resources allocated to it was widely perceived as unjust by non-internet related personnel (McFarlin and Sweeney, 1992). The findings of this study also suggest a range of implications for internet professionals, culture management practitioners and executives in traditional organizations interested in internet operations. The implication for internet professionals is that the exponential growth in the application of the internet is clearly placing them in a powerful position. However, one consequence of such power and influence is that this subculture may become reviled to the extent that they may become ostracized and yet further isolated from mainstream organizations and core cultural beliefs. In this regard, those responsible for culture management may find their (already arguably impossible) task made even more difficult in that a key medium and dimension of culture (e-culture) is maintained and controlled by staff at Internet Operations Units (for example, web designers and developers), many of whom are
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peripheral to existing core cultural beliefs. That is, whatever the conceptual difficulties of managing culture, the presence of a culturally isolated and yet increasingly powerful and central subculture is at best a significant drag on culture change and at worst further confirmation of the infeasibility of cultural control. While this study makes a number of interesting contributions, there are some limitations that should be highlighted. In particular, the current study has deliberately focused on a single organization in order to explore and investigate cultural dynamics in depth. While this concentration has provided illuminating empirical insights, the study of a single organization must be viewed as a factor limiting the generalizeability of findings and contributions. Although theoretical generalizeability (Yin, 1989) is claimed, such claims may be weakened the further from original circumstances the theory is generalized. However, it is hoped that the presented insights will stimulate future research, further exploring and describing the dynamics of organizational culture and the development of internet operations, which are two of the most important areas of contemporary management research and practice. Note 1. The focus of the current study is on the impact of the internet. While it is acknowledged that intranets may also be influential and exert similar effects, an explicit focus on intranets is left to future studies. References Agre, P.E. (2002), “Real time politics: the internet and political processes”, Information Society, Vol. 18 No. 5, p. 311. Alvesson, M. (2002), Understanding Organizational Culture, Sage, London. Alvesson, M. and Berg, P.O. (1992), “The meaning and meaningless of postmodernism”, Organization Studies, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 1047-75. Amit, R. and Zott, C. (2001), “Value creation in e-business”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 22, pp. 493-520. Anderson, R.E. and Srinivasan, S.S. (2003), “E-satisfaction and e-loyalty: a contingency framework”, Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 99-121. Barley, S.R., Meyer, G.W. and Gash, D.C. (1988), “Cultures of culture: academics, practitioners and the pragmatics of normative control”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 33, pp. 24-60. Bellman, L.M. (2001), “Bricks-and-mortar: 21st century survival”, Business Horizons, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 21-8. Berthon, P., Pitt, L.F. and Ewing, M.T. (2001), “Corollaries of the collective: the influence of organizational culture and memory development on perceived decision-making context”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 135-50. Berthon, P., Pitt, L.F., Katsikeas, C.S. and Berthon, J.P. (1999), “Virtual services go international: international services in the marketspace”, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 84-105. Bettenhausen, K.L. and Murnighan, J.K. (1991), “The development of an intragroup norm and the effects of interpersonal and structural challenges”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 36, pp. 20-5.
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Further reading Forrester Research (2000), Global e-Commerce Approaches Hyper Growth, Forrester Research, April. Ogbonna, E. and Lloyd, C. (1998), “Organizational culture: its not what you think. . .”, Journal of General Management, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 35-48. Soeters, J.L. (1986), “Excellent companies as social movements”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 299-312. Woodruff, D. (2001), “Big shortage of high-tech workers”, Wall Street Journal, Vol. 4, p. 10. Corresponding author Emmanuel Ogbonna can be contacted at:
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Finding form: elite sports and the business of change
Finding form
Sarah Gilmore Portsmouth University Business School, Portsmouth, UK, and
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Clive Gilson Editor, Electronic Journal of Radical Organization Theory, University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand Abstract Purpose – To explain how an organization has been able to use seismic changes in its wider external environment to transform its performance without the need for radical internal restructuring or coercive forms of leadership. Design/methodology/approach – This paper utilises a three year case study from elite sport, an under-represented sector in the management literature but one that offers a fascinating view of change. Findings – Whilst the change management literature typically emphasises dramatic and rapid coercive restructuring accompanying open-ended environment change, this study found that known routines and historical ways of working existed alongside innovation, risk-taking and learning; the paradoxical foundation upon which performance flourished. Research limitations/implications – Although the dangers of single cases are noted, difficulties regarding access and comparability with other similar organizations prevented a similar degree of focus on multiple cases. Future research either within elite sports teams or other organizations facing similar environmental change is needed to extend and enhance the asset maximization model presented here. Practical implications – This analysis and the development of an asset maximisation approach questions the traditional processual or design-based approaches towards managing change and argues for the capture and incorporation of business and strategic decision making within such accounts. Originality/value – The paper is a rare account of change within elite sports. The asset maximisation approach developed within this case study illustrates how holistic value creation in turbulent times is achieved. As such, its conclusions will have much to offer organizations as well as academics interested in the management of change. Keywords Organizational change, Change management, Innovation, Football, Sports Paper type Case study
Introduction In this paper we introduce a case study that investigates how an organization is able to transition itself to the point where performance indicators are showing a quantum improvement resulting directly from the ways in which the organization has responded to heightened change. More importantly, we examine how this process of change can be understood by tracking the concomitant strategic and business level activities taken by the organization. Simply, our interest lies in being able to explain how an organization that is facing major upheaval within its sector survives and thrives while avoiding the need for wholesale and radical internal transformation. This includes the absence of a coercive command and control style of leadership (Kimberly and Quinn, 1984; Huse, 1982). We also test the extent to which resource starvation is also associated with corresponding central control and didactic management.
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 409-428 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740218
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Despite being under-represented in the management literature, elite sport offers a fascinating view of change (McGaughey and Liesch, 2002). Since, the early 1990s, major socio-economic and cultural developments in football have reconfigured an industry and its organizations. One of the major developments within the game during this period has been an increasing financial and playing polarization. This has seen a small number of rich clubs operating at the highest levels of the English domestic leagues that also contain a long tail of competitors who find it increasingly difficult to launch a sustained challenge for a place amongst the elite (King, 2003). As the wider environment of football has experienced heightened turbulence, the importance of how the organization is managed takes on a different order of magnitude. Our research site, Bolton Wanderers Football Club (BWFC), has emerged from relative obscurity to become a premiership side capable of challenging the elite English clubs within the Premier League for coveted honors[1]. Given that this challenge occurred during this period of heightened change, this specific case provokes both industry and academic interest as to how this was achieved. Beyond sporting success, these types of case studies also provide fertile ground for the testing and development of organizational theories that are associated with a change in fortunes. “How did they do that?” is a theoretical question. First, we provide a tapestry of the turbulent times that professional football clubs in the UK have faced in recent years enabling the reader to make sense of the environmental context in which the club in question is embedded. Second, we review those elements of the change management literature that relate to the impact of significant external upheavals and that are most applicable to the football environment of the last decade or so. This will enable us to capture the ideas and concepts established in literature that our case study challenges. Third, we describe the activities that the club has employed in response to the new imperatives in place. Finally, we offer an alternative view of change management techniques under conditions of seismic change that includes a value maximization approach towards its asset base. The new football: hyper-commodification, freedom of movement and financial polarization It is generally acknowledged that, since the early 1990s English football has experienced a period of rapid and profound change – reversing the financially uncertain and directionless state of the sport seen in the mid-1980s. The main prompt came with the formation of the Premier League in the 1992-1993 season and its enduring financial relationship with the UK satellite network BSkyB through their payments for TV rights. These initiatives, allied to the marketing and media-led development of the game, resulted in the generation of diverse and extraordinary levels of capital entering the sport. As noted by Giulianotti (2002), a new set of social and cultural relations arose in this period. These featured the greater migration of highly paid elite players, the reinvigoration of continental and global competitions and new forms of cultural encoding of the game through new media outlets. One of the significant prompts to the resurgence of public interest in football can be located in the performance of the English national team in the 1990 World Cup Finals
in Italy. The unexpected progress of the team and the mercurial talents of one of their key players, Paul Gascoigne, were important in widening football’s appeal to non-traditional audiences. These included women and families as Crabbe (2004) demonstrates in his analysis of the FA’s “englandfans” initiative. What has underpinned these developments and continues to do so, are the sustained appeals made by football stakeholders to the wealthier middle class segments of the leisure market[2]. However, these processes and the later emergence of a new trans-national order of football (King, 2003) have not affected English clubs equally. By 2003, the average Premier League club boasted an annual income four times greater than its (then) First, Division[3] counterpart and by 2004, nearly 90 percent of football TV revenue in Britain remained within the Premier League (Boyle and Haynes, 2004, p. 48; Deloitte & Touche, 2003). This growing resource gap has been exacerbated by the 1995 Bosman Judgement which outlawed transfer fees at the end of players’ contracts and permitted their freedom of movement. This coincided with the growing tendency of elite clubs to purchase players from an international marketplace rather than purchase talent primarily within the domestic leagues, effectively depriving lower league clubs of much of their traditional income (Deloitte & Touche, 2003). Clubs that relied upon the transfer market to underpin their trading activities had to increasingly secure alternative forms of finance, primarily through TV income. For the Football League, this has been difficult to secure on a permanent basis. As a result of all these major changes within the industry, there was a sharp decline in the wages and transfers being paid to all but the elite of the Premier League with an increasing number of players being available on a variety of contractual terms. Given this outline, to use Dunphy and Stace’s (1988, p. 320) typology, football (and BWFC) faced dramatic “industry re-organization.” Conceptualizing change Based on the current change management literature, what would typify the experience of an organization undergoing significant change in its external environment? As our review of the recent football environment illustrates, our prime concern is what happens to organizations facing a major upheaval that emanates from the external environment. This in itself poses an interesting perspective since the majority of research in the last decade or so has focused on the practicalities of the change equation (Hamlin et al., 2001), with historical context (Johnson, 1992), resistance to change, sense-making (Srivastava et al., 1992) and chaos theory emerging as key themes within this discourse (Stacey, 2000). Surprisingly, the drama of survival within the context of fast-paced change appears to have attracted rather less attention (Doyle, 2002). According to Doyle (2002), seismic events are typically associated with dramatic organizational responses that lead to wholesale alterations to organizational technology adoption, cultural re-alignment and structural re-calibration. Within this general theoretical domain is the notion of the punctuated equilibrium model that employs a lens with a focal point on major disturbances in otherwise stable industries (Nadler and Tushman, 1995). Doyle (2002) argues that when a sizeable change occurs, disequilibrium quickly envelopes the entire industry, leading to organizational failures
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and edge-dwelling survival. Unlike professional sports in North America that are shielded from the annual round of promotion and relegation between the leagues, English football can provide instances of painful demise as hitherto successful clubs fall through the main professional leagues. Such dramatic discontinuities are also referred to as exemplars of transformational change (Tichy and Devanna, 1986). Moreover, the frequency and temporal distinctions between change events can become so blurred that discontinuous change ultimately becomes the norm (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997). Mechanisms that supposedly address organizational change, such as temporal or event-based pacing, as described by Gersick (1994) have less appeal when sheer survival is at stake. Some commentators have concluded that change management can no longer be bolted onto existing organizational theory and that permanent “white water” is in fact the new managerial routine (Bourgeois and Eisenhardt, 1988). Fiol and Lyes (1985) seek to differentiate between continuous and discontinuous change, demonstrating that in reality a bifurcation exists between organizations that undergo constant change from those that do their learning on a more periodic basis. However, Pettigrew (1985) suggests that the more likely scenario is one where organizations face a simultaneous combination of both change and continuity. Srivastava et al. (1992) also reminds us that even when major change events occur the ongoing nature of organizational life is still largely evident creating a simultaneous sense of connectedness through time. Brown and Eisenhardt (1997) also describe this phenomenon as “links in time” and these ideas have a clear resonance in a sports industry that prides itself on its traditions-as reflected in fan magazines with titles such as, When Saturday Comes [4]. How then do organizations respond to fast-paced, substantial change and the rising imperative for heightened competitiveness? The seminal and pioneering work of Burnes and Stalker (1961); Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) and that of Warren Bennis (1969), argued that the most successful organizations adopted a contingency approach by matching external change with ad hocracy or flexible organic structures and internal designs that enable them to absorb changes together with the capacity to respond accordingly. Burke and Litwin (1992) also note that external changes may impact disproportionately upon parts of the organization, which in turn can be associated with different levels of performance. Moss-Kanter (1983) adds a further interpretation, suggesting that in opposition to rigid forms of organizing, designs that were more effective when faced with change, tended to be integrative in nature enabling innovative responses to emerge quickly and holistically. While these contributions have tended to be reported using broad dualistic terminology such as organic v. mechanistic behaviors, more recent contributors have attempted to describe and prescribe a whole raft of new practices that stretch from total quality management to business process re-engineering. Recent change management theories now typically include not simply what has been done, but how such activities should be successfully carried out. Johnson (1992) importantly examines the role that history can play when processual approaches to change are considered. This establishes the need in any empirical review to take note of the organization’s established ways of being and the extent to which they inter alia, influence the impact of change.
Once the issue of “how” became a legitimate part of academic inquiry into change management, the “techniques” of enactment soon followed. Rosenfeld and Wilson (1999) argue that organizations facing cataclysmic change require a leadership style associated with new practices. This can take the appearance of being invited to participate or simply, by way of an exhortation, to quite literally “get on the team.” Under these circumstances the leadership style chosen to undertake the change process is akin to a dichotomous variable – a take it or leave (it) approach that is associated with hyper-rational managerialism (Barley and Kunda, 1992). In a bold attempt to conceptualize the change process in terms of style and scale, Dunphy and Stace (1988), building on Bennis’s (1969) contingency work, provide a useful model that combines a continuum of incremental to transformational change with collaborative-consultative or directive-coercive methods of implementation. This in turn leads to four styles of change management. They show that organizations can embrace change using the constructs of: participative, charismatic, forced or dictatorial. They argue that when major strategic change is needed, the consultative and participative modes of change are likely to be ponderous and ineffective. Alternatively they suggest that coercive and dictatorial methods will prove to be more successful. Counterpoised to this latter observation, Denis et al. (1996) record collaborative and processual forms of leadership during radical change in a hospital environment. However, this style is also associated with lack of goal clarity within the organization. Brown and Eisenhardt (1997) find that clarity of priorities and strong communication of goals can provide transformational leadership especially when combined with the freedom to improvise and pursuit of low-cost initiatives that improve organizational learning capacity and capability. Despite the fragmented nature of the change management literature, it is still possible to establish a profile that can usefully act as a point of departure for the Bolton Wanderers case study. First, we may expect that signs of a major upheaval in the external environment will be met with a concomitant shift internally towards ad hocracy and more flexibility in the way in which the functions of the club are expected to re-align with new imperatives. Second, Kanter’s work strongly implies that integration across silos will be found, alongside the emergence of innovative activity. Third, given the command and control environment that has been part of football culture for many years, we may anticipate a coercive style of change management that exhorts and even demands adherence to the new structures and practices. At the same time it should be noted that the literature also offers a number of transformational style leadership models that include successful trust-based activity (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997). Finally, since we are reviewing the impact of major change, we can safely side with the critics of the rational linear models so prevalent within the OD models whose conceptualizations of change are ultimately rooted within stable behavioral dynamics (Stacey, 2000). Collins (1998) and Pettigrew (1988) see a more complex iterative model in context whereby the adoption of change practices are more likely to seem chaotic and unplanned. Moreover, that change will reflect a range of environments that include the organization’s external business model, its own history and present internal structures (Dawson, 1994, 1996; Preece, 1999).
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Method In order to understand and capture the dynamic process of change occurring at Bolton Wanderers, a case study approach was adopted, using semi-structured interviews conducted on a regular monthly basis, together with non-participant observation over the time period of two football seasons 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 (see Appendix 1 for the full list interviewees). A significant segment of staff were interviewed, from the Manager, Sam Allardyce, to the heads of sports science and medicine, chief scout, assistant manager, First Team coach to a range of performance management and other sports science staff. This method was chosen because a full picture of the interaction of variables involved in the reaction to change in our case organization would only be obtained by looking carefully at a “real life” instance. The essence of a case study is that it tries to illuminate a decision, or set of decisions and the rationale for their enactment as well as their results. It has the ability to illustrate or explain the decisions and motivations that underlie the observed processes thus providing a rich, multi-dimensional picture of the organization being studied. In this way, it enabled the identification and exploration of detailed interactive processes crucial to understanding that would be transparent to other research tactics (Remenyi et al., 1998; Yin, 2003; Marshall and Rossman, 1999). The selection of Bolton Wanderers was predicated upon two issues: the first concerned the ability to gain access to the highly enclosed domain of a professional football club. The second pertained to the club’s emerging status within the Premier League as an against the odds survivor in this most competitive of leagues and as a model of innovation in terms of its development of footballing and non-footballing income streams. Whilst the dangers of single cases are noted (Remenyi et al., 1998), difficulties regarding access and comparability with other Premier League clubs prevented a similar degree of focus on multiple cases. Since, we wished to examine and expand our understanding of existing change management theory, the grounded theory approach was adopted (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss and Corbin, 1990). The close attention to data, use of constant comparisons and rigorous coding methods was empathetic to the need to generate and re-conceptualize data across a range of respondent careers and differing experiences. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with each respondent using open-ended questioning. The interviews contained four elements. The first segment of questions sought background information as to how the respondent arrived at the club, at what time and through whose aegis. These questions were important because they helped to establish the change process concerning the development and instigation of structures, ways of working and innovations that occurred prior to and during the time span of the study. The second segment focused on the timeline of challenges that the club had faced as experienced by the individuals concerned through the elaboration of their specific stories and their interpretations of the strategic goals the club had set during the period of time covered by this study. The third section of questions explored the specific skills and experience the respondent possessed, seeking to uncover the nature and extent of innovation in more detail through an investigation of specific skills and expertise being utilized by the club. The final segment sought to identify the future challenges for the club and how these could be met. This positions the case within an ongoing process of development. Seeking to understand how the structures and
performance practices developed thus far would be challenged by the attainment of strategic objectives. These included access to European football and the potential such developments offered for the employment of a younger generation of more skillful players. Responses were analyzed via open and axial coding processes, involving a line-by-line analysis of the interview data in order to generate and formulate categories that were then developed to a point of saturation through further interviews. Developing from the core category of innovation, we were able to establish a network of four sub-categories of value creation: asset development, protection, management and acquisition. The process of interviewing provided a means of verifying statements against data emerging from this process. In this way, the story line became emergent rather than constructed, facilitating the development of theoretical density whereby the categories are themselves within the boundaries of the emerging model. The club: background and organizational legacy Despite being one of the oldest football clubs in Britain with a strong focus on continuity and tradition, club officials at Bolton frequently refer to the club as only being five years old. While many of their current employees were hired during this five-year period, senior figures at the club, despite the longevity of their own connection as former players or as supporters, are also apt to adopt the interpretation that Bolton Wanderers are in fact a “new” club. Nevertheless, from a cultural and operational perspective certain key initial club philosophies have largely remained intact. Thus, it could be stated that the “new” organization rests in, and finds accommodation within the arms of the old one. As illustrated below, one of the key elements brought through from the past into the “new” club is the notion of autonomy that everyone in the club is expected to take initiatives without the involvement of an unrelenting tutelary eye. It is in this sense that the club’s processes and ways of decision making have changed little, rather it is the decisions that have been made that have altered. The club’s current structure, shown in Figure 1 below shows both sides of the organization in terms of club administration and football operations, with HR operating across both functional areas but reporting directly to the CEO. By the late 1990s the club faced mounting debt, principally caused by the development of a new stadium (now simply known as “the Reebok” named after one of the club’s sponsors). While clearly marking a significant move for the club, it set up an additional set of challenges as to how such a facility should be managed and commercially exploited with little competence being available internally as to how this could be achieved (see Appendix 2 for a decade-long chronology of the club’s recent progression): We struggled, I think, when we first got to the Reebok to understand just how enormous the stadium was to run in terms of going from Burnden Park with two boxes and probably feeding 200 people to going to the Reebok with 42 boxes and feeding 2 1/2 thousand people on match day. It’s a steep learning curve . . . You can’t necessarily do it and you certainly can’t do it overnight. So I think the whole organization had to become a lot more professional (Vice Chairman, Brett Warburton).
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CEO
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Figure 1. BWFC organizational chart
Coaching
Sports Science & Medicine
Performance
Academy
Commercial & Marketing
Finance
Stadium
This lack of sophisticated functional competence was arguably matched by the relative inexperience of the new chairman, chief executive and vice chairman to determine how these challenges could be met. It meant that both football and club faced the similar demand to create their respective organizations through simultaneously developing parallel structures, core competencies and unique knowledge. However, it needs to be stated that the ways in which these problems were faced drew upon historic ways of working that involved autonomous working and high degrees of trust. As Performance Manager, Mike Forde explained that these methodologies were also utilized because those employed at the strategic management levels could not have engaged in directive forms of managerial behavior since they simply did not possess the necessary knowledge and experience that could have provided the basis upon which to issue accurate, relevant prescriptions. Szamosi and Duxbury (2002) develop three types of organization-level behaviors that enable revolutionary change to be supported by employees; communication of change, adopting clear financial strategies for change and actions to expand business horizons. Economic exigency and the maintenance of historical ways of working largely enabled Bolton to tap into broad organizational support for the initiatives that were taken. The constructs presented by Szamosi and Duxbury provide a degree of synergy with the Bolton experience. Although some employees from the football and administrative sides of the club did not adjust to the new demands, within a short period of time most employees re-adjusted positively and a small number chose to leave the organization of their own volition. Beugelsdijk et al. (2002) note that external appointees who commit the organization to radical change can face the most internal resistance. However, the historical association at the club existing between the new chairman, vice-chairman and manager (described below) inoculated against the emergence of an “outsider” mentality amongst the staff. When searching for a new manager to be entrusted with the task of returning the club to the top flight, their recruitment in 1999 of Sam Allardyce was unsurprising. Indeed, according to those responsible for the managerial appointment, it was a foregone conclusion. Allardyce had spent most of his playing career with the club, only
latterly migrating to local rivals Preston North End as his time as a player came to an end. Thus, the longevity of relationships existing between Allardyce, Warburton and Chairman, Phil Gartside provided a line of longevity and connected past, present and future (Dawson, 1996). More importantly, Allardyce embodied a new philosophy for the club that would form the basis of innovation and change:
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The appearance is that the way you played the game was tough, rugged, hard, uncompromising, nasty, old school and that how you play is how you manage. But people don’t understand the up-side of Sam Allardyce the one who dreams, who wants to create, wants to find out what the new things are and develop them, be ahead of the game. So part of my job has been to get people to understand that Sam Allardyce, he doesn’t manage just like he played. He manages with skills he didn’t have as a player. Sam Allardyce is no old school, rugged manager; he’s forward thinking he’s visual; he has a staff that nobody else has (Sam Allardyce, Manager, Bolton Wanderers).
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Crucially, however, the manager and club chairman were also adept at respecting the club’s historic way of working. This manifested itself in the important principle of autonomy and responsibility between administration and the football side of the business. In many football clubs, chairmen are notorious for their interference in all aspects of the game, from team selection and tactics to transfer decisions. The continued tradition of autonomy of operation that exists at Bolton was and remains a critical factor in the club’s ability to thrive in an overtly hostile environment: Bolton’s always believed . . . that you don’t interfere in the football. You let the manager manage – give him a budget and you try and work within that budget, but you don’t interfere with the running of the football. And I’ve never seen any success come out of operating in another way (Vice Chairman, Brett Warburton).
Rather than employing coercive or directive methods to turn the club around, the level of trust vested in the new manager enabled decisions and a style of management to emerge that is counter to the modeling offered by Dunphy and Stace (1988). Once the technical parameters of the budget arrangements were established and communicated, the football side of the business was able to develop its own initiatives without fear of being countermanded or even being removed from office[5] (Szamosi and Duxbury, 2002). Such behavioral characteristics are reflective of a “constellation” of collaborative, trust-based leadership roles as identified by Denis et al. (1996) in the study of radical change in a hospital environment. Denis et al. also report the importance of nonlinear cyclical approaches when change management needs to be negotiated due to unclear authority and goals. However, in the Bolton’s case, the stark clarity of the performance goal – survival in the Premiership – enabled the organization to effectively avoid such machinations allowing the rapid articulation of decisions deemed necessary to respond to radical changes in their industry. The internal mechanics of the organization reflected autonomy of operations, allowing each part of the business to develop their own initiatives. Importantly, then, the way the club intended to work together is intertwined with the critical strategic and operating decisions that were being made. This is not a distinction that is typically made in the change literature. How then did the club respond to the seismic changes taking place in the industry? The organization employed a simple yet intense combination that matched internal and external exigencies with both short- and long-term planning. Effectively, the club created temporal distinctions alongside
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specified organizational activities. The conceptual underpinning behind this response to their changing environment was that of restoring, maintaining and building asset value. We discuss each of these “temporal distinctions” in turn. Short-term: internal Without the resources to attract and retain the most talented players, the club invested the resources that were available to improve the day-by-day capability and capacity of their existing squad. This involved the provision of technical support to enable better player utilization. Whereas competing clubs during this period typically bought player talent and thus incurred transfer fees of some magnitude, BWFC invested more parsimoniously in sports science and sports psychology, where support staff costs are a mere fraction of that of the playing staff. Focusing on the core product includes individualized profiles of treatment and training regimes for all the players. In the last third of the season, when Premiership competitors face the impact of injuries, Bolton Wanderers can typically boast a largely injury-free, mentally alert squad. Although the routines of match-day preparation inevitably remain stable, real performance benefits occur due to the flexible application of professional knowledge that is applied to the specific needs of individual squad members. The performance dividend associated with sports science and psychological intervention is measured through an array of sophisticated performance and body metrics, but has obvious implications that transcend the day-to-day application of technical knowledge. However, the decision to invest heavily in the development and application of sports science lies in the relationship forged by Allardyce and BWFC’s Head of Sports Science and Medicine, Mark Taylor when both were employed at Blackpool FC. Allardyce also experienced sports science applications when he played for the US team, the Tampa Bay Rowdies. As was explained by both parties, this was a decision that was several years in the making and was forged by joint beliefs as to what this innovation within the sport could offer in terms of performance advantage: We had a very good time at Blackpool. It was a small staff, but we developed a decent football/physio/medicine philosophy about how we do things. A lot of the things we do now here at the Bolton were born eight years ago, they weren’t just tossed up today, so we developed them along the way by putting a lot more money and manpower into it (Mark Taylor, Head of Sports Science and Medicine).
Although such techniques were becoming more in vogue in the Premiership, as championed by the arrival of European managers such as Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, the Allardyce initiative developed independently and more importantly it should be assessed in contrast to the club’s previous history. From this standpoint, the notion of innovation is more appropriately used in reference to changes within the organization rather than an exemplar of what was occurring in the industry as a whole: We had a £40 million stadium and no one had taken any consideration into trying to get some infrastructure in it as well. It was ridiculous. Treatment rooms were empty; you’d open a cupboard and there would be only one strap in there. There was no first aid/paramedic cover. There was no filing system or database on injuries. No records were kept apart from some scribbles in a diary. There was no prevention strategy; there was no recovery strategy, no preparation strategy, no nutrition, and no psychology. There were no records of sports science or medicine anywhere (Mark Taylor, Head of Sports Science and Medicine).
The club’s self-assessment is that from this void, Bolton established innovative leadership in this area that is now pan-European: We have gone beyond the cutting edge. We had a philosophy when we first came in that included a network of doctors, professors and experts all around the place who were very good at reading the research. We now say that’s too late-if we are reading it, it’s too late. Now we measure and do it ourselves and see if we can be the first ones to do it. And the manager always wants to be the first to do this. So we were the first team in the Premiership to do dynamic flexibility; now everybody is doing it. We were the first people to start drinking a pint of water; everybody is now doing it. There are many more examples out there and we are still doing them now. A good example is our use of heart rate monitors – Bolton was the first team ever in Europe to use them as a full system (Mark Taylor, Head of Sports Science and Medicine).
Finally, the extent of personalization was captured by the high performance staff’s “look after the players’ every need” mentality that was adopted from the San Francisco 49ers dynasty, captured by the book, Peak Performance that has subsequently heavily influenced the club’s thinking (Gilson et al., 2000). Extensive conversations with the playing staff reveal a wide gap between their previous clubs and the support structures available to them at Bolton. Short-term: external The sport science background at Bolton and more importantly the promise of intensive focus on the needs of individual players has had the effect of attracting players who might otherwise have not considered playing for an unfashionable club. Football pundits frequently comment with interest if not alarm, as to how a small club such as Bolton can attract stars in the twilight of their career. Ivan Campo and Fernando Hierro, players from Spanish club, Real Madrid, who both have several Champions League[6] winners medals to their credit joined Bolton, as did French World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff. For Allardyce, value is created by taking what these stalwarts have accumulated in their own settings and exploiting these capabilities within the context of the English Premier league: I do care how good they were at Milan or in Monaco or in Madrid and it’s nice to know how it’s done there, it’s nice to learn from them but it’s how we do it here that’s important. This is England, not Spain; it’s England, not Italy. This is how it needs to be in England. That’s the way you get success. This is what you’ve got to do to get success. We’re playing in England. This is what this country demands; this is what this league demands (Sam Allardyce, Manager, BWFC).
Apart from the sports science and psychology background at Bolton prolonging their careers, the personal attention to their physical and emotional requirements provides an added incentive for late career players to make the move to Bolton. From the club’s perspective, with no prospect of paying large transfer fees[7], obtaining the services of these players on a short-term basis is a cost-effective method of dealing with external exigencies. This unique method of survival has enabled the club to become more competitive with fewer resources. Bolton’s squad remains by a large margin one of the least expensive of all the Premiership sides. The external environment has also been the source of innovative thinking. The sport is notorious for being suspicious to ideas generated outside its own experience base, yet Bolton have assiduously included outside expertise[8] from different sports
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categories as well as senior business people who have all been brought into assist the club’s drive to reach “the next level.” This open-minded thinking has led to a strong expectation of innovation and continuous development from all staff: There’s an expectation that if you’re part of the coaching staff or the back room support at Bolton Wanderers you really should be somebody who wants to improve . . . you never stand still, everyone wants to innovative . . . so I think you’re almost influenced by everyone else. It’s almost like a contagious culture where everyone’s doing it so if you’re not doing it you’d have to ask yourself why, I think, before anyone else asks you (Dave Fallows, First Team Match Analyst).
Interestingly, these ongoing expectations of innovation from everyone act as a unifying ideology that serves to integrate across the clearly defined functions of the club. In this way outside experts are used to drive the innovation agenda. This activity is strongly supported by the club’s historic method of operation that is to encourage autonomy, initiative and state-of-the-art practice. Long-term: internal While the importation of twilight career players can only serve as a short-term reaction to an inflated transfer market, Bolton employed a long-term initiative in the form of their local academy that is responsible for development of young players, not merely for their own squad but to be sold on to other clubs that have the necessary funds to pay for emerging talent. For some managers, this long-term commitment sits uneasily with present day prerogatives. Given issues of tenure, investing in the long-term infra-structure required by an Academy is a major decision that few clubs and their managers are able to indulge in. The academy is also the repository of long-term institutional knowledge that cannot emanate from the players who have been brought in from outside, towards the conclusion of their careers: Really it’s common sense because we haven’t got the money to go and buy players so you have got to produce them yourself . . . I think we are very lucky here because the manager understands the vagaries of the job and he’s no money to buy players, or very little, he’s looking at us and is keen for us to produce players for him to use as a resource for his first team. So, we are very fortunate and he’s got the nerve to throw the players in, he will give them a chance if he feels that they are up to it (Chris Sulley, Academy Director).
In an industry that demands immediate results the focus on the long-term development of equity is perhaps the hardest thing to accomplish, yet the club now boasts a stream of academy players that have achieved Premiership playing status. These include Nicky Hunt, Ricardo Vaz te (brought into the Academy from Portugal), Captain Kevin Nolan and Joey O’Brien, all four are 2005-2006 first team squad players. Unusually for the Premiership, Allardyce himself has taken a greater role in the life of the academy: In the whole of football, with other managers, the academy is left up to someone else, but I have a responsibility for the whole of the football club. Now I obviously delegate to Chris to run that side of it, but I keep a close eye on it and how that develops and for that they gave me a ten-year contract. It then gives you the security that most managers will never know in their careers. For this reason they (i.e. other managers) will tell you that they don’t bother with the academy, they don’t bother about the youth. They don’t worry about it because their lifespan in the job averages out at about three years (Sam Allardyce, Manager, BWFC).
Long-term: external With the ever-tightening noose of the Reebok stadium debt around the club, managing pressure from external stake-holders became manifest around the re-structuring of the club’s financial status. Being able to demonstrate fiscal prudence while attracting funding from local investors has been critical to the long-term security of the club. Allardyce in particular states, “Our first expectation at this football club was financial stability and to stay in the first division.” This was significantly helped by adopting the previously mentioned policies with respect to player development and player recruitment. Maintaining strong budgetary control within the context of autonomous operations is an interesting twist to expected models of change management in extreme turbulence: There’s always going to be a balance in football between the ambition and the heart of the supporter and the reality of what the income statements says you can afford to pay out in wages. And one of the things we’re starting to do at the Wanderers is through other activities on site, try and give some balance to football so that there’s activities going on within the business – the hotel, the property, etc. – to at least give you a stable footing; a stable income that’s not directly related to football (Vice Chairman, Brett Warburton).
Although football is frequently seen as a one-dimensional business, Bolton has expanded their operations outside traditional turnstiles and sponsorship deals that typically underpin the business model of most clubs. Theory implications We began by outlining the potential theorization of change as being incrementally or transformationally driven. Although this is an interesting continuum that Dunphy and Stace in particular seek to establish, our case study suggests that managing change involves aligning structures and processes with business decisions that realize value to the organization. Figure 2 is the visual representation of the BWFC’s orientation towards the creation of value. There are four distinct yet related value propositions that emerge from the data presented. Time-scale is simply bifurcated into short- and long-terms, while the locus of focus is represented by internal and external activity. Cell I represents the organization’s decision to focus its asset management on the set of activities that are closest to the core of performance. By managing its core assets through the aggressive application of sports science, the club has been able to provide an internal performance environment that both maintains and attracts the talent necessary to perform at a peak level in the Premiership. Importantly, this bridges across to Cell IV, that of asset acquisition. Unable to purchase talent in the transfer labor market, Bolton Wanderers pursued proven players discarded by clubs able to replace their ageing stars with younger players. However, rather than facing the prospect of lower standards of football, these players have been attracted to Bolton – a move that promises Premiership-level status alongside personalized physical and mental regimes that both enhance and prolong careers. This form of asset acquisition offers competitive advantage since no other club in the Premiership has chosen to match Bolton’s player configuration. The value of recruiting older, wiser heads is complemented by constantly introducing external ideas that engender an overall spirit of innovation. Acquiring these new skills and “ways of doing”
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Longterm
Cell II
Cell III
Asset Development
Asset Protection • Equity investment
• Sports Academy
• Debt reduction
422 Timescale Cell I Asset Management
Cell IV Asset Acquisition
• Sports Science
• Twilight players
– physical
Figure 2. Holistic value creation in turbulent times
• Best Practice
– mental
Shortterm Internal
External Locus of Focus
occurs somewhat organically, with new initiatives and ideas being spawned on a regular basis. The PLC’s decision to allow the running of the organization to occur autonomously was without question the most significant factor that enabled the club to emerge as an unexpected contender for Premiership honours. This stands as a curious exemplar of Cell III, asset protection, in that the process of the long-term re-generation of the club is based on trust rather than Dunphy and Stace’s expectation of directive behavior from top management during times of turbulent change. Budgetary parameters are provided to budget holders, rather than actively managed, while new income streams in an expanded business model reduce the burden of expectations on football staff who typically experience declining resources when faced with heavy debt burdens. Finally, Cell II provides an explanation as to how the organization developed a concomitant strategy to that of acquiring assets on a short-term basis. Asset development, is a clear recognition that the development of younger players is a vital component to long-term success, not only as expressed by the arrival of younger players into the Premiership team, but also as possible asset sales to clubs able to afford exceptional talent. As indicated above, the production of these players into the first team squad serves as testimony to the success of the club’s asset development program. Taken together, these four asset cells form an holistic approach to value creation. The model that captures these activities can be characterized in terms a strategic approach in response to meta change in environmental conditions. More importantly, the business-level decisions made in each of these cells reflect a traditional way of working that the club sought to preserve no matter what the circumstances. This critically ensured that there was a high level of organizational receptivity towards the changes that were being made (Pawar and Eastmann, 1997).
The asset maximization approach can also be seen in the type of football that has enabled Bolton to perform well at the elite level. The club’s value maximization approach perhaps contrasts well with other Premiership sides such as Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal who have resources that enable them to buy highly skilled “prime-of-career” players who can play fast-paced entertaining football. Sam Allardyce, with a career spent in defence, has followed his inclination to maintain a strong defence and physical style of play as the fiber upon which success can be built. Denied access to the world’s best, the club’s playing style that has emerged reflects the value maximization approach. Fundamentally this case study is at odds with the traditional views expressed in the management of change literature that typically emphasize dramatic and rapid coercive restructuring taking place within organizations as they attempt to engage with new imperatives. Discussion We began by reviewing traditional approaches to change management, tracking the migration of the literature away from simply recording how organizations and their participants behave in times of turbulent change, towards an explication of the processes necessary to deal with change. The case study of the BWFC intensifies this migration of research focus to include the types of business decisions taken that directly address the “sudden impact” of meta change across the sector in which the organization is embedded. In this regard, we agree with Johnson (1992) who emphasizes the importance of history when assessing an organization’s capacity to deal with change. Moreover, we are less than convinced that Doyle’s (2002) anticipation of major organizational upheaval is a necessary response to seismic shifts in the external environment. In this light the model presented by Dunphy and Stace (1988) that likewise adopts the view that major changes will be accompanied by directive or coercive management, are not substantiated by our data. Although we agree with Denis et al.’s (1996) perspective that collaborative leadership is allied to the management of radical change, our reason for this differs in that their rationale for collaboration is strongly linked to the cyclical nature of responses to change and the importance of having to deal with possible resistance that may occur during the change process. At Bolton, no such problems were evident. Clarity of purpose enabled the organization to quickly move towards a value maximization model of management using their historically established form of leadership, based on trust, improvisation and autonomy of decision making (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997). In terms of domains of activity, with little or no inertial resistance, the vector of change focused upon the organization’s strategic orientation (Romanelli and Tushman, 1994). Importantly, as pointed out by Beugelsdijk et al. (2002, p. 313) such a radical “reorientation does not involve changes in a firm’s core values and beliefs.” The Bolton Wanderers’ response to significant external change reveals an organization that has reacted with a plethora of new managerial initiatives, not implemented by way of coercive measures but by maintaining its historical ways of being. Outward manifestation of these developments has been a change in business decisions and strategic direction. By shifting to a value creation model the club has succeeded where many similar football clubs have spectacularly failed. Accordingly, the club is managed in the short-term where intense and immediate evaluation of current data is required, alongside the long-term gestation of value through asset
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protection and acquisition. Being able to simultaneously and effectively operate in these temporally distinct domains underpins the club’s ongoing ability to perform. To test these findings we argue that future case studies may usefully study organizations with due regard to the importance of longitudinal and contextual data rather than focus exclusively on the immediacy of change management processes. We advocate that while single case study research is undoubtedly idiosyncratic regarding the processes of change, it provides unlimited richness when the field of vision is cast much broader so that reviews of “the state of the road” and its construction are supported with an understanding of the organization’s “position on the map.” This enables the researcher to place calamitous events, together with potentially counter-intuitive behavior and action in proper historical and holistic perspective. Finally, we also alert researchers to investigate the potential connective tissue between organizational change and potential strategies of value creation. In organizations that are driven by performance imperatives, strategy and change are unlikely to operate mutually exclusively. Notes 1. BWFC was one of the founding clubs of the English leagues. They also played and won the first Football Association Cup (FA Cup) final at Wembley in 1923 when an estimated crowd of over 130,000 packed into the newly build Wembley Stadium. An iconic moment in English football history. 2. The fact that the highly respected literary journal Granta entitled one of their issues Gazza Agonistes, featuring a story of a fan’s obsession with Gascoigne, along with Hornby’s (1992) bestseller covering a history of supporting Arsenal, illustrates the extent to which the literary (and not so literary) middle class and wider public was embracing football in the early 1990s. The continued growth of football literature attests to its enduring appeal despite substantial variations in the quality of its output. 3. The formation of the Premier League instigated the renaming and re-branding of the lower divisions. Thus, the “old” Second Division became the “First Division” and now “The Championship” with the remaining two divisions gaining a similar rise in status. As it currently stands, the professional league system now boasts the Premier League, the Championship, League 1 and League 2. 4. However, this sense of history and tradition felt in some quarters of the game needs to be juxtaposed to its seeming elision in the presentation of the Premiership by Sky. As a reviewer of this paper astutely noted, the Premiership is often notable for its lack of historical referencing even when it includes many clubs like Bolton Wanderers whose history predates the formation of the Premiership by nearly a century. 5. This is an ongoing issue for football managers with the League Managers Association’s research indicating an average managerial tenure in the English leagues of up to three years. 6. The UEFA Champions League is the most prestigious and most wealthy European-wide cup competition. 7. The term “transfer fee” refers to a payment given to a particular club when another buys one of their players. For highly skilled players under contract to their club, these can be substantial. Clearly this would not be an option for BWFC. 8. Such luminaries include Geoff Willis, Technical Director from British American Racing, Tony Woodley from the England Rugby staff, and leading UK Restauranteur and Chef, Paul Heathcote.
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Hamlin, B., Keep, J. and Ash, K. (2001), Organizational Change and Development: A Reflective Guide for Managers, Trainers and Developers, Prentice-Hall, Harlow. Hornby, N. (1992), Fever Pitch, Gollancz, London. Huse, E.F. (1982), Management, West, New York, NY. Johnson, G. (1992), “Managing strategic change – strategy, culture and action”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 28-36. Kanter, R.M. (1983), The Change Masters: Innovations for Productivity in the American Corporation, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY. Kimberly, J.R. and Quinn, R.E. (Eds) (1984), Managing Organisational Transition, Irwin, Homewood IL. King, A. (2003), The European Ritual: Football in the New Europe, Ashgate, Aldershot. Lawrence, P.R. and Lorsch, J.W. (1967), Organization and Environment, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA. McGaughey, S.L. and Liesch, P.W. (2002), “The global sports-media nexus: reflections on the ‘super league saga’ in Australia”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 383-416. Marshall, C. and Rossman, G. (1999), Designing Qualitative Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Nadler, D.A. and Tushman, M.L. (1995), “Types of organizational change: from incremental improvement to discontinuous transformation”, in Nadler, D.A., Shaw, R.B. and Walton, A.E. (Eds), Discontinuous Change: Leading Organizational Transformation, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Pawar, B.S. and Eastmann, K.K. (1997), “The nature and implications of contextual influences on transformational leadership: a conceptual examination”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22, pp. 80-109. Pettigrew, A. (1985), The Awakening Giant: Continuity and Change at ICI, Blackwell, Oxford. Pettigrew, A. (Ed.) (1988), The Management of Strategic Change, Blackwell, Oxford. Preece, D. (1999), Work, Change and Competition: Managing for Bass, Routledge, London. Remenyi, D., Williams, B., Money, A. and Swartz, E. (1998), Doing Research in Business and Management: An Introduction to Process and Method, Sage, London. Romanelli, E. and Tushman, M.L. (1994), “Organizational transformation as punctuated equilibrium: an empirical test”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 1141-67. Rosenfeld, R. and Wilson, D. (1999), Managing Organisations: Texts, Readings and Cases, 2nd ed., Paul Chapman Publishing, London. Srivastava, S. and Fry, R. et al. (1992), Executive and Organizational Continuity: Managing the Paradoxes of Stability & Change, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Stacey, R. (2000), Strategic Management & Organisational Dynamics: The Challenge of Complexity, Pearson Education, Harlow. Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990), Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Szamosi, L.T. and Duxbury, L. (2002), “Development of a measure to assess organizational change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 184-201. Tichy, N.M. and Devanna, M.A. (1986), The Transformational Leader, Wiley, Chichester. Yin, R.K. (2003), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Further reading Eisenhardt, K. (1989), “Building theories from case study research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 532-50. FA (1991), A Blueprint for English Football, The Football Association, London. Inquiry by the Rt Hon. Lord Justice Taylor (1990), The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, April 15, 1989: Final Report, HMSO, London. King, A. (1997), “New directors, customers and fans: the transformation of English football in the 1990s’”, Sociology of Sport Journal, Vol. 14, pp. 224-40. Lash, S. and Urry, J. (1987), The End of Organized Capitalism, Polity Press, Cambridge. Williams, J. (1989), Hooligans Abroad: Behaviour and Control of English Fans in Continental Europe, Routledge, London. Williams, J. (1996), “The new football in England & Sir John Halls new Geordie nation”, in Gehrmann, R. (Ed.), Football and Regions in Europe, LIT Verlag, Hamburg. Williams, J. (1999), Is it all Over? Can Football Survive the Premier League?, Garnet, Reading, MA. Williams, J. (2003), The Liverpool Way: Houllier, Anfield and the New Global Game, Mainstream, London.
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Appendix 1. List of interviewees and dates
Person interviewed and title
Date interviewed
Sam Allardyce, Manager
First interview, February 2004 with subsequent interviews taking place until May 2006 February and March 2004 with subsequent conversations occurring until his departure from BWFC in 2005 February 2004 with subsequent conversations occurring between 2004-2006 First interview, February 2004 with subsequent interviews taking place until May 2006 As above February 2004 February 2004 As above March 2004
Phil Brown, Assistant Manager
Brett Warburton, Vice Chairman Mike Forde, Performance Manager Mark Taylor, Head of Sport Science Chris Sulley, Academy Director Neil Mc Donald, First Team Coach Dave Fallows, First Team Match Analyst Dr Mark Balsom, First Team Fitness Coach and Match Analyst Dr Mark Nesti, Consultant Sports Psychologist Jack Chapman, Chief Scout Andy Barr, First Team Physiotherapist Matt Hockin, Technical Analyst
March 2004 April 2004 April 2004 April 2004
Table AI.
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Appendix 2. Case study timeline Year
Key events
1994-1996
Sam Allardyce and future Head of Sports Science and Medicine, Mark Taylor work together at Blackpool where Allardyce is Manager. When Allardyce goes to manage Notts County in 1997. Taylor goes to Premier League side, Blackburn Rovers. His work with Manager, Roy Hodgson, proves highly influential due to Hodgson’s exposure to the use of sports science at top-level Italian clubs Promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 1995-1996 season The Reebok stadium opened in September 1997, having been commissioned by the previous administration at a cost of £45 million. BWFC relegated to the first division at the end of the 1996-1997 season The club returns to the Premier League in the 1997-1998 season. The youth academy is established, strongly supported by Allardyce upon his arrival at the club the following year Relegation occurs again at the end of the 1998-1999 season. Sam Allardyce joins the club as Manager in October At the end of the 1999-2000 season, BWFC reach the semi final of the FA Cup but narrowly miss promotion back to the Premiership via the play offs. Key members of staff in the sports science, psychology, scouting and academy appointed Premiership status is secured at the end of the 2000-2001 season in a play off victory against local rivals, Preston North End. This period also saw the appointment of further members of staff to the sports science department, largely specializing in fitness, conditioning and technical support. This is consolidated in the 2001-2001 season with the enhanced use of ProZone and the appointment of a former ProZone employee to exploit its use. At that point, the use of this analytical tool was fairly restricted to a small number of more affluent Premier League clubs At the end of the 2001-2002 season, the club finishes in 16th place The close of the 2002-2003 season sees BWFC narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day of the season with a 2-1 win against Middlesbrough. They finish in 17th place At the end of the 2003-2004 season they finished 8th in the Premiership and reached the finals of the Carling Cup, where they lost to Middlesbrough At the end of the 2004-2005 season, BWFC qualified for the UEFA Cup having finished 7th in the Premiership, securing European football for the first time in their history. Sam Allardyce is routinely being touted as a possible replacement for England National Coach, Sven Goran Eriksson Allardyce interviewed for the job of England National Coach, but rejected in favor of the long-standing Assistant to Eriksson, Steve McClaren. Bolton finish 8th in the Premier League and enjoyed progress to the knock-out phase of the UEFA Cup
428 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
2002 2003 2004 2005
2006 Table AII.
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Corporate entrepreneurship
Corporate entrepreneurship
An empirical look at the innovativeness dimension and its antecedents Matthew W. Rutherford Department of Management, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA, and
Daniel T. Holt
429 Received July 2003 Revised April 2004 Accepted October 2004
Department of Systems and Engineering Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, USA Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to submit and test a model of corporate entrepreneurship (CE). Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of 264 employees of a mid-sized organization, the authors conceptualize three antecedent categories of CE: process, context, and individual characteristics. The authors also test the mediating affect of CE on desirable individual outcomes: job satisfaction, turnover intent, and affective commitment. Findings – The results indicate that the model does an adequate job of explaining CE, and that CE mediates the relationship between our antecedents and individual outcomes. Originality/value – For researchers, the primary value of this research is the opportunity to consider a predictive model of CE on the knowledge base currently in the field. For practitioners, the process seems to offer an important precursor to CE. Keywords Entrepreneurialism, Innovation, Modelling Paper type Research paper
Introduction What encourages individuals to engage in entrepreneurial activities in an organization? Hornsby et al. (2002) have taken steps toward answering this question by attempting to empirically identify a set of factors that influence corporate entrepreneurship (CE). In their study, they identified five factors. These were: . the appropriate use of rewards; . top management support; . resource availability; . organizational support; and . risk taking and failure tolerance. Another unique property of their study is that they examine the phenomenon at the individual level by identifying five organizational factors that positively influence organizational members’ entrepreneurial behavior. To build on the ideas presented in this study, we follow the direction put forth by Zahra et al. (1999b), by opting not to present an entirely new model, as we believe the number of models currently in existence is sufficient for the time being. However, we
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 429-446 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740227
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also agree with Zahra et al. (1999a, pp. 45-6) in that “. . . greater creativity is needed in testing the relationships depicted in, or proposed by, these models.” As a result, we reframe Hornsby et al.’s (2002) model to capture the factors that they put forth as well as additional factors that may help researchers and leaders of organizations better understand CE. Our conceptualization consists of three general antecedent categories: process, context, and individual characteristics. We use these categories to assess the extent to which these are related to individuals’ perceptions of their own and their organization’s entrepreneurial orientation. Then, we test the affect that CE has on the desired individual outcomes of satisfaction, turnover intention, and commitment. What is corporate entrepreneurship? Much like the field of entrepreneurship itself, a considerable degree of ambiguity surrounds the CE construct. While it is beyond the scope of this paper to resolve these issues, it is important clarify how we arrived at our conceptualization of CE by first reviewing the seminal studies. In a general sense, Zahra (1993) defines CE as “. . . a process of organizational renewal that has two distinct but related dimensions: innovation and venturing, and strategic renewal.” Miller (1983) and several others (Morris and Paul, 1987; Covin and Slevin, 1990; Dean et al., 1993) have echoed this notion by specifying three components of CE: proactiveness, innovation, and risk taking. Similarly, Lumpkin and Dess (1996) identified autonomy, innovativeness, risk taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness as a set of behaviors that reflect CE. As Covin and Miles (1999) have observed, the commonality in most conceptualizations of CE is the dimension of innovation. As a result, our definition is as follows: CE is the process of enhancing the ability of the firm to acquire and utilize the innovative skills and abilities of the firm’s members. This is similar to many existing definitions; however, we posit that the organizational members’ application of those innovative abilities and skills are at the very heart of CE. To capture this construct, we employ scales that measure CE at both the individual and organizational levels. Individual scale items focus on one’s: . willingness to introduce improved and innovative work processes; and . comfort in a dynamic work environment. This content aligns with many of the authors that suggest the corporate entrepreneur continually seeks new opportunities (McGrath and MacMillan, 2000) and openly embraces an ever-changing work place (Kuratko et al., 1993). Organizational scale items tap into perceptions of organizational innovativeness. There are two key reasons for this individual-level focus. First, we believe it is necessary to recognize that entrepreneurial activities are initiated and carried out by individuals in organizations. That is, organizations by themselves do nothing – even the most collective activities that take place within organizations are an amalgamation of the activities of individual organizational members; therefore, organizations will be innovative, proactive, and take risks through the actions of their members (Stevenson and Jarillo, 1990). Second, and related, we believe that examining organizational or work group level innovative skills and abilities require an analysis at the individual level.
Individual-level model of corporate entrepreneurship Based on a review of the literature, three classes of variables were identified that may be related to an individual’s interpretation of CE. These include process, context, and individual variables. Process variables are those that refer to the how CE is facilitated by leaders, encompassing the specific strategies leaders use to encourage entrepreneurial behaviors. Context variables are those that address the circumstances that describe the organization as it embarks on strategic renewal efforts and the diffusion of CE. Individual variables refer to those that describe who is being asked to engage in entrepreneurial activities, describing their general disposition, skills, abilities, and attitudes. These three classes of variables should not only influence people’s perceptions regarding the organization’s ability to be entrepreneurial but also perceptions of their own ability to be entrepreneurial. Figure 1 shows the integrated model of CE that guided this research effort and summarizes the constructs that were explored. While there were several process, context, and individual variables that could be investigated, the entrepreneurship literature – along with the innovation and change literature – suggested a subset of variables that would be appropriate as a starting point for this exploratory investigation (Armenakis et al., 1999; Eby et al., 2000; Hornsby et al., 2002; Judge et al., 1999; Pettigrew et al., 2001). Process variables identified were leadership support and rewards while contextual variables were communication climate, perceived organizational support (POS), and perceptions of co-workers. Finally, individual variables consisted of positive affect, negative affect and efficacy. It should be noted that these variables were selected for both theoretical and practical reasons. First, these variables were included because there appeared to be some empirical relationship evident between a particular variable and entrepreneurship. For more practical reasons, the variables were selected because valid and reliable measures were available. The discussion that follows further develops this model and summarizes the literature we used to guide the selection of the study variables.
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Process The entrepreneurial process variables refer to the facilitation strategies or how CE is implemented and diffused throughout the organization under the premise that the way leaders introduce CE will certainly affect members’ reactions and behaviors. Context What are the characteristics of the organization facilitating entrepreneurship? Communication climate, Perceived organizational support, Perceptions of coworkers Process
Corporate Entrepreneurship
How is corporate entrepreneurial behavior being facilitated? Leadership support & Reward alignment.
Perceptions of the organization’s innovativeness Perceptions of the individual’s innovativeness Individual characteristics Who is asked to be entrepreneurial? Dispositions (affect), confidence (efficacy)
Outcomes
Figure 1. An integrated model of CE that includes process, context, individual and outcome variables
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How does an organization motivate entrepreneurship among organizational members? When the diffusion of an entrepreneurial mindset is viewed as an organizational change effort, one can turn to the change literature to gain some insights into this issue. Indeed, the literature is filled with prescriptions for leaders to use as guides to successfully implement change. Meyer and Goes (1988) found that managerial or leadership practices were strong predictors of physicians’ adoption of new diagnosis, treatment, and prevention techniques. While there are several facilitation strategies available to leaders that can be helpful in fostering an entrepreneurial environment, successful alignment of the organization’s human resource management (HRM) techniques and policies is possibly the most effective (Baden-Fuller, 1995; Block and Ornati, 1987; Sykes, 1992; Barringer and Milkovich, 1998). Our review of the literature revealed that reward structures, in particular, are critical for aligning individual goals with firm goals and may be the most important HRM component in encouraging entrepreneurial behavior. Balkin and Logan (1988) submit that without properly aligned compensation and appraisal systems, significant barriers to CE may be present. Adequate rewards are also critical to retain entrepreneurial employees, since these employees have a propensity to strike out on their own (Hornsby, et al., 2002). Similarly, Zahra et al. (1999a, b) submit that social capital and trust are created through effective use of rewards, leading to an effective entrepreneurial culture. Leadership support is also believed to be a process component enabling entrepreneurial behavior. This is the perceived willingness of leadership to support an individual’s innovative behavior (Damanpour, 1991; Pearce et al., 1997). Hornsby et al. (2002) found that leadership support accounted for a large percentage of the variance in the creation of an entrepreneurial corporate environment. In a study of two large units from an electric utility system, Pearce et al. (1997) found managers who behaved entrepreneurially had a positive impact on their subordinates’ satisfaction. This generally supports the notion that individuals who perceive that organizational leaders encourage entrepreneurial behavior are more likely to engage in it themselves. The following hypotheses are provided: H1a. Perceptions of the process (i.e. rewards and leadership support) will be positively related to perceptions of the organization’s innovative climate. H1b. Perceptions of the process (i.e. rewards and leadership support) will be positively related to perceptions of the individual’s innovativeness. Context For CE to flourish in an organization, employees must perceive that the climate is one where they can engage in innovative activities freely. Thus, we consider the internal context that characterizes the circumstances, or the existing internal conditions, that influence the diffusion of CE. Mowday and Sutton (1993) have described context as organizational conditions external to individuals such as, organizational norms and values, and, rules and regulations that influence affective reactions. Again turning to the change literature to reinforce this idea, Johns (2001) contends that an organization’s internal context can explain why a particular change not be received favorably, even though the leaders employed sound methods to introduce that change (i.e. used the appropriate process to initiate a change).
The context or components of the organization’s climate that may be related to CE can take many forms and have been reported by researchers, variably, as: slack resources, time, supportive co-workers, structure, effective communication, and tolerance for failure (Hisrich and Peters, 1986; Katz and Gartner, 1998; Slevin and Covin, 1997; von-Hippel, 1977). Consistent with these findings, our model examines a subset of these contextual factors that can be measured perceptually. Specifically, we submit that perception of co-workers and communication will be the critical context antecedents along with POS (Figure 1). Perceptions of co-workers. As suggested, the relationships that individuals have with their co-workers are expected to influence CE. Perceptions of co-workers refer to the satisfaction that employees have regarding the competency and amiability of the individuals they work with. While no research appears to have explored these relationships, there is a considerable body of literature that suggests it would be an important consideration if we are to understand individuals’ reactions to innovative or entrepreneurial endeavors. For instance, social support from family, friends, and co-workers ameliorates the perceptions of stress and actual strain experienced at work (Viswesvaran et al., 1999). Within the context of changing and transitioning environments, support from co-workers has been linked empirically to members’ ability to cope with organizational change (Shaw et al., 1993). Communication climate. Empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that the level of stress experienced by organizational members can be reduced at any time when employees’ information needs are addressed. Clearly, an open environment would bolster entrepreneurial efforts. For instance, in an open environment, leaders can explicitly support entrepreneurial endeavors, enhancing commitment and simultaneously ameliorating fear and uncertainty that may be associated with an innovative, risk-taking environment. Covin and Kilmann (1990) found that over 1,000 managers believed that communication was critical to organizational success, saying that the failure to share why certain events are occurring and necessary negatively influences success. Consequently, we assessed perceptions regarding the overall quality of the information that is conveyed within the organization – a critical contextual variable. Perceived organizational support. Our next contextual component is POS. This construct represents the extent to which employees believe the organization values and supports each individual member of the organization. This can be assessed in terms of employee perceptions of the adequacy of programs that provide employee recognition, problem-solving assistance, and safe working conditions. POS develops as the employee experiences various tangible and intangible outcomes through the daily exchange process with the organization (Eisenberger et al., 1986). When these exchanges lead to positive outcomes, commitment and affect towards the organization are triggered (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Within the CE context, positive feelings about the organization and its supportive nature could positively influence employees’ receptivity towards the organization’s efforts to introduce and implement CE. The following hypotheses are provided: H2a. Perceptions of the context (i.e. perceptions of co-workers, communications climate, and POS) will be positively related to perceptions of the organization’s innovative climate.
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H2b. Perceptions of the context (i.e. perceptions of co-workers, communications climate, and POS) will be positively related to perceptions of the individual’s innovativeness. Individual characteristics Even though research on individual antecedents of individual entrepreneurship has been largely inconclusive, there remains an interest in attempting to uncover such constructs (Stevenson, 1990). Intuition and anecdotal evidence lead us to suspect that – at least in an organizational setting – individual characteristics should have some impact on each person’s propensity to act entrepreneurially. It is important to note that, though we do view CE as an individual construct, we do not view it as simply an extension of individual entrepreneurship. Researchers in the innovation arena have begun to shed light on the way individual attributes shape that individual’s responses to innovation. Wanberg and Banas (2000) found that that certain personality characteristics were positively related to individuals’ general attitudes toward innovation. Similarly, Judge et al. (1999) recently found people’s self-efficacy and positive affect (analogous to optimism) were strongly related to an their capacity to cope with turbulence and instability. Entrepreneurship researchers have also associated self-efficacy with the entrepreneurial condition both empirically (Chen et al., 1998) and anecdotally (Stevenson and Jarillo, 1990). Our model incorporates individual characteristics because attributes such as efficacy and dispositions are critical to understanding any modern organizational condition, testing the extent to which self-efficacy and affect influence CE. H3a. Perceptions of the context (i.e. perceptions of co-workers, communications climate, and POS) will be positively related to perceptions of the organization’s innovative climate. H3b. Perceptions of the process (i.e. perceptions of co-workers, communications climate, and POS) will be positively related to perceptions of the individual’s innovativeness. Outcome variables The previous sections discussed our suppositions regarding the affect that certain antecedent variables will have on CE. We extend our analysis here by offering our submissions regarding the mediating effect that CE will have between on work outcomes. In general, we hold that the firm and its members will reap some rewards by utilizing these innovative skills and abilities, and these rewards will come in the way of positive work outcomes. In other words, we would expect CE to have a positive affect on work outcomes. Lumpkin and Dess (1996), in proposing a framework for investigating the link between CE and firm performance, point out that non-financial measures may be just as important in the study of entrepreneurial outcomes as financial measures such as growth, market share, and profitability. Commitment and satisfaction of organizational members are between two non-financial factors suggested for study by Lumpkin and Dess (1996). Hindle and Cutting (2002), for instance, found that pharmacists who had been part of organizations that embraced CE through formal
entrepreneurship education reported higher levels of job satisfaction than their counterparts that had received no entrepreneurial training. Similarly, Mullins et al. (2001) found that an entrepreneurial environment resulted in greater organizational commitment among all levels of employees. Caruana et al. (1998) also suggest that there is a dearth of literature examining the relationship between CE and less direct measures organizational performance. Specifically, they suggest that the affect of CE on employee turnover would be of interest. On this issue, a number of authors (Brand, 1998; Clampitt et al., 2000; Jacoby, 1999) have found that highly innovative companies, like 3M, have comparatively low rates of turnover. Based on the studies mentioned above, we submit the following: H4a. Perceptions of the organization’s innovative climate will mediate the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and work outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention). H4b. Perceptions of the individual’s innovativeness will mediate the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and work outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention). Method Sample The sample consisted of 264 employees that were members of a mid-sized organization (53 percent response rate). Of these, males represented 59 percent of the sample and the age of the average participant was 47.5 years. To determine whether any significant differences existed between those who responded and those that did not, the general demographics of the organization were compared to the demographics of those that participated, finding that the organization was comprised of 55 percent males and over 50 percent of the workforce was over 50 years old – consistent with the sample’s. The organization under study was a public organization with approximately a $300 million budget. It was responsible for developing and fielding information systems. Since, the organization was being considered for outsourcing where an external service provider fulfilled its function, the leadership was confronted with an urgent need to become more effective, efficient, and competitive. Toward this end, the leadership planned to introduce a new organization structure that facilitated high performance and quality service, provided clear lines of authority, eliminated duplicate functions, and encouraged creativity and innovation. Procedures Data used in this study were collected using questionnaires that were part of a larger study that was being conducted to examine the psychometric properties of a change readiness instrument. A web questionnaire was used to collect the data because all employees had access to the world wide web. Data were collected for a three week period which ended nearly a month before any changes were implemented. To maximize the response rate, we used many of the strategies recommended by Simsek and Veiga (2000) for bolstering the response rate of electronic surveys: employees were given advance notice; two follow-up messages were sent; and, the questionnaire could be completed in segments.
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Measures Unless otherwise noted, a seven-point response format that ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree was used in order to make the questionnaire as simple as possible. Individual variables. Positive and negative trait-affect were measured along with self-efficacy. Positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) was used to measure affect (Watson et al., 1988). Ten items reflected positive affect (e.g. “interested”) and ten reflected negative affect (e.g. “disinterested”). Participants indicate the frequency of the emotions that they have experienced on a five-point scale ranging from 1 – very slightly or not at all to 5 – very much. Since, the participants’ dispositional affect was the focus of this study, participants were instructed to “indicate the extent to which you generally feel this way, that is, how you feel on average” (Watson et al., 1988). In this study, coefficient as were 0.92 for the positive affect scale and 0.87 for the negative affect scale. Efficacy was tapped with six items developed for the change study that these data were originally collected. These items measured the extent to which people felt they would be successful in a changing environment. Coefficient a was 0.81 for this scale. Context variables. Three context variables were measured. First, communication climate was measured with four items based on a scale presented by Miller et al. (1994). Coefficient a was 0.77.Second, POS was measured with seven items from Eisenberger et al.’s (1986) 36-item survey of POS scale – the seven selected had the highest factor loadings (ranging from 0.76 to 0.84) on the scale. Finally, a three-item scale published by Spector (1997) was used to measure perception of co-workers. Coefficient a for this scale was 0.62. Process variables. Management support and reward perceptions were both measured. Management support was measured with six items and measured the extent to which management supported change. Coefficient a was 0.85. Reward perceptions were measured with three items. Coefficient a was 0.69. Corporate entrepreneurship. As noted, both individual and organizational innovativeness was measured. Individual innovativeness was measured using four items from Trumbo’s (1961) change readiness scale. Items reflected a person’s general preference for stability over work-related variety (e.g. “One can never feel at ease on a job where the ways of doing things are always being changed.”). The results from this sample indicated the reliability of the four-item scale was 0.77 (coefficient a). Perceptions of the organization’s innovative climate were measured with a scale that was presented by Eby et al. (2000). Example items are: “Employees here are resistant to change” and “Employees here act as agents of change.” For this sample, coefficient a was 0.64. Attitudinal outcomes. Job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention were measured as outcomes. Job satisfaction and turnover intentions were measured with three items each that came from scales developed by Cammann et al. (1983). The estimate internal consistency (i.e. coefficient a) was 0.88 and 0.83 for the job satisfaction and turnover intentions, respectively. Affective commitment was measured using six items from the affective commitment scale presented by Allen and Meyer (1990). The estimate of internal consistency was 0.86 (coefficient a). Results Descriptive statistics Table I shows means, standard deviations, and correlations among the study variables. To begin, the pattern of correlations among the perceptions of entrepreneurship and
Notes:
*
p , 0.05;
**
SD
8.56 0.50 1.70 1.64
0.74 0.53 0.97
1.21 1.25
1.16
1.11 1.15
1.18 0.98
1.46 1.29 1.58
M
47.53 0.58 3.73 2.86
3.71 1.54 5.35
3.99 4.24
4.76
5.26 4.90
4.37 4.00
4.95 4.13 3.14
*
0.09 2 0.08 2 0.08
2 0.003 0.02
2 0.04 2 0.11
0.17
0.06 0.02
0.06 2 0.09 2 0.03
– 0.12 0.02 2 0.03
1
*
2 0.10 ** 2 0.21 0.11
2 0.11 0.08
0.07 2 0.01
0.14
2 0.01 2 0.01
2 0.02 0.07 0.10
– ** 0.23 0.03
2
**
2 0.02 * 2 0.20 0.16
0.18 0.02
0.04 0.07
0.04
0.09 0.07
0.01 0.06 0.02
– 2 0.05
3
–
4
2 0.12 * 2 0.19 0.08
**
**
**
2 0.19 * 2 0.14
2 0.18 2 0.12
2 0.18
2 0.08 ** 2 0.18
2 0.11 0.12 2 0.15
p , 0.01; numbers in parentheses represent coefficient a
Demographics 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Education 4. Organizational level Individual variables 5. Positive affect 6. Negative affect 7. Efficacy Context variables 8. Communication climate 9. POS 10. Perceptions of co-workers Process variables 11. Management support 12. Reward perceptions Innovativeness 13. Individual 14. Organizational Work outcomes (time 2) 15. Job satisfaction 16. Affective commitment 17. Turnover intentions **
**
2 0.27 2 0.09 ** 0.27
**
0.30 ** 0.32 2 0.06
**
2 0.30 * 2 0.16
*
**
2 0.13 ** 2 0.20
2 0.31
**
0.32 * 0.18
**
**
0.19 ** 0.27
0.23
2 0.18 ** 2 0.26
**
0.21 ** 0.31
(0.87) ** 2 0.23
6
(0.92) ** 0.33 ** 0.44
5
**
**
0.35 ** 0.25 ** 2 0.21
**
0.27 ** 0.25
**
**
0.40 ** 0.50
0.29
0.30 ** 0.40
(0.81)
7
**
0.34 ** 0.34 ** 2 0.32
**
0.20 ** 0.63
**
**
0.45 ** 0.39
0.47
(0.77) ** 0.65
8
**
**
0.29 ** 0.68
**
**
0.52 ** 0.45
0.57
0.34 ** 0.39 ** 2 0.27
()
9
**
*
0.16 ** 0.21 * 2 0.20
**
0.24 ** 0.52
0.35 ** 0.28
(0.62)
10
0.15 0.11 2 0.14
*
0.13 ** 0.50
(0.85) ** 0.36
11
**
**
0.34 ** 0.42 0.27 0.14 * 2 0.18
()
12
0.27 0.14 2 0.08
**
(0.77) ** 0.21
13
2 22
*
0.18 ** 2 0.27
**
(0.64)
14
16
(0.86) ** 2 0.50
15
(0.88) ** 0.56 ** 2 0.62
(0.83)
17
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Table I. Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations among study variables
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demographic, process, context, and individual variables merits some discussion. With one notable exception, the perceptions of organizational and individual entrepreneurship were not significantly related to the participants’ demographic characteristics. The exception was observed when considering entrepreneurship relative to the organizational level of the members. Specifically, the closer individuals’ positions were to the executive director the more entrepreneurial the individuals perceived themselves (r ¼ 2 0.19, p , 0.01) and the organization (r ¼ 2 0.14, p , 0.05). The hypotheses that were posited suggested that the process, context, and individual level variables would be positively related to the perceptions of the organization’s innovativeness as well as the individual’s. While the hypotheses that were presented were supported, measures of the individual variables (i.e. positive affect, negative affect, and efficacy) were more closely related to individuals’ perception of their own CE (i.e. r’s ranged from a magnitude of 0.27 to 0.32) than their perceptions of the organization’s CE (i.e. r’s ranged from a magnitude of 0.16 to 0.25). In turn, measures of the context and the process were more closely related to the perceptions of the organization’s entrepreneurial behavior. For instance, the mean r across the context variables was 0.24 and 0.61 for the perceptions of both the individual and organizational CE, respectively. Regression of perceived entrepreneurship To further test the extent to which process, context, and individual variables influenced perceptions of both the organization’s and individual’s CE and subsequent outcomes (Figure 1); two unique models were tested. One model had the perceptions of the individual’s innovativeness as the dependent variable while the second had perceptions of the organization’s innovativeness as the dependent variable. Before these models were tested, it is necessary to note the generally moderate to high, intercorrelations among the process, context, and individual variables. The correlation between management support and valence (i.e. process variables) was 0.36 ( p , 0.01); the mean r among the context variables was 0.56 ( p , 0.01); and, the absolute mean r among the individual variables was 0.33 ( p , 0.01). Based on these results, variance inflation factors (VIF) were examined to determine the extent to which multicollinearity might pose a problem for the subsequent analyses. VIF ranged from a low of 1.02 to a high of 2.34 well below the threshold value of ten where multicollinearity becomes problematic (Neter et al., 1996). With the problems associated with multicollinearity ameliorated, a hierarchical priority was defined for the categories of antecedents so that spurious relationships could be removed and incremental contributions could be determined. In our case, the priority of variables was determined by examining their stability. That is, those variables perceived to be more stable (i.e. demographics, individual, and context variables) were entered in the first steps and those that were more discretionary were entered later (i.e. process variables). Demographics were entered in the first step of each model (one for each of the two perceptions of innovativeness). Individual and contextual variables were entered in the second and third steps, respectively. Process variables were entered in the last step. The results from this analysis are presented in Table II.
0.09 * * –
0.001 2 0.16 * 0.21 * * 2 0.16 *
1
Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; N ¼ 264
Step 1: demographic variables Age Gender Education Organizational level Step 2. individual variables Positive affect Negative affect Efficacy Step 3. context variables Communication climate POS Perceptions of co-workers Step 4. process variables Management support Reward perceptions R2 D R2
Variable
0.03 –
0.58 * * 0.48 * *
0.25 * * 0.02
0.10 0.12 * 0.60 * * 0.02 *
2 0.11 0.26 * * 0.29 * * 0.04 * *
0.23 * * 0.14 * *
0.23 * * 0.38 * * 0.23 * *
0.27 * * 0.43 * * 0.24 * *
0.03 0.05 0.05
0.10 * * 0.07 * *
2 0.03 0.06 2 0.10
2 0.04 0.06 2 0.03
0.05 0.07 0.05
0.04 2 0.07 0.22 * *
0.16 * 2 0.14 * 0.04
0.01 0.03 2 0.05 2 0.04
0.01 0.02 2 0.04 2 0.05
4
0.17 * 2 0.15 * 0.11
0.04 2 0.02 0.01 2 0.12
Organizational Entre. 2 3
0.18 * 2 0.17 * 0.16 *
0.04 2 0.004 0.01 2 0.16 *
1
2 0.03 2 0.15 * 0.19 * * 2 0.09
2 0.02 2 0.12 0.17 * * 2 0.09
4
Equation (standardized b)
439
2 0.02 2 0.16 * 0.20 * * 2 0.10
Individual Entre. 2 3
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Table II. Regression results with demographics, individual, context, and process variables predicting perceptions of entrepreneurship
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Overall, far more variation in the perceptions of the organization’s ability to be entrepreneurial was explained (R 2 ¼ 0.60, p , 0.01) than the individual’s perception of entrepreneurial ability (R 2 ¼ 0.29, p , 0.01). Specifically, the individual variables explained a statistically significant amount of variance in entrepreneurial behavior, regardless of which frame of reference was considered (i.e. individual or organizational). Not surprisingly, the percent of unique variance accounted for by the individual variables was higher for predictions individuals (DR 2 ¼ 0.14, p , 0.01) than for organizational assessments (DR 2 ¼ 0.07, p , 0.01). In contrast, the organizational variables did not explain significant unique variation in the individual’s perceptions (DR 2 ¼ 0.02, p . 0.05) while it explained a considerable amount of unique variation in the organization’s entrepreneurial perceptions (DR 2 ¼ 0.48, p , 0.01). Most importantly, the process variables explained significant variation in both the individual (DR 2 ¼ 0.04, p , 0.01) and organizational (DR 2 ¼ 0.02, p , 0.05) perceptions of entrepreneurial behavior after controlling for demographics, individual differences, and contextual differences. These results suggest that perceptions of entrepreneurial behavior might be shaped by the process used by leaders (a factor at their discretion) to facilitate this within their organizations, given the existing employees and culture. Relationships of perceptions of entrepreneurship and outcomes To test whether perceptions of entrepreneurial potential mediated the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and the outcomes, we estimated a series of hierarchical regressions as described above. Cohen and Cohen (1983) suggest that are three requirements to be satisfied for mediation to be present. First, entrepreneurial perceptions must be related to the outcomes. Second, the process, context, and individual variables must be related to the outcome variables (i.e. there must be an effect to mediate). Finally, the relationship between the process, context, and individual variables and the outcome variables must be reduced after adjusting for the effects of entrepreneurial perceptions. If these conditions are satisfied, the percent of mediation can be calculated by dividing (a) the incremental variance explained by the process, context, and individual variables after controlling for entrepreneurial perceptions by (b) the total variance explained by the process, context, and individual variables when entered into the regressions alone, and then subtracting this proportion from 1.0. Table III presents the results from the mediated regression analysis. The correlations among the study variables were used to evaluate the first condition for mediation. As indicated in Table I, the relationship between the perceptions of individuals’ entrepreneurial behavior and the outcomes suggested that perceptions of individuals’ entrepreneurial behavior could not mediate the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and affective commitment (r ¼ 0.14, p . 0.05) or turnover intentions (r ¼ 2 0.08, p . 0.05) because it was not significantly related to these outcomes. However, it could mediate the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and job satisfaction (r ¼ 0.27, p , 0.05). In contrast, significant relationship between the outcomes and perceptions of the organization’s entrepreneurial behavior suggested that it could serve as a mediator (i.e. mean r ¼ 0.22 for all the relationships, p , 0.05 for all relationships). With respect to the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and outcomes, the regression results revealed that these variables collectively explained significant variance in each
– – – – – – – – – – – –
– – 0.21 * 0.07 0.16 0.26 * 0.29 * 20.08 20.08 20.14 0.27 * * –
0.21 * 0.07 0.15 0.27 * 0.32 * 2 0.06 2 0.07 2 0.13 0.27 * * 0.21 * *
– 2 0.07
Affective commitment Model 1a Model 2d Model 3c
0.13 0.23 * * 20.16 20.33 * * 0.003 0.08 20.01 20.003 0.20 * * –
– –
– 2 0.29 * 0.13 0.25 * * 2 0.18 2 0.30 * 0.13 0.15 0.04 0.04 0.23 * * 0.12 * *
– – – – – – – – – – – –
Turnover intention Model 1a Model 2d Model 3
Notes: p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; N ¼ 131; amodel includes the process, context, and individual variables only; bmodel includes process, context, and individual variables after controlling for the perceptions of individual entrepreneurship; cmodel includes process, context, and individual variables after controlling for the perceptions of individual entrepreneurship; dmodel was not computed because the second requirement for mediation was not satisfied
0.09 20.13 0.23 * 0.24 * 0.21 20.12 20.10 0.05 0.27 * * 0.21 * *
– 20.05
Job satisfaction Model 2b Model 3c
Perceptions of entrepreneurship Individual – 0.12 Organizational – – Process, context, and individual (PCI) variables Positive affect 0.09 0.07 Negative affect 20.13 2 0.11 Efficacy 0.23 * 0.24 * Communications climate 0.24 * 0.24 * POS 0.19 0.18 Perceptions of co-workers 20.13 2 0.12 Management support 20.11 2 0.12 Personal valence 0.04 0.003 R2 0.27 * * 0.29 * * 2 DR (after PCI variables added) – 0.21 * *
Model 1a
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Table III. Mediated regression results
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outcome variable (i.e. 27 percent in job satisfaction; 27 percent in affective commitment; and 20 percent in turnover intentions). Therefore, the second requirement of mediation was satisfied. Given that the first two requirements for mediation were generally satisfied, we performed the final test on mediation. Specifically, after controlling for perceptions of entrepreneurial behavior, our results show that where process, context, and individual variables were used to explain variation in the outcomes, there was some level of mediation. In all cases the process, context, and individual variables explained significance variance in the outcomes, they also explained significant incremental variance when controlling for perceptions of entrepreneurial behavior. After controlling for perceptions of organizational entrepreneurial behavior, the process, context and individual variables explained on 21 percent of the variation in job satisfaction; 21 percent of the variation in affective commitment; and 12 percent of the variation in turnover intentions. Discussion This work submitted and tested antecedents to CE. Our model was guided by the previous work done by Hornsby et al. (2002), who proposed a factor structure for the CE phenomenon. We reframed their findings to include three categories of variables (i.e. process, context, and individual characteristics) and empirically examined the affect that variables within each of these antecedent categories had on perceptions of the individual’s and organization’s CE. Specifically, we proposed that process, context, and individual characteristics would be positively related to the perceptions of both individual and organizational CE. We also independently assessed the extent to which individual and organizational CE mediated the relationship between the antecedent categories and outcomes. The categories of antecedents were largely effective in explaining both types of CE perceptions, which we characterized as consisting of two measures of innovation behavior: individual and organizational. In terms of individual CE behavior, individual characteristics and process were positively associated, while context was not. For organizational CE behavior, all three antecedent categories were positively associated. The fact that our antecedents did a better job explaining organization CE behavior than individual CE behavior suggests that our model may be more effective in examining CE as an organizational construct than a collection of individual actions. Possibly the most interesting finding is that process was significantly associated with both types of CE. This suggests that how CE behavior is encouraged organization-wide is key. Managers can, through deliberate actions, affect the level of CE within a given organization. This supports a number of researchers (Block and Ornati, 1987; Sykes, 1992; Zahra et al., 1999a, b), and may be the most stable CE component reported across studies. Our second analysis attempted to assess the mediating affect that CE played between our three components (process, context, and individual) and desirable individual outcomes (job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention). This contention was also generally supported with perceptions of organizational CE mediating 22 percent of the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and job satisfaction; it mediated 22 percent of the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and affective commitment; and, it mediated
40 percent of the relationship between process, context, and individual variables and turnover intentions. Similar results were found with regard to individual CE (27 percent in job satisfaction; 27 percent in affective commitment; and 20 percent in turnover intentions).
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Limits and directions Like all studies, this one has some weaknesses that merit discussion. First, our survey is a self-report instrument. The weaknesses of self-report data have been widely discussed and apply here. Second, our view of CE may be imperfect. This is a function of a field in flux, as no definition has been resolved. We feel that we have captured the essence of CE, but others may feel that we have a measurement issue. Third, as noted, the data were collected as part of a larger study of organizational change. Because of this, the innovative climate was measured as leaders were actually taking steps to bolster it. Lastly, the lack of support for the context component on individual CE was a little surprising, as most researchers have indicated that climate is a key component of CE. This causes us to suggest that our measures may not be properly capturing context, and should be viewed with caution. For researchers, we feel the primary value of this research is the opportunity to consider a predictive model of CE based on the knowledge base currently in the field. While certainly not a panacea, our model moves the field closer to understanding an important issue – the causes of CE. Also, the fact that individual characteristics predicted CE is interesting in that it suggests that (unlike general entrepreneurship findings) these individual characteristics may play an important role in an organization’s ability to be entrepreneurial. For practitioners, the most exciting aspect of the study is that process seems to be an important precursor to CE. In other words, the manner in which a manager chooses to encourage CE is important. This should prove comforting in that it gives the manager a modicum of control in an otherwise chaotic setting.
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Trumbo, D.A. (1961), “Individual and group correlates of attitudes toward work-related change”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 45, pp. 338-44. Viswesvaran, C., Sanchez, J.I. and Callan, V.J. (1999), “The role of social support in the process of work stress”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 54, pp. 314-34. von-Hippel, E. (1977), “Successful and failing internal corporate ventures – an empirical analysis”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, p. 163. Wanberg, C.R. and Banas, J.T. (2000), “Predictors and outcomes of openness to changes in a reorganizing workplace”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 85, pp. 132-42. Watson, D., Clark, L.A. and Tellegen, A. (1988), “Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scale”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 54, pp. 1063-70. Zahra, S.A. (1993), “A conceptual model of entrepreneurship as firm behavior: a critique and extension”, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 5-22. Zahra, S.A., Jennings, D.F. and Kuratko, D.F. (1999a), “The antecedents and consequences of firm-level entrepreneurship: the state of the field”, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 45-66. Zahra, S.A., Nielson, A.P. and Bogner, W.C. (1999b), “Corporate entrepreneurship, knowledge and competence development”, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Vol. 23, p. 169. Further reading Covin, J.G. and Slevin, D.P. (1991), “A conceptual model of entrepreneurship as firm behavior”, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 7-25. Corresponding author Daniel T. Holt can be contacted at:
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Music as a metaphor for organizational change
Music as a metaphor
Saku Mantere HANKEN, Department of Management and Organization, The Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki, Finland
John A.A. Sillince
447 Received January 2005 Revised October 2006 Accepted October 2006
Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and
Virpi Ha¨ma¨la¨inen Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki, Finland Abstract Purpose – To explore a musical metaphor in making organizational change a potentially pleasurable experience to participants. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins by challenging ideological assumptions behind classical change metaphors. To build an alternative, the paper employs musical semiotics to understand the core dimensions in a musical experience. Findings – The paper discusses the dynamics of tension and resolution in the different dimensions of musical experience. Originality/value – The discussion regarding the dynamics of tension and resolution in musical experience helps the reader to make sense of how an individual organizational member can understand, structure and control the experience of organizational change. Keywords Organizational change, Music, Metaphors Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction The metaphor of music has many similarities with organizational change. Like music, organizational change moves through time, building and releasing tension in organizational members. While several musical metaphors have been utilized in organization studies, for instance strategic dissonance (Burgelman and Grove, 1996), jazz improvisation (Senge, 1994; Hatch, 1999; Humphreys et al., 2003; Moorman and Miner, 1998a, b; Weick, 1998; Barrett, 2000), polyphony (Barry and Elmes, 1997; Hazen, 1993), and musical time (Albert and Bell, 2002), the emancipatory potential of the musical metaphor in reducing the pain caused by change to an individual organizational The authors wish to express their thanks to Antonio Strati, Arne Carlsen, Kjersti Bjørkeng, Jouni Virtaharju, Wendelin Ku¨pers, Saara Taalas, Arja Ropo, Henrik Werdfelt and David Raymond Jones for insightful comments that significantly helped in developing this paper. Saku Mantere and Virpi Ha¨ma¨la¨inen wish to acknowledge financial support received from the Finnish Work Environment Fund.
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 20 No. 3, 2007 pp. 447-459 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810710740236
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member has not been utilized. We are motivated by the possibility to avoid making painful change a self-fulfilling prophecy (Weick, 1995). Yet, often a great deal of pain and discomfort are involved in change, which would seem to fit poorly with the musical metaphor. In this paper, we will argue that music can also act as a sensemaking device that allows the controlling of the experience of pain through the structuring of the change experience. We argue that the ability to structure change discomfort, particularly through structuring time, is a powerful way of controlling it. Music challenges painful change The classical assumption in organization theory (Lewin, 1951; Schein, 1985) has been that individuals seek stability in their organization, and that change is, therefore, regarded as painful. The metaphorical language used in theorizing about organizations guides the way we think about organizations (Morgan, 1997; Wood, 2002). Metaphor analysis is useful for creating new viewpoints on phenomena governed by prominent theories. By uncovering the metaphors behind a prominent theory, we may challenge the assumptions taken for granted in the theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980; Palmer and Dunford, 1996). In other words, metaphors are powerful linguistic vehicles of emancipation because of their capability for creative deconstruction (Boje, 2001; Morgan, 1997). The pain of organizational change relies on the metaphor used for making sense of change. The choice of the change metaphor implicitly communicates an ideology that frames our understanding of change. It may even promote unnecessary suffering in organizations. Our use of the music metaphor is postmodern in its aims – we firmly believe that the role of new metaphors is not the creation of another dominant metaphor to surpass others, but the enriching of our viewpoints regarding organizations (Morgan, 1993) and the understanding of transcendent experiences by organization members (Gustavsson, 2001). From pain to tension Musical semiotics is an area of research interested in discovering the symbol systems found in music (Tarasti, 1994). We will focus our attention in musical semiotics in our search of tools for structuring, understanding and controlling the variety of experiences the building and resolving of tension creates. Focusing on musicological concepts instead of music in general helps us find a path on what could otherwise be too wide a field – indeed the variety of music is overwhelming. In musicology, an experience is not discussed in terms of pain and pleasure, but in terms of tension and resolution. The musicological concepts of tension and resolution are well suited for understanding because they are essentially temporal in nature. The creation of tension is a central element in creating a musical experience. In his theory of musical semiotics, Tarasti (1994, p. 23) argues that to understand tension in music, we need to understand three dimensions. First, there is the unfolding of music in time, how music moves from state x to state y, conforming or not conforming with the expectations of the hearer. Second, we also need to understand the relationships between the actual musical states in a non-temporal, categorical sense, i.e. how x differs from y. Third, we also need to understand the actoriality of the musical movement, the “will” or “purpose” which moves the music forward from state to state.
Tension may result from each of the three dimensions. It can result from the music moving against the hearer’s expectations (temporal dimension). It can result from perceived conflicts between different musical states (categorical dimension). It can also result from perceived puzzlement concerning the purpose of the current movement (actorial dimension). Tension is the force that creates the energy of the piece, moves it forward. Tension reflects the “primal energetic nature of music” (Tarasti, 1994, p. 21). Tension and resolution have prominent psychological counterparts. Cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) argues that individuals make decisions that resolve tensions caused by holding contradictory beliefs. The metaphoric use of the musical concept dissonance is illuminating here: arriving at a situation in which one’s beliefs conflict resembles the emotion aroused by a dissonant chord in a musical piece. If we were to rely solely on cognitive dissonance theory, we would end up claiming that tensions produce exclusively negative emotions: for example, discomfort, anxiety, and frustration. But tension also causes positive emotions as can be observed in many realms in aesthetics: visual art, music and stories. The key component of any story, for instance, is the creation of a conflict, to be resolved by key actors in some way. The emotional equivalent of the conflict is the building of tension in the reader. In organization studies narratives are useful both as phenomena present in organizations such as providing a way of writing strategy (Barry and Elmes, 1997; Shaw et al., 1998) or of centering of a collective sense of identity (Boyce, 1995) as well as a form for theorizing about organizations (Czarniawska, 1998). The jazz improvisation viewpoint on organizational change has already recognized the possibility of change being non-painful (Senge, 1994; Hatch, 1999; Moorman and Miner, 1998a, b; Weick, 1998; Barrett, 2000). Improvisation has been discussed in relation to such issues as creativity (Barrett, 1998), adaptation (Weick, 1998), learning (Moorman et al., 2001), collective individuality (Mirvis, 1998), and strategy crafting (Crossan, 1998). Organizational improvisation has been defined as the convergence of planning and execution (Moorman and Miner, 1998a). Not all music is improvisational, however. The improvisational viewpoint captures only some of the strength of the musicological metaphor, the power of which has been scarcely explored in organization studies. A rare, recent exception is provided by Albert and Bell (2002) who employed a general musicological framework for studying a temporal question: when and how organizations should act in crisis situations. To extend the discussion from improvisation to cover change in more generic terms, we will need the concept of control. A symphony orchestra and a jazz combo are archetypes for the central and distributed models for controlling change. The symphony orchestra acts as a metaphor for the centrally controlled model. Here, a person or a group of persons “conducts,” following the linear instructions provided by the composer. The jazz band picture of organizational improvisation provides the metaphor for the distributed model. When power in communication is not centrally held, there will be performers, soloists taking the center stage while others support by comping (Hatch, 1999, p. 81). Jazz compositions provide a chord structure and melodic ideas, but act more as frameworks for improvisation than linear guidelines for performance, as is the case in the classical paradigm of music. The distributed and central models can be regarded as extremes on the same dimension: change usually contains elements from both models.
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Music helps to control discomfort The musicological metaphor provides an alternative to the simplistic notion of pain in the form of tension that change creates in organizational members. We have argued that such tensions can be experienced as exciting and invigorating as well as shocking or stressful. Yet, the musicological metaphor can be helpful also in situations that are clearly unpleasant. Musical experience is essentially temporal, and temporal structuring can help us control unpleasant experiences. Musicological semiotics provides methods of structuring dynamic experience. Tarasti’s temporal, categorical and actorial dimensions can be employed as key dimensions in this structuring. A painful encounter with a dentist’s drill can help us understand the power of temporal structuring as a sensemaking device that allows for the control of unpleasant experiences. When the dentist tells me: “It will only be a minute now, I am soon ready to start filling the cavity,” I feel I am in control of my pain, because I have access of the duration which I still have to endure. Over longer periods of discomfort, we often come up with structuring schemas to help us divide duration into more tangible portions. For instance, the first author of this paper noticed during his first marathon, that after passing the half-way mark, he started generating thoughts such as: “I only have 20 kilometers left. I have run that distance many times before.” After passing 3/4 of the distance, his thoughts were: “Only ten kilometers (puff). . . I run ten kilometers three times a week (puff) . . . ” The physical distances represent the time left to endure discomfort. Breaking time into tangible portions, and connecting them to previous experiences (categorical structuring) helped the first author to control the painful experience, controlling the dynamics of tension and resolution. All in all, the possibility of boasting to oneself and to others of running the marathon, a powerful institution used to measure one’s strength of will, also helped to him endure the ordeal, by giving it a purpose (actorial structuring). Musicological tools for structuring change experience To understand how exactly music structures experience, it is helpful to look at the essential tools that composers, improvisers and musical performers have at their disposal. Instead of shaping their substance with a hammer and chisel, as a sculptor would, composers, improvisers and performers deal with such things as form, volume, harmony, rhythm, and texture. We have illustrated the tools they use and their equivalents in organizational life in Table I. Understanding these dimensions helps us to understand how musical experience structures sensemaking and sense of control in various areas of organizational change. Form Musical form is the favorite dimension of traditional musicologists. Form is the macrostructure of a musical piece, and as such it is the place to start looking for a “storyline.” According to Tarasti (1994, p. 23), form, as the “tension from beginning to end” is instrumental in creating the narrative of a musical piece. A composer creates the experience of a complete musical piece by introducing, developing and reintroducing themes, creating structures, surprising and satisfying the listener. It is almost as if there is a plot to the music in terms of its form. In jazz music, an improvising soloist uses the same methods to create the “arc” of her or his solo, as is illustrated in master guitarist Hall’s (2001) description of his favorite guitar solo (“Grand Slam” by Charlie Christian):
Forte and pianissimo, staccato and legato, instrumentation
Volume
Patterns, tempo, meter
Instrumentation, qualitative guidelines to instrumentalists and conductor
Rhythm
Texture
Harmony Consonance and dissonance
Tension created by not knowing the outcome of the musical piece/the organizational action or project
Large goals (e.g. “strategic intents,” visions), sagas, legends (e.g. “How we discovered our best product”), grand symbols (e.g. logos, values), rituals (e.g. annual strategy seminars), metaphors (e.g. “We are the crew of this ship”) and myths (e.g. “how we got started”) Resource intensity (e.g. downsizing with or without golden handshakes), workload (e.g. defining roles), communication intensity (e.g. metaphors used), risk taking (e.g. showing courage) Artifacts (e.g. round table vs opposite sides), rhetoric (e.g. appeal for unity vs demonization), consensus (e.g. unanimity vs split votes), conflict, crises (e.g. cognitive labeling of something as “a crisis”) Cycles (e.g. budget period), plans (e.g. deadlines, timetables, milestones), projects Personnel choices, distribution of power, roles, technology, communication styles, personality, values
Fulfilling and evading expectations in terms of introducing, developing and reintroducing themes, building a musical narrative with its twists and turns
Form
Tension created by the breaking of patterns or running out of time Tension created by incongruity between musical instruments or organizational personalities
Tension created by the difference between musical or organizational voices and arguments
Tension created by the effort or force going into the music and the organizational resources being expended
How it controls tension
Organizational tools
Musicological tools
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Table I. Musicological and organizational elements of change
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Christian’s solo is like a terrific short story. It has a great opening phrase which really gets your attention; it leaves plenty of space for the listener to get involved; it surprises you, it develops beautifully, it has direction, it ends perfectly and it’s all played with amazing clarity. What more can you ask?
Here are some elements of form then – initial tension-raising part, sparse structure which invites imaginative augmentation by the listener, surprise, repetition of the tension in different forms, progression to an ending which “completes the piece” by resolving a tension. The temporal process of organizational change can be understood through the roles of tension and resolution in different stages of the process. The narrative power of a musical piece or performance lies in the wholeness of its arc: the dynamics of tension are warranted as performing a role in the complete piece – they make sense as completing the piece. The dynamics arouse emotion at the time that they are experienced but have a meaning only through the completion of the piece. In organizational life the dichotomy between the ongoing flow of experience and the discrete projects that structure it has been widely discussed. This is what Weick (1995) is speaking about in terms of the ongoing flow of sensemaking being structured into projects, or Harre´ and Secord (1972) and Weick (1995) speaking of episodes that structure individual lives and sensemaking. Albert and Bell (2002) emphasize the importance of the musical form: both in terms of varying the tonic and the general structure of the piece. They argue that varying the structure in an unexpected direction may divert and redirect an “inevitable,” dramatic conclusion. The discussion demonstrates the power of musical form in explaining the underlying dramatic structure people expect from the temporal succession of organizational events. Musical form is a hidden network of expectation against which sensemaking of events takes place. Isabella (1990) discovered that managers’ sensemaking toward change consisted of discrete stages. The stages of anticipation and confirmation can be regarded as representing the initiation of change, while the stages of culmination and aftermath represent its completion. What is not discussed in Isabella’s model is the gradual buildup of the change, the stage in which the transformation is ongoing. The initiation of the change is the beginning of a musical piece in which a musical theme is introduced. One organizational example might be found in the initiation of a project in which the project’s main goals are presented. Tension is built in subjects in the form of expectations and curiosity, fear and insecurity, capturing attention. That tension must be carefully judged and must not be too fear-inducing. For example, Armenakis and Harris (2002, p. 181) found that an acceptance speech by an incoming change agent “was better articulated as ‘here is why change will be good’ rather than the traditional “this is why we need to change.’” The ongoing stage of a project is where the actual work is done, where mastery over surprising challenges is achieved. In this stage, minute details are experienced as a state of absorption, yet the whole (e.g. major objectives) is rarely experienced, i.e. “the forest is not seen for the trees” giving rise to temporary confusion. Tension is thus built and resolved in a minute form. The significance of the change as a whole should emerge at the completion stage, in which the pieces are fitted together, and sense is made in retrospect (Beeson and Davis, 2000). Tension is resolved on a grand scale.
Volume The second dimension in music, which the musician can work with is the intensity of the music itself, changing in time. By controlling the volume of the piece the performer or a composer can affect the listener’s musical experience in a very tangible manner, stimulating emotions in quite a non-cognitive way. Volume can be used to awaken the listener or co-performer by a sudden explosion (e.g. the fortissimo intended to wake dozing ladies in Haydn’s 94th symphony) or slowly capture their attention in a longer development (e.g. the gradual buildup of volume in Ravel’s Bolero). In organizational life volume can be controlled by methods that affect experiences in a similarly tangible and forceful way: controlling resource intensity for instance. Perceptions of how plentiful resources are at different stages directly affect styles of working: thin resources pose a challenge that has to be overcome, while rich resources can act as a show of trust. The scale of rewards and compensation made available by the organization indicates the importance of a particular individual or task. Tension is increased when resource reduction is seen as out of one’s control, and a feeling of regaining control over resources, when the project starts to make a profit, is a form of resolution. The intensity of communication about change is another method for affecting the volume of change. The amount and style of communication affects how often change is present in the thoughts of the participants. Harmony: consonance and dissonance The third dimension at the musician’s disposal is harmony. By harmony, we refer not only to consonance, but also to dissonance, more specifically, to the interplay of the two. By controlling the interplay of notes she or he creates dissonance, discussed above, and consonance and thus tension and resolution. In music as in organizations, controlling harmony only makes sense in context, i.e. the character of chords is ultimately judged in relation to other chords. In harmony the relation of different notes can be approached in an analytical manner. In organizations, different arguments are connected in an interplay that creates change, through consensus and dissent (Ford and Ford, 1995; Sillince, 2000; Dooley and Fryxell, 1999). The focus of interest is the process in which different arguments interconnect: arguments may connect into a coherent theory that provides satisfying closure on an issue, or they may be opposed and may leave matters open and undecided in a most unsatisfying manner. Organization members may intelligently reinterpret and contest meanings: As subordinates deconstructed the dominant language of change and created new understandings of teamwork among themselves, they were placed in a stronger position to shape the interpretive frames of their immediate managers (Francis and Sinclair, 2003, p. 703).
The concept of polyphony (Barry and Elmes, 1997, p. 444; Hazen, 1993) is, therefore, a further element by which to extend the musical metaphor. In polyphony there are multiple voices, some conflicting, some converging. Rhythm The fourth dimension for the musician to make use of is rhythm. The tools a composer uses when working with rhythm are the tempo and meter of the piece, as well as rhythmic patterns. Just as with volume, rhythm is an element that affects the listener in a very engaging and direct manner. The listener can be engulfed in the rhythm,
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becoming absorbed. Indeed, rhythm is the musical dimension most directly related to body. Whereas form is often a dimension discerned by cerebral analysis in retrospect, rhythm is physical and felt in the present. Rhythm has a powerful presence in organizations in the form of temporal patterns and the division of time. Albert and Bell (2002) argue that a change in temporal signature is a powerful tool for redirecting how organizational actions and events unfold. For instance, dispersed teams which communicate using communication technology need a regular rhythm of face to face meetings and telephone calls in order to work alone the rest of the time, suggesting that rhythm has a reassuring quality (Maznevski and Chudoba, 2000). Rhythm in organizations could be described as the temporal, embodied element in the micro processes of change. The tools associated with rhythm are those that affect the temporal structure of work: milestones, deadlines, timetables, and cycles – the classical tools of project management. People tend to stick to certain rhythms, while organizational planning is built on recurring cycles. It has even been argued that people have a biological “project” clock (Gersick, 1988, 1989), giving them a shared sense of the flow of time in the project episode. This shared sense of the flow of time culminates in the symbolically important half-way stage, which is at the boundary of prospective and retrospective time orientations, and which triggers self-questioning and renewed urgency. The routines people stick to contribute both to stability and the ability to adapt (Feldman and Rafaeli, 2002). Routines act as a supporting structure that allows the organizational members a foothold when a different footing is called for. Polyrhythm is a phenomenon found in various forms of ethnic music: from African tribal dances to Indonesian gamelan music. Polyrhythm is created when multiple rhythms coexist, interlocking and branching from one another. As with polyphony, polyrhythm finds its counterparts in organizational life, especially in the project-oriented organizations of today: in multiple projects coinciding to create entrainment (Ancona and Chong, 1996; McGrath and Kelly, 1986) and in multiple timetables and cycles intersecting. Entrainment can involve interlinked processes which are mutually supportive. One the other hand, processes can be in conflict. In the case of the Waco siege (Albert and Bell, 2002), the negotiation process was only loosely coupled with a military process. Each had its own pacing logic and this meant that although sometimes the threat of military force was mutually supportive because it added to negotiation strength, there were times (when the waiting time got too long, when promises were broken, when military force would at least seem as if something was being done) when the authorities considered negotiation to have failed. In this case, the two entrained processes became competing and conflicting. Texture Texture is the final dimension at the musician’s disposal. This dimension is the most neglected one in the discussion of organizational change. The typical method of a composer in affecting the texture of a piece is the choice of instrumentation: will the piece be played by a symphony orchestra, a solo pianist, or a punk band. Texture can be further affected by giving guidelines to instrumentalists in how to play the piece. Whereas harmony was discussed in terms of the process of interplay of arguments and contents, in instrumentation our main interest is the interplay of the texture of the individual voices themselves, drawing the most out of the uniqueness of the distinctive
characteristics of the voices. In some instances the concept of voice can be extended to cover a distinctive performer instead of an instrument. This is especially fruitful in improvisational music. In organizations the distinctive voices of personalities, institutional positions, and interest groups have to coexist. “Employees spiritually questioning the modus operandi of contemporary production organizations may use their dissident spiritualizing practices and ‘charisma’ toward new demand-setting in organizational life” (Casey, 2004, p. 77). The essential question is how personalities and styles can interact in creating fruitful change. Central factors such as the homogeneity of culture (Martin, 1992) or company philosophy (Barney and Stewart, 2000) determine whether stylistic differences are accepted as a source of richness or whether cultural unity is the key issue. An example of organizational control of texture is “emotional labour” (Hochschild, 1983). Service organizations require their employees to internalize and project a plausible persona that establishes rapport with the customer. Who is the musical subject? Pain induced by change can be controlled through understanding the dynamic between musicological micro and macro dimensions. But who is it that controls the pain? Is the musicological metaphor created to satisfy the ideological control of a managerial mastermind? We claim that our model has multiple uses. Like most theories in organization studies, it can no doubt be used by managers. Yet, it also has emancipatory potential. We propose that when many organizational stakeholders are regarded as musicians in a change effort, the metaphor enables organizational members to use voice in the shared musical experience, as well as offers alternative modes of confronting change helpful for controlling discomfort. There is a significant dividing line between micro and macro in our five dimensions. Form is a macro level dimension while the others are more or less on the micro level. A postmodern view (Hazen, 1993; Boje, 1995) suggests that organizations consist of multiple voices (or texts) instead of one “grand narrative” (Lyotard, 1985). If our musicological metaphor were to rely solely on the dimension of form, we would end up with a model reminiscent of many popular management models, representing a pre-set symphony without any improvisation, without texture, individual experience, or micro processes. In many popular management models, change is engineered on the organizational level of analysis using visions, goals, strategies and so on. Form is necessary, however. Just as the harmonic, volume, rhythmic and textural elements of a musical performance have to be united into a perceived narrative of some sort, the micro dimensions of change should have a perceived uniting element, a text that is shared to some extent by the agents. The tools for operating with form are such elements as strategic intent (Hamel and Prahalad, 1994), BHAG’s (big, hairy, audacious goals) (Collins and Porras, 1994), Kotter’s (1996) visions, or purpose (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1994) and narratives (Shaw et al., 1998). The common denominator for these leadership devices is that they present a desired temporal direction, explaining the past and thus laying the path for the future. Concluding remarks Can organizational change be a pleasing experience for organizational members? How can the discomfort of change be controlled through structured sensemaking?
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We have sought to answer this question by critically addressing the metaphorical roots of dominant change models, and by developing a framework of change consisting of five musicological dimensions. There remain a variety of exciting questions to be explored in relation to our topic, many of them empirical. The empirical questions are largely associated with ways of experiencing a change process in an organization. Is the topic of change associated with musical qualities and therefore potentially pleasant instead of only being regarded as uncomfortable? What kinds of aesthetic qualities are associated with organizational change? How do these qualities correspond to the five musicological dimensions? What sorts of structuring techniques do practitioners employ when they experience change? Musicians and other professionals in the musical field would be interesting in terms of their metaphors concerning change. Organizations in which music is produced, for instance orchestras, bands, record companies or music schools would also be interesting venues of research in their change situations. Owing to their evocative nature, metaphors can challenge dominant realities, but also substitute existing conceptualizations rather than provide alternatives for thinking (Morgan, 1993). Therefore, there is a need for reflexivity in the use of metaphors in order to be aware of the assumptions lying behind their use (Palmer and Dunford, 1996). As any metaphor possesses some weaknesses, our musicological metaphor also has its limitations. Although we attempt to provide a comprehensive account of organizational change, our musical framework leaves out those aspects of change that the metaphor is not able to overlap, such as situations that are highly traumatic to stakeholders. For instance, in situations where personnel cuts are made, speaking of change using the vocabulary of the collective musical experience would make a mockery of the situation. Also, our intent has not been to suggest the musical metaphor as another hegemony to replace other metaphors. Indeed, claiming that “change is fun” could lead to horrendous results if such an attitude were taken as an only alternative, leading to implicit attitudes such as “change is fun and if not, you can leave.” Resisting, whistle-blowing and transforming identity are all ways of introducing changes of harmony by means of critical arguments. Sabotage, strikes or endangering deadlines are means of reducing the labor resource and hence volume. Angry exchanges and tacit distrust are means of changing texture. The musical metaphor is a tool with emancipatory potential, yet as all tools, it needs to be handled with care. References Albert, S. and Bell, G.G. (2002), “Timing and music”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 574-93. Ancona, D. and Chong, C-L. (1996), “Entrainment: pace, cycle and rhythm in organizational behavior”, Research in Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 18, pp. 251-84. Armenakis, A.A. and Harris, S.G. (2002), “Crafting a change message to create transformational readiness”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 169-84. Barney, J.B. and Stewart, A.C. (2000), “Organizational identity as moral philosophy: competitive implications for diversified corporations”, in Schultz, M., Hatch, M.J. and Larsen, M.H. (Eds), The Expressive Organization, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Barrett, F. (1998), “Creativity and improvisation in jazz and organizations: implications for organizational learning”, Organizational Science, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 605-22.
Barrett, F. (2000), “Cultivating an aesthetic of unfolding: jazz improvisation as a self-organizing system”, in Linstead, S. and Ho¨pfl, H. (Eds), The Aesthetics of Organization, Sage, London. Barry, D. and Elmes, M. (1997), “Strategy retold: toward a narrative view of strategic discourse”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 429-52. Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (1994), “Changing the role of top management: beyond strategy to purpose”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72 No. 6, pp. 79-88. Beeson, I. and Davis, C. (2000), “Emergence and accomplishment in organizational change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 178-92. Boje, D. (1995), “Stories of the storytelling organization: a postmodern analysis of Disney as ‘Tamara-Land’”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 997-1036. Boje, D. (2001), Narrative Methods for Organizational and Communication Research, Sage, London. Boyce, M.E. (1995), “Collective centering and collective sense-making in the stories and storytelling of one organization”, Organization Studies, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 107-37. Burgelman, R.A. and Grove, A.S. (1996), “Strategic dissonance”, California Management Review, Vol. 38 No. 2, pp. 8-29. Casey, C. (2004), “Bureaucracy re-enchanted? Spirit, experts and authority in organizations”, Organization, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 59-79. Collins, J.C. and Porras, J.I. (1994), Built to Last. Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Harper Business, New York, NY. Crossan, M. (1998), “Improvisation in action”, Organization Science, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 593-9. Czarniawska, B. (1998), A Narrative Approach to Organization Studies, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Dooley, R.S. and Fryxell, G.E. (1999), “Attaining decision quality and commitment from dissent: the moderating effects of loyalty and competence in strategic decision-making teams”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 389-402. Feldman, M.S. and Rafaeli, A. (2002), “Organizational routines as sources of connections and understandings”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 309-31. Festinger, L. (1957), A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. Ford, J.D. and Ford, L.W. (1995), “The role of conversations in producing intentional change in organizations”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 541-70. Francis, H. and Sinclair, J. (2003), “A processual analysis of HRM-based change”, Organization, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 685-706. Gersick, C.J.G. (1988), “Time and transition in work teams: toward a new model of group development”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 9-41. Gersick, C.J.G. (1989), “Making time: predictable transitions in task groups”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 274-309. Gustavsson, B. (2001), “Towards a transcendent epistemology of organizations: new foundations for organizational change”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 352-79. Hall, J. (2001), “Jim Hall”, Guitar Legends, Guitar World, Magazine. Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C.K. (1994), Competing for the Future, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA. Harre´, R. and Secord, P.F. (1972), The Explanation of Social Behavior, Blackwell, Oxford. Hatch, M.J. (1999), “Exploring the empty spaces of organizing: how improvisational jazz helps redescribe organizational structure”, Organization Studies, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 75-100.
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Hazen, M.A. (1993), “Towards polyphonic organization”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 6 No. 5, pp. 15-26. Hochschild, A.R. (1983), The Managed Heart, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. Humphreys, M., Brown, A.D. and Hatch, M.J. (2003), “Is ethnography jazz?”, Organization, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 5-31.
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Isabella, L.A. (1990), “Evolving interpretations as a change unfolds: how managers construe key organizational events”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 7-41. Kotter, J.P. (1996), Leading Change, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1980), Metaphors We Live By, Chicago University Press, Chicago, IL. Lewin, K. (1951), Field Theory in Social Science, Harper & Row, New York, NY. Lyotard, J. (1985), The Postmodern Condition, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN. McGrath, J.E. and Kelly, J.R. (1986), Time and Human Interaction: Toward a Social Psychology of Time, Guilford, New York, NY. Martin, J. (1992), Cultures in Organizations, Three Perspectives, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Maznevski, M.L. and Chudoba, K.M. (2000), “Bridging space over time: global virtual team dynamics and effectiveness”, Organization Science, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 473-92. Mirvis, P.H. (1998), “Practice improvisation”, Organization Science, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 586-92. Moorman, C. and Miner, A.S. (1998a), “Organizational improvisation and organizational memory”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 698-723. Moorman, C. and Miner, A.S. (1998b), “The convergence of planning and execution: improvisation in new product development”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 62 No. 3, pp. 1-20. Moorman, C., Bassoff, P. and Miner, A.S. (2001), “Organizational improvisation and learning: a field study”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 46 No. 2, pp. 304-37. Morgan, G. (1993), Imaginazation: The Art of Creative Management, Sage, London. Morgan, G. (1997), Images of Organization, Sage, London. Palmer, I. and Dunford, R. (1996), “Conflicting use of metaphors: reconceptualizing their use in the field of organizational change”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 691-717. Schein, E. (1985), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Senge, P.M. (1994), The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Doubleday, New York, NY. Shaw, G., Brown, R. and Bromiley, P. (1998), “Strategic stories: how 3M is rewriting business planning”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76 No. 3, pp. 3-8. Sillince, J.A.A. (2000), “Rhetorical power, accountability and conflict in committees: an argumentation approach”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 37 No. 8, pp. 1101-24. Tarasti, E. (1994), A Theory of Musical Semiotics, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN. Weick, K.E. (1995), Sensemaking in Organizations, Sage, London. Weick, K.E. (1998), “Improvisation as a mindset for organizational analysis”, Organization Science, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 543-55. Wood, T. (2002), “Spectacular metaphors: from theatre to cinema”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 11-21.
Further reading Beer, M. and Eisenstat, R.A. (2000), “The silent killers of strategy implementation and learning”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 29-40. Gheradi, S. and Nicolini, D. (2002), “Learning the trade: a culture of safety in practice”, Organization, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 191-223. Oswick, C., Keenoy, T. and Grant, D. (2002), “Metaphorical and analogical reasoning in organization theory: beyond orthodoxy”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 294-303. Prasad, P. (1993), “Symbolic processes in the implementation of technological change: a symbolic interactionist study of work computerization”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 36 No. 6, pp. 1400-29. Strati, A. (1992), “Aesthetic understanding of organizational life”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 568-81. Strati, A. (1999), Organisation and Aesthetics, Sage, London. Taylor, F.W. (1998), The Principles of Scientific Management, Dover, New York, NY. Van De Ven, A.H. and Poole, M.S. (1995), “Explaining development and change in organizations”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 510-40. Corresponding author Saku Mantere can be contacted at:
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Book reviews Retreats that Work, Expanded Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Planning and Leading Great Offsites Merianne Liteman, Sheila Campbell and Jeff Liteman Pfeiffer San Francisco, CA 2006 Review DOI 10.1108/09534810710740245 Most change management efforts involve a retreat, even when the change agents or consultants have not thought about it initially. Retreats, whether conducted in a fancy hotel or a remote wilderness lodge, entail reflection or some form of thinking about thinking. Leaders may raise questions about strategy for the organization or the direction or pace of the change effort underway. Irrespective of the goals or the level of intervention, facilitating retreats is a special form of facilitation because of the high stakes involved with the client resource investment and the high expectations for results. It is further complicated by client and participant hopes sometimes differing widely. Retreats that Work focuses on results and on methods of orchestrating the many elements of retreats, offering discussion and advice that is as purposeful as we are told a facilitator must be throughout the entire process of contracting, planning and leading the retreat, to the final report. When well orchestrated, all pieces build to a great offsite and great client results. Participants will have experienced the joy of generating ideas, will have faced tough decisions and created a plan for action that should yield results in the workplace. Several chapters address specific types of retreats; advice and activities in those can be applicable to other sorts of retreats as well. Liteman, Campbell and Liteman bring us many illustrative stories of what can go very well and what can go wrong in leading retreats. They offer advice, some as clear as warning us not to undertake a retreat if a retreat is not appropriate, and they provide the guidelines – nine reasons to hold a retreat and ten reasons not to hold a retreat. Other advice brings fundamentals into the open in the order in which the facilitator needs to apply them. The planning stage is essential: secure commitments from the client about openness and intentions, ask for desired outcomes and align yourself with those, negotiate for the flexibility to custom design the retreat and for the flexibility to make mid-course corrections as issues arise. They summarize their acquired wisdom in a checklist for partnering with the client. They discuss the other stages of retreats just as skillfully and in order, concluding the first section with closing the retreat and working on implementation. In the second section of the book the authors provide materials for the client including how to work with the facilitator. A third element is a compact disc tucked into a pocket at the back containing materials the reader may share with clients: the small handbook of advice for the client and a number of handouts and templates that are part of the participant activities described in the book.
The goal of a retreat is for the participants to create something together, whether it is a new way of behaving together, a strategic plan or an innovation. They come together in a retreat because it is more conducive than the workplace to the awareness and conversations that are the beginning of group creation. The facilitator sets the conditions for these experiences and makes them richer with activities that open individuals to levels in themselves that are not tapped day to day at work, allowing them to contribute depth to the effort. As these individual resources come together they spark creative ideas for the organization. Retreats that Work is a fine resource of activities presented as a richly varied smorgasbord for facilitators. When it would be useful, templates and handouts for them are included on the enclosed CD. Taken together, the activities address many components of building toward results as well as addressing a broad range of personal characteristics and group dynamics. They use silence and reflection as well as highly energetic activity. The authors rightly believe that people are most productive when they use their emotional and artistic selves as well as intellectual selves. They use their physical selves in moving around and changing the immediate setting, and also in a few exercises. All activities are written clearly and many have an additional anecdotal experience in using it with a particular group. Activities usually come with a special section of “facilitator notes,” which are always worthwhile cautions to consider. They often come with call-out boxes for “experiential elements” and “set-up.” One sample activity that I have used with much success asks small groups to make collages that represent a particular idea or goal. Another sample and one of the many delightful activities that are new to me is an “obstacle buster” (one of three) that involves balloons representing identified obstacles, batted about then burst, and subgroups discussing the resources available to them to overcome the obstacles. The authors also offer models that help participants analyze components or opportunities of the particular discussion point. The idea of retreating, of pulling back from the hectic daily work world in order to regroup has enormous appeal in a world that is moving very fast. In retreating with the very people who share your hamster wheel, however, there may well be suppressed thoughts and feelings in the group that now have the space to get to the surface. As the facilitator sets the conditions for generating possibilities and commitments, the facilitator also sets the conditions for the container of the retreat site to be a safe place rather than an explosives factory, a safe place where differences can come forth and be examined productively and the energies that power some emotions can be used generatively. The authors counsel facilitators to begin the work of creating this space in the early meetings with the client. They entreat us to be well informed about the client, the people and the dynamics before we begin our design. Interview the client thoroughly and negotiate to interview all participants. Additionally, negotiate for the flexibility during the retreat in order to make adjustments to the flow of the retreat according to the discoveries that occur. Creating and maintaining the safe space of the container occurs in the retreat itself. The skilled facilitator will have planned activities to appeal to the several strengths, personality types and motivational states that he/she expects to show up, at the same time building to the desired results. And then, as anticipated and unanticipated behaviors occur, the facilitator will judge when to let the group handle things and when to step in and manage the situation preserving everyone’s dignity. When to intervene is
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a section of this book, as well as how to handle a variety of ways in which things can go wrong. The authors provide many notes to facilitators on the potential for difficulties and alerts for special care in some situations. The facilitator’s skills come into the spotlight when there are clashes or hostility in the group, when someone really disrupts the discussion, when a few members dominate the discussion, and when the offender of the norms established for the retreat is a senior manager. The advice here is brief and to the point. How willing participants are to participate in the work and how well goals are served depend on the dynamics of the organization and also on the facilitator’s skill in planning and in action. As well as specialized retreat skills, this book covers facilitator skills that are common to most group learning situations:: knowing what interactions and outcomes can be gained from specific activities, allowing for a variety of personal styles, and maintaining the energy and interest of the group. In leading the planned retreat, the facilitator must be constantly mindful of his/her role, what it is and what it is not. Self awareness is an essential quality for good facilitation. The reader finds page after page describing intentional behaviors for setting up situations for the participants and for reading and responding to participant behaviors, encouraging participation, knowing when and how to intervene, giving feedback, dealing with diverse cultures and norms in the group, recording the work, and monitoring the group’s energy. For a quick synopsis, one page is a call-out box of “Best and worst facilitator practices.” The authors acknowledge throughout their sources of inspiration and learning in the literature. There are occasional call-out boxes suggesting a particular book as valuable to the discussion at hand. There is an extensive list of recommended resources at the end categorized by Appreciative inquiry, Assessments, Case studies, Contracting with your client, Creative thinking, Diversity, Dividing people into groups, Facilitation, Flip chart preparation, Specialized retreat formats, Strategy, Teamwork and team building, and Varying methodologies. The authors refer many times to the facilitator’s skill. I suggest they are also describing the art of facilitation with this guide. It is an orchestration of great complexity with the piece not written until the retreat concludes. They remind us that “the word facilitation comes from the Latin root facilis, which means easy.” The work of the facilitator is to make the work of the clients easy. The work of the facilitator is not easy. It is exhausting work, worthwhile work and ultimately satisfying work. Using this book, however, is not exhausting work, because the authors have made it easy to use and they have set enough guideposts along the way to make the job of facilitating retreats an easier one. It is a worthwhile book and a very satisfying one. Retreats that Work is a fundamental reference for facilitators. Its value begins with the first chapter’s cautionary advice that retreats are not always appropriate in which the authors point out specific limitations of the approach. Its value continues with positive guidance. Once an informed decision is made to hold a retreat, the authors want us to know how to design and deliver one most effectively. I believe the book easily accomplishes that goal. Kate Trygstad Creative Facilitating, Arlington, Virginia, USA
Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization Dennis S. Reina and Michelle L. Reina 2nd ed. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. San Francisco, CA 2006 Keywords Trust, Workplace, Employee relations Trust makes the corporate world go round, contend authors Dennis and Michelle Reina, who have spent the past 15 years studying why we trust, why we stop trusting, and how we can rebuild and sustain trust once it has been violated. Their premise is simple and straightforward: businesses run on relationships, and trust is essential to the health and well being of relationships. Trusting workers, say the Reinas, are by and large happy workers. They are free to focus on their jobs rather than on managing dysfunctional relationships in the workplace. They feel good about themselves, their jobs and the companies they work for. They are energized, inspired and excited about what they do. They believe the channels of communication are open and are not afraid of making mistakes. On the other hand, when trust has been violated or compromised, people may react in any number of negative ways. They may shut down, get angry, withhold or distort information, turn vengeful and, in some cases, become violent or destructive. When that happens, leaders (be they team leaders, supervisors, managers, directors or executives) need to know how to intervene and restore trustful relationships. These can be some of the more difficult issues leaders must deal with, not only because they are highly charged emotionally, but also because leaders, too, may feel conflicted about the factors that have created the situation. To the Reinas’ credit, they do not focus solely on instances when trust needs repairing. Throughout the book they make the case for actively creating and maintaining trust at all levels of the organization. At the end of each chapter they include exercises and tips for practicing positive behaviors that build and sustain trust. Even the subject headings for the major sections of the book – “Why trust,” “What trust means and how to build it,” “Where trust begins,” “When trust breaks down” and “Trust building in the field” – emphasize prevention through the building of trust rather than remedies for healing wounded relationships. The heart of Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace is The Reina Trust and Betrayal Modelw, which schematizes their approach to diagnosing the behaviors that, when practiced, contribute to building and sustaining trust or, when neglected, result in feelings of distrust and betrayal. The model is divided into three major components, each with its own subcomponents. The first component is comprised of the factors that contribute to “transactional trust,” that is, trust that is established when the parties in mutual exchanges fulfill one another’s expectations. These factors are trust of character, or contractual trust; trust of disclosure, or communication trust; and trust of capability, or competence trust. The second major component has to do with the things that affect our capacity to trust – both ourselves and others – and others’ capacity to trust us. The Reinas have identified four “capacity for trust attributes”: realism,
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abstractness, complexity and differentiation. The third, and last, component deals with betrayal – how severe it is and how one re-establishes trust in the aftermath. Utilizing the model and practicing the positive behaviors it embodies will lead in time, the Reinas claim, to “transformative trust.” This is the stage at which the individuals within a group or organization are consciously and intentionally seeking to build and sustain trust, and are quick to remedy the situation when trust has been breeched. Groups or organizations that have reached this stage, they say, experience higher levels of energy, inspiration and productivity, buoyed by the positive, affirming atmosphere of trust. Also, they contend, individuals in such organizations are not afraid to take risks or make mistakes, because they are confident that, no matter what happens, they will be given the benefit of the doubt and an opportunity to make their case or admit their error. The Reinas’ practical, straightforward and easy-to-apply approach to such a volatile topic makes Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace a helpful and friendly advisor to human resource personnel or organizational leaders who must navigate the often murky waters of workplace relationships. Theirs is not an in-depth examination of the psychology of trust and betrayal, an examination of the erosion of trust in today’s corporations, or even particularly a litany of woes of the many betrayals that workers experience every day. They offer up their model as a proven, pragmatic approach for sorting out the mess, diagnosing the problem, prescribing the remedy and moving on. There are no heroes or villains here, just good folk who sometime go astray and hurt others. When that happens they need to be brought back into the community and peace and harmony restored. At its core, this is very much a book about acceptance and acknowledging in oneself the flaws and the blind spots, as well as the strength and compassion, that one perceives in others. For the Reinas, remedying betrayal is about forgiveness and healing, not chastising the offender or getting restitution. Perhaps that is why the chapters on betrayal and rebuilding trust seem to be the strongest. In these chapters the book takes an unexpected turn away from the group or organization to focus on the feelings of the individual who has been betrayed. They posit that the only way to counteract the damage done by betrayal is to forgive the betrayer and let go. Groups, too, need to go through this process, say the Reinas, if there is ever to be real closure that will provide real healing and a chance for future health. It is a startling recommendation for a management book, with its strong message of personal transformation: “Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves.” Yet despite the echoes of Christine doctrine and the use of a rather formulaic seven-step process, it stands as the most original and intriguing insight in the book – the one that lasts after you have set it down. A particularly helpful aspect of the book is the way that the Reinas, through the case studies and client interactions they relate, subtly model preferred behaviors and ways of communicating. By showing rather than telling, they bring other voices into the book that bear witness to the efficacy of the approach the Reinas are advocating. By the same token, one of the drawbacks of the book, at least to my mind, is its reliance on popular psychology and the more superficial forms of cognitive therapy. The people presented are almost always having breakthroughs after responding to a few probing questions. Exclamation marks are plentiful. The speakers tend to proclaim in rather abstract terms the present barometer reading of their feelings or espouse the virtues of
right behavior. The section on how to forgive oneself and others, for instance, is preceded by this anonymous epigraph:
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I may forgive George, because the anger is wearing me down. But I will never forget the lessons I have learned – nor should I. They are too darn valuable to forget! (p. 134)
This is not how people talk in any organization I have every worked in. It has a kind of dcript-like quality to it, overly processed and sanitized. After a while one wonders when are the Reinas actually quoting actual clients and when are they inventing voices to suit their ends. Many of the exercises seek to have the reader regurgitate the material presented in the chapter rather than really probe deeper into understanding their own behavior or that of their co-workers. Likewise, some of the “insights” about trust seem trite, however true they may be, such as that people are not likely to trust you if do not tell them the truth or do what you say you will do. They need to be said, but explained? Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace was first published in 1999. This new edition includes an additional chapter of case studies, “Stories from the field,” but otherwise, there appears to be little new material. So why publish a new edition? The answer appears to be marketing. On the surface, the book offers the fruits of their years of consulting as encapsulated in The Reina Trust and Betrayal Modelw (note the conspicuous use of the register mark). Nonetheless, throughout the book the authors let it be known, both implicitly and explicitly, that use of their services (either as consultants or trainers) and other Trust Buildingw (there is that register mark again) resources (a list of which is conveniently provided at the back of the book) is highly recommended. This rather blatant exercise of self-promotion throws an unfortunate pall of dubiety, if not distrust, across what is an otherwise humane and helpful text. This tendency toward self-promotion sometimes manifests itself in odd and tasteless ways. For instance, the authors speak of themselves in the first person most of the time, but refer to themselves in the third person when relating how they were hired by a client. Someone suggests they bring in “Dennis” or call “Michelle.” The most egregious instance occurs in one of the case studies. The entire “case study,” which goes on for more than six pages, consists mainly of various people seated around a table talking about how wonderful “Michelle” is and how amazing her results are, etc. One cannot help wishing that the Reinas had shown a bit more restraint or, at the very least, confined the advertising to the preface or appendix. Despite these flaws, however, for those grappling with issues of trust in their groups or organizations, or for those seeking a more positive approach to managing people, one could do worse than Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace. The Reinas have an ambitious vision of organizations, guided by enlightened and compassionate leaders, that thrive because they help their employees thrive. Although their topic is trust and betrayal, their goal is to minimize the damage betrayal can cause and emphasize the positive consequences of trusting. It is an approach that is likely to appeal to the reason as well as the heart of leaders who care about their people and their companies, and who want both to succeed. Michael Berens George Mason University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
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Call for papers Journal of Organizational Change Management Special issue on
Storytelling: whose change? Co-editors for this special issue: Sajev Dugal (University of Rhode Island), Matthew Eriksen (University of Florida, Tampa), Robert van Boeschoten & Hugo Letiche, University for Humanistics, Utrecht, The Netherlands Issue 5 (or 6); manuscripts due 1 May 2008
Please direct submissions to Robert van Boeschoten on
[email protected] by 31 May 2007 Storytelling is being trumpeted as a way of generating group and/or organizational self-identity and understanding. This special number focuses on the (im-)possibilities of storytelling as practitioner self-discovery through self-ethnography (Alvesson, 2003). Are practitioners by narrating their own work to one another able to discover their own identity-in-practice and contrast it to officially-correct-stories (Abma, 2003)? What is told via self-exploration is often different from what should-be-told; can the stories of lived-practice serve in organization as inspiration for purposeful, committed and effective action? Stories supposedly draw tellers and listeners alike into webs of rich associations and connections. Stories act as containers for awareness, change and transformation. But ‘‘stories’’ come in all sorts of forms: from the boss’s forceful persuasion to the sharing of experiences of disobedience. Stories may be constructed from personal anecdotes, conceptual metaphors, practical analogies, tragic as well as comic tales, etcetera. Stories perhaps require plot, rich description, character development, or whatever. In this special number we are not so much interested in what the different types of stories do or do not have to contain. Nor is our focus storytelling as a managerial tool rotating around the effective influencing of others. Self-narration of practice as an organizational learning tool is the focus. Developing and sharing narrations of work is to be explored as a powerful tool of self-awareness and organizational practice. Linked to this is a manifold of issues. The ground for the research to be explored focuses on narrative used to build up identity in relation to work, colleagues, organization and change. The narrative methodology of self-ethnography is the starting point for exploring (non-) change initiated by exploring professional identity in-practice. Even if self-ethnography produces rich ‘‘stories’’ valued by practitioners and replete with potential, will these ‘‘stories’’ be accepted and esteemed by the organization? Or do systems of narrative inevitably just produce illusions of control, defining
inside versus outside, probable versus improbable, structure versus chaos. Is organization inevitably narratively constructed as ordered, rational and purposive with the ‘‘other’’ represented as unstructured, goal-less and chaotic (Czarniawska, 1997). Oppositions will be retained; systems of opposition will triumph; stories of practice will be repressed. Can storytelling’s promise, that the recognition by (the group of) individuals via reflection on own practice will produce narratives with significant change value, be maintained? Who ‘‘gains’’ in storytelling? Can self-ethnography achieve ‘‘work-place learning’’ wherein self and circumstance are brought narratively closer together? Or does storytelling just serve for all the more managerialism? Questions about this special issue, including expectations, requirements, appropriateness of topic and the like, can be directed to Robert van Boeschoten at:
[email protected] Submission guidelines: information for contributors to JOCM can be obtained from www.emeraldinsight.com/jocm.htm Submissions must adhere to the requirements for authors of JOCM. All submissions will be subject to double blind review per the journal review policy.
References Abma, T. (2003), ‘‘Learning by telling’’, Management Learning, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 221–40 Alvesson, M. (2003), ‘‘Methodology for close-up studies’’, Higher Education, Vol. 46, pp. 167–93 Czarniawska, B. (1997), Narrating the Organization, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL Keywords: Self-ethnography, Professional development, Storytelling, Case-studies, Narrative learning
Call for papers Journal of Organizational Change Management Special issue on
Worker identity, social isolation and absence of community: challenges for the future Editor for this special issue: Denise Faifua, School of Management, University of Tasmania Please direct submissions to Denise Faifua on
[email protected] by 25 September 2007
The focus of this special issue is on worker identity, social isolation, and the absence of options for community as Western labour markets continue to be driven by individualism, globalisation and neo-liberal politics. Traditional trade unionism is in decline in Western economies and there has been a growing trend away from servicing models of unionism to the organising models of community unionism (Heery et al., 2000). Community unionism builds tactical alliances with other interest groups, e.g. consumer groups, human rights groups, shareholders. The problem with strategically mobilising community unionism is that while alliances between unions and non-union groups are useful they are only temporary and the relationship to recruitment and mobilisation of workers is not strong (Sadler, 2004). By contrast, social movement unionism is a type of community unionism that seeks to build from the grassroots. It may be that social union movement has the potential to raise the consciousness, mobilise workers and produce much stronger bonds in community for those in the labour market who are exploited; i.e. casualised workers, women, immigrants, the unemployed, the unorganised, those living below the poverty line. According to Ness (2005, p. 196) mobilisation is not based solely on ethnicity, religion, race, or ideology but is also shaped by a sense of camaraderie in the workplace, isolation and the absence of options. Ness, illustrates how immigrant workers organise themselves in the workplace even before unions come on the scene and how workers are eager to improve wages and working conditions through self-organizing. Fink (2003) illuminates the interpretative tensions of worker identity and community aspiration. Workers can remain tied to their homelands as is the case with migrants who are culturally unaffected by economically forced migration; they can experience contradictory tugs of insider and outsider identity based on second generation immigrant status; or they can avoid local worker identity and community aspiration by adopting a transnational identity. Cornfield et al. (1998)argue the loss of
careers and long-term employment relationships provides unions with an opportunity to help workers rebuild their own meaningful communities. Heery et al. (2000) point out a central objective of organising models of unionism is generally to promote the expansion of trade unionism amongst women, the young, and immigrant workers who are at the rough end of the labour market. Yet, ‘‘who sticks with whom and under what conditions poses one of the classic questions as well as a continuing challenge to organisers on the ground’’ (Fink, 2003, p. 177). We welcome papers that address these issues (and more as the coverage is not exhaustive) in the context of encouraging community aspirations and challenging traditional trade unionism. We seek theoretical and empirical papers, literature reviews, stories, interpretations and ethnographies on worker identity, social exclusion, and community building and aspiration, but particularly seek papers which propose, suggest, recommend the way forward for community unionism. Questions about this special issue, can be directed to Denise Faifua on
[email protected] Submission guidelines: information for contributors to JOCM can be obtained from www.emeraldinsight.com/jocm.htm Submissions must adhere to the requirements for authors of JOCM. All submissions will be subject to double blind review per the journal review policy.
References Cornfield, D., McGammon, H., McDaniel, D. and Eatman, D. (1998), ‘‘In the community or in the union? The impact of community involvement on non union worker attitudes about unionising’’, in Bronfenbrenner, K., Friedman, S., Hund, W., Oswald, R. and Seeber, R. (Eds), Organising to Win: New Research on Union Strategies, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, pp. 247–58
Call for papers Fink, L. (2003), The Maya of Morganton: Work and Community in the Nuevo New South, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, MC Heery, E., Simms, M., Simpson, D., Delbridge, R. and Salmon, J. (2000), ‘‘Organising unionism comes to the UK’’, Employee Relations, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 38 –57, accepted October 1999
Ness, I. (2005), Immigrants, Unions and the New US Labor Market, Philadelphia, PA, Temple University Press Sadler, D. (2004), ‘‘Trade unions, coalitions and communities: Australias construction, forestry, mining and energy union and the international stakeholder campaign against Rio Tinto’’, Geoforum, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 35 –46
