Positive Perspectives on Organizing and Organizational Change: A Conversation with Gretchen Spreitzer

Professor Gretchen was the Distinguished Speaker for the Organization Development and Change (ODC) Division at the 2018 Academy of Management Meeting held in Chicago. In her address, she shared her latest thinking on co-working and thriving at work, and explored the implications for organization development and change. Following the presentation, we interviewed her about these topics and her broader contribution to the field of positive organizational scholarship. During our conversation, we discussed some of the formative influences on Professor Spreitzer's career direction and scholarship. Then, we explored her enduring commitment to researching and promoting a positive orientation towards organizations and organizational life. Finally, we concluded by eliciting her ideas on the future of work and the concomitant implications for organization development and change

Of Definitions, Demarcation, and Disaggregation: Some Comments on the Dynamic Application of Diagnostic and Dialogic Organization Development

Hastings and Schwarz (2022) provide a lucid account of how change is affected by the choice to engage in diagnostic or dialogic processes of organization development. More specifically, based upon their analysis of 79 cases, they assert that the likelihood of change success is increased in instances where “leaders choose to oscillate between these two processes [i.e. diagnostic and dialogic processes] as change unfolds” (Hastings & Schwarz, 2022:5). Their argument is persuasive and we find ourselves in broad agreement with the conclusions they draw. However, we want to take this opportunity to elaborate on what we see as some further implications and possible entailments of their contribution. In particular, we want to offer some brief comments on two issues. First, we consider how we describe the two contrasting processes (i.e., a definitional issue) and how we distinguish between them (i.e., a demarcation issue). Second, and based upon the challenges of establishing boundaries and drawing meaningful distinctions, how we “oscillate” between the processes (i.e., an issue of dynamics)

Re-Imagining Images of Organization: A Conversation With Gareth Morgan

In this article, we review the metaphors presented by Morgan in Images of Organization and highlight how they simultaneously act as “relatively static reflections” (i.e., they provide a history of organization theory) and “relatively dynamic projections” (i.e., stimulating the formulation of further organizational images). We also discuss the potential for new organizational metaphors and consider two specific metaphors (i.e., the “global brain” and “organization as media”). We also challenge the established punctuated metaphorical process (i.e., a transfer from a metaphorical source domain to an organizational target domain), propose a dynamic perspective of interchange (i.e., source domain to target domain to source domain and so on), and develop the notion of multidirectionality (i.e., two-way projections between target and source domains)

Metaphor in organizational research: Context, modalities and implications for research introduction

We provide a general overview of previous work which has explored the use of metaphors in organizational research. Differences in focus and form of research on metaphors are noted. Work in organization theory (OT) and organizational communication (OC) generally features prescriptive metaphors that aid the practice of theorizing and research; research in organizational development (OD) tends to use metaphors for intervention in individual and group decision-making; while studies of organizational behaviour (OB) emphasize the metaphors-in-use within individuals' sensemaking accounts of critical events within their organization. Alongside these differences in focus, the form of metaphor analysis also differs across these contexts, ranging from text- and discourse-based analysis to the analysis of non-linguistic modalities such as pictorial signs, gestures and artefacts. Based on our overview of previous work, we call for greater attention to methodological issues around metaphor identification and analysis and outline a number of directions for further research

Organization theory and military metaphor: time for a reappraisal?

A ‘conventional’ use of military metaphor would use it to convey attributes such as hierarchical organization, vertical communication and limited autonomy. This is often used in contrast to a looser form of organization based on the metaphor of the network. However, this article argues that military practice is more complex, with examples of considerable autonomy within the constraints of central direction. It is suggested that not only might this be a more useful metaphor for many contemporary organizations, but also that simplistic uses of military metaphor divert our attention away from the functions that management hierarchies play. The discussion is embedded within a critical realist account of metaphor, arguing for both its value and the need for its further development

Reflections: OD or Not OD that is the Question! A Constructivist's Thoughts on the Changing Nature of Change

The landscape of organization development (OD) has changed significantly over the last several decades. This article provides a broad commentary on these changes. In particular, it offers a critique of 'current OD' in terms of the marginalization of materiality in discourse-based OD techniques and the neglect of problem-centred, diagnostic approaches in favour of solution-driven, emergent approaches. The future of OD is also explored in relation to the scope for meaningful 'bottom-up OD' (i.e. employee-instigated change) and 'outside-in OD' (i.e. involving a range of non-organizational stakeholders). © 2013 Taylor & Francis

Organizational Discourse: Domains, Debates, and Directions

Interest in the analysis of organizational discourse has expanded rapidly over the last two decades. In this article, we reflect critically on organizational discourse analysis as an approach to the study of organizations and management, highlighting both its strengths and areas of challenge. We begin with an explanation of the nature of organizational discourse analysis and outline some of the more significant contributions made to date. We then discuss existing classifications of approaches to the study of organizational discourse and suggest that they fall into two main categories: classifications by level of analysis and classifications by type of method. We argue that both of these approaches are inherently problematic and present an alternative way to understand the varieties of approaches to the analysis of organizational discourse based on within domain and across domain characterizations. We conclude with a discussion of the challenges that remain in the development of organizational discourse as an area of study and point to some of the opportunities for important and unique contributions to our understanding of organizations and management that this family of methods brings. © 2012 Copyright Academy of Management

Building professional discourse in emerging markets: Language, context and the challenge of sensemaking

Using ethnographic evidence from the former Soviet republics, this article examines a relatively new and mainly unobserved in the International Business (IB) literature phenomenon of communication disengagement that manifests itself in many emerging markets. We link it to the deficiencies of the local professional business discourse rooted in language limitations reflecting lack of experience with the market economy. This hampers cognitive coherence between foreign and local business entities, adding to the liability of foreignness as certain instances of professional experience fail to find adequate linguistic expression, and complicates cross-cultural adjustments causing multi-national companies (MNCs) financial losses. We contribute to the IB literature by examining cross-border semantic sensemaking through a retrospectively constructed observational study. We argue that a relative inadequacy of the national professional idiom is likely to remain a feature of business environment in post-communist economies for some time and therefore should be factored into business strategies of MNCs. Consequently, we recommend including discursive hazards in the risk evaluation of international projects

Discourse of the real kind: A post-foundational approach to organizational discourse analysis

In response to the postmodern invasion of organization studies, some critics have issued increasingly loud cries that we should ‘get real’ about organizational discourse analysis. But what precisely do these proponents take to be the ‘real’? In this article we trace out some of the attempts of ‘getting real’, arguing that these approaches have some important limitations. We then explore the relevance of a post-foundational approach to discourse, which, we argue, have far reaching implications for the study of organizational discourse. We argue that such approach offers us a way of theoretically linking the ‘real’ with (1) the way discourses are structured around fundamental gaps, (2) how discourses are brought together through nodal points and (3) how discourses generate affective and emotional attachment. We then offer some suggestions of how these points can be used to study organizational processes. We conclude by reflecting on some of the limitations of this approach to studying discourse