Research strategies for organizational history:a dialogue between historical theory and organization theory

If history matters for organization theory, then we need greater reflexivity regarding the epistemological problem of representing the past; otherwise, history might be seen as merely a repository of ready-made data. To facilitate this reflexivity, we set out three epistemological dualisms derived from historical theory to explain the relationship between history and organization theory: (1) in the dualism of explanation, historians are preoccupied with narrative construction, whereas organization theorists subordinate narrative to analysis; (2) in the dualism of evidence, historians use verifiable documentary sources, whereas organization theorists prefer constructed data; and (3) in the dualism of temporality, historians construct their own periodization, whereas organization theorists treat time as constant for chronology. These three dualisms underpin our explication of four alternative research strategies for organizational history: corporate history, consisting of a holistic, objectivist narrative of a corporate entity; analytically structured history, narrating theoretically conceptualized structures and events; serial history, using replicable techniques to analyze repeatable facts; and ethnographic history, reading documentary sources "against the grain." Ultimately, we argue that our epistemological dualisms will enable organization theorists to justify their theoretical stance in relation to a range of strategies in organizational history, including narratives constructed from documentary sources found in organizational archives. Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved

Excavations at Ashkelon; in the footsteps of the Philistines

Item consists of a digitized copy of a video recording of a Vancouver Institute lecture given by Lawrence Stager on November 14, 1992. Original video recording available in the University Archives (UBC VT 273).Non UBCUnreviewedFacult

Women first?: on the legacy of primitive communism

One of the most important contributions to the study of the Hebrew Bible in the last 25 years is the argument for a mode of production unique to early Israel. Variously called the communitarian (Norman Gottwald), household (Carol Meyers), domestic (David Jobling and Ronald Simkins), or familial (Gail Yee), such a mode of production urges a firm basis in the study of political economics or Marxism. However, another feature of these arguments (apart from Simkins) is that such a mode of production was at least comparatively better for women. The concern of this article is to trace such a motif back through the work of biblical scholars to Marshall Sahlins, the anthropologist who first proposed the domestic mode of production, and then to the crucial work of Friedrich Engels, Lewis Henry Morgan, and J.J. Bachofen. What this article finds is that primitive communism has a more durable legacy in biblical studies than may at first appear

Auto conceito e imagem corporal em crianças obesas

Este trabalho teve como objetivo descrever o que pensam crianças obesas sobre seus corpos. Para tanto o delineamento metodológico incluiu um grupo de obesos e outro de não obesos. As crianças responderam a dois instrumentos que tocam nessas questões de forma sistematizada - Escala Piers Harris de Auto-Conceito e Eating Behviours and Body Image Test. O grupo de crianças obesas era composto por 14 meninas e 13 meninos, com idades entre 10 a 12 anos e índice de massa corporal variando de P85 a P95 ou acima; o de não obesas era composto por 15 meninas e 12 meninos, com a mesma faixa etária e índice de massa corporal entre P5 a P<85. Os resultados mostraram que as crianças obesas estão mais insatisfeitas com seu corpo e aparência. Entretanto, elas identificam em si características físicas positivas e outros atributos pessoais. Embora menos preocupadas, as crianças não obesas também manifestam insatisfação, possivelmente devido às pressões culturais sobre a aparência física

What Is Organizational History? Toward a Creative Synthesis of History and Organization Studies

This is the author accepted manuscript.As a synthesis of organization theory and historiography, the field of organizational history is mature enough to contribute to wider theoretical and historiographical debates and sufficiently developed for a theoretical consideration of its subject matter. We take up the question, “What is organizational history?” and consider three distinct arguments that we believe frame the next phase of development for historical work within organization studies. First we argue that following the “historic turn,” organizational history has developed as a subfield of organization studies that takes seriously the matter of history, promoting historical research as a way to enrich the broad endeavor of organization. Second, if “history matters” then organization theory needs a theoretical account of the past that goes beyond the mere use of history as a context to test or an example to illustrate theory. Finally, the focus on “history that matters” in the present leads to two important considerations: how organizations can use “rhetorical history” as a strategic resource, and the need to engage with historiographically significant subjects that connect organization theory to larger humanistic concerns such as slavery and racism