Understanding management gurus and historical narratives: The benefits of a historic turn in management and organization studies

A historic turn in organization studies requires a basic theoretical understanding of ‘doing history’ and an appreciation of the centrality of narrative in history. Following the cultural turn in history, narrativist historians and philosophers of history such as Hayden White, Frank Ankersmit and Paul Ricoeur have made the case that narrative is an essential and unavoidable component in history. We demonstrate the persuasive capacity of narrative through a narrativist critique of three best-selling ‘management gurus’. This analysis illustrates the following: (1) the narrative features of popular organizational theories; (2) the basis of the success of guru literature; and (3) why gurus and organizational scientists themselves do not understand the narratological mechanisms behind their success. Finally, we maintain that historical narrativism offers the possibility for positioning organizational history as a highly relevant field for management academics, gurus and even managers, providing support for a historic turn

The gonadotropin-releasing hormone associated peptide reduces calcium entry in prolactin-secreting cells

The precursor molecule to the GnRH contains a peptide named GnRH-associated peptide (GAP) with PRL-inhibiting properties. In this work, we have studied the electrophysiological properties and responses to GAP of three different types of PRL-secreting cells: 1) the rat tumor cell line GH3, 2) normal rat pituitary cells in primary culture, and 3) human PRL-secreting adenoma cells. Using different but complementary techniques we show that GAP reduces intracellular Ca++ levels, [Ca++]i, and inhibits Ca++ transients in these cells. This reduction of [Ca++]i results from coordinate actions of GAP on K+ and Ca++ conductances and may explain the inhibitory effect of GAP on hormonal secretion by PRL-secreting cells