Language Matters, from Logics of Organization Theory: Audiences, Codes, and Ecologies (original) (raw)
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Organization Studies, 2002
Having indicated some of the recurring difficulties in establishing a conceptual or philosophical link between theory and practice, the author examines the relation between organization theory and the practices of academics, managers and other organizational participants. He argues that this relation is shaped by the way organizational theories are disseminated in the face of an expanding hegemony of consumerization and consumerism. Like other commodities, organizational theories are not used passively, in general, but in a creative, opportunistic and individualistic way. In this, they resemble folk knowledge, such as cooking recipes and cookery books, which different users employ or experiment with in widely differing ways, for widely differing ends. In contrast to both programme and paradigm, the author uses the term 'paragramme' to indicate a shifting stock of ideas, routines, images and ingredients which invite improvization and elaboration, rather than copying or adherence.
On the Language of Organization Theory
Organization Studies, 1989
Theories of organization rely upon verbs such as shape, determine, select, and choose. Although these verbs appear to depict processes of organization, instead they obscure organization processes behind empty and misbegotten abstractions. These verbs are shown to have the character of achievements; their grammatical form encompasses the very outcomes they purport to explain. The reasons why such verbs exist and are used so prevalently are explored and implications for revising the language of organization theory are considered.
Negations and Ambiguities in the Cultures of Organization
American Anthropologist, 2000
In this article I examine the difference between concepts of culture contained in organizational studies and those in anthropology. The twentieth-century emergence of rationalized organizations poses an unmet challenge to anthropological theory. The unique cultural consequences of the organizational form are found in the cultures of command and authority, adaptation and resistance, alienation and inclusion that are found in every organization. These separate cultures interrogate each other and draw on cultural resources outside the organization. In the final section I examine some of the mechanisms with which organizations manage the ambiguities of boundaries and differentiation. Drawing on theories of rites of passage, personhood, gift-exchange, and totemism, I describe the quotidian practices of staffing, sales, and accounting as symbolic processes for managing ambiguity, [organization, culture, theory]
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In this article we examine the relationship between discourse and organization. It is a relationship of growing interest in the communication literature as organizations are increasingly framed as discursive constructions. However, such framing appears subject to at least 3 interpretations. First, an organization may be cast as an already formed object with features and outcomes reflected in discourse. Second, organizations may be seen in a perpetual state of becoming through the ways that the properties of discourse shape organizing. Finally, organizations may be grounded in action, anchored in social practices and discursive forms. Moreover, each of these 3 orientations provides a different cast to the terms discourse and Discourses. We use these interpretations and different notions about discourse to explore the research traditions on organizational language and social interaction. We contend that all 3 orientations are necessary and should operate simultaneously to reveal a complex view of the organization-discourse relationship.
Categorizing Institutional Logics, Institutionalizing Categories: A Review of Two Literatures
The Academy of Management Annals, 2018
This review assembles two highly referenced streams of research in organization and management studies over the past decade: institutional logics and categories. We present the gist of each literature focusing on the interaction within and between organizations vis-à-vis the institutional logics and category systems that condition behavior. Then, we suggest that both streams have compatible assumptions that warrant further integration and suggest opportunities for future research stemming from (1) complementarities related to inter-and intra-audience variance, formation and recombination of logics and categories, and actors' identity and (2) differences related to theory level of analysis, incorporation of conflict, and methods of analysis. Integration can lead to better specified mechanisms, processes, and contexts important to improving accuracy and development of these research streams. We would like to acknowledge Eunice Rhee and Jade Lo for their insights and initiative in organizing the Symposium on Institutional Logics and Categories: Reflections, Integration, and Future Directions at the 2016 Academy of Management, the other panelists of this symposium, Candy Jones and Lynne Zucker, and audience participants, and the helpful comments of editors Kimberly Elsbach and Charlie Galunic and the anonymous reviewers at the Academy of Management Annals. 1 Corresponding author. 631 Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved. Contents may not be copied, emailed, posted to a listserv, or otherwise transmitted without the copyright holder's express written permission. Users may print, download, or email articles for individual use only. organizational actors maintain or upend preexisting orders? Why do certain organizations succeed, whereas others decay and disappear? The institutional logics perspective is defined as a framework for analyzing the interrelationships among individuals, organizations, and institutions in social systems (Friedland & Alford, 1991; Thornton, Ocasio, & Lounsbury, 2012). Institutional logics are "the socially constructed historical patterns of cultural symbols and material practices, assumptions, values, and beliefs by which individuals produce and reproduce their material subsistence, organize time and space, and provide meaning to their daily activity" (Thornton & Ocasio, 1999: 804). Researchers have shown that institutional logics have influences on actors at different levels of analysis, that is, individuals, groups, and organizations, for example, with respect to executive succession (
Vocabularies of organizing: How language links culture, cognition, and action in organizations
2005
Abstract: Linking sociological theories of vocabularies and institutions with Neo-Whorfian perspectives from cognitive science, this paper develops a theoretical framework and propositions on how specialized vocabularies structure cognition and action in organizations. We propose that vocabularies of organizing are socially constructed systems of linguistic categories that provide organizational members with cultural systems to classify organizational practices.