To read this content please select one of the options below:

The power of “talk” in HRM‐based change

Helen Francis (School of Management, Napier Business School, Napier University, Edinburgh, UK)

Personnel Review

ISSN: 0048-3486

Article publication date: 1 August 2002

4440

Abstract

This article uses discourse theory to examine the rhetoric of human resource management (HRM) in shaping organisational change. Built on the assumptions that people actively construct their “organisational world” and that language is central to these processes of social construction, HRM is treated as a discursive resource that can be used by managers to persuade employees to accept a particular world view of organisational change. Drawing upon a private sector case study, the article highlights important implications on the use of HRM rhetoric not addressed by conventional research designs concerned with notions of “strategic fit” and “best practice”. Here organisations are treated as being part of an objective reality that can be “measured” using some kind of statistical analysis. This article challenges assumptions underpinning these designs and examines the potential of discourse theory to develop richer insights into questions about the practicalities and ethics of managing meaning at the workplace.

Keywords

Citation

Francis, H. (2002), "The power of “talk” in HRM‐based change", Personnel Review, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 432-448. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480210430355

Publisher

:

MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited

Related articles