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Shadow organizing: a metaphor to explore organizing as intra-relating

Silvia Gherardi (Department of Sociology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy)
Karen Jensen (Department of Education, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway)
Monika Nerland (Department of Education, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway)

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management

ISSN: 1746-5648

Article publication date: 13 March 2017

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conceive “organizing” as an indeterminate process taking place in the interstices of intra-acting elements, beyond visible/rational/intentional organizing. The term intra-activity refers to relationships between multiple elements (human and more-than-human) that are understood not to have clear or distinct boundaries. The paper aims at reframing organizing, as the effect of multiple intra-acting elements, by introducing the metaphor of shadow organizing. It offers examples as diverse as knowledge spillover, evidence-based medicine and improvisation, and the mafia’s organizational rules.

Design/methodology/approach

The frame of reference is metaphorical theorization, based on the metaphor of shadow organizing, and is explored through three metonymies: the forest and its sheltered spaces in penumbra; the shadow as a grey zone between canonical and non-canonical practices; and secret societies, hidden in the shadow. The shadow is the symbol of what is “betwixt and between.”

Findings

Shadow organizing focuses on the way that situated elements (people, technologies, knowledge, infrastructures, society) intra-relate and acquire agency. Whilst organizing as the effect of intentional coordination, planning, and strategizing represents a well-established theorization, shadow organizing sheds light on what happen in the interstices of intentional and structured processes. The paper identifies the dimensions of shadow organizing as performativity, liminality, and secrecy.

Originality/value

The passage from elements in interaction to intra-acting relations that form elements is a challenge both for theory and methodology. To face this challenge, metaphorical thinking proves useful since it enhances scholars’ imaginations and emotional participation.

Keywords

Citation

Gherardi, S., Jensen, K. and Nerland, M. (2017), "Shadow organizing: a metaphor to explore organizing as intra-relating", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 2-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-06-2016-1385

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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