Discussing the company: model, metaphor and image

Abstract

Addresses the vexed question of how to discuss an object, e.g. the company, without adopting an a priori epistemological position. Attempts to tackle the problem of how representations, which form an integral part of all epistemology, arise. The first level of representation, where content is imparted to a concept designating an object, is the model understood in its traditional sense, as a reduction and simplification of reality. Raises the problem of the existence of content, and in doing so calls forth images and metaphors: the former as a mediating force and the latter as the creative element of the discourse induced by an image. Enquires into the inter‐relationship between model, image and metaphor – a task that can only be performed by examining the role played by ideology in their emergence.

Citation

Pesqueux, Y. (1999), "Discussing the company: model, metaphor and image", Management Decision, Vol. 37 No. 10, pp. 817-824. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251749910302917