Emerald | Journal of Organizational Change Management

A visit to the “Great Ghaytez's palace”: A case study in using a literary genre to explore the effects of corporate architecture

Ann Rippin — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore corporate buildings as discursive entities. They are machines designed to tell the corporate story; they embody the aspirations of a culture. This is particularly the case with headquarters buildings, which are rhetorical artefacts proclaiming a narrative of identity, designed to legitimise past, present and future decisions and strategies. Buildings such as the Vatican, Windsor Castle, the Houses of Parliament and the old Prudential Insurance Building proclaim that the organisation is old and venerable, trustworthy, a model of probity, stable, and here to stay. Design/methodology/approach – The approach employed in this paper uses literature as a way of representing organisations. This paper works with an archaic genre to present a traveller's tale. This has been used to attempt to open up a third space between literary techniques used to analyse organisations and literature as a management education strategy. By opening up this possibility of a third position, it is hoped that readers will be encouraged to make their own interpretations. Findings – The paper posits that organisations attempt to affirm their “brand” consciously, or unconsciously, through their public buildings. They tell their “stories” materially. However, despite their best efforts at image control, counter-narratives leach out from these structures as their use of space is experienced by human subjects. Originality/value – The paper attempts to open up a third space for readers to co-create meaning with the author and for themselves. There is a clear political purpose here: to expose the oppressive practices of organisations which legitimate their existence in part at least through their corporate buildings, but the paper also signals the aesthetic delight, the pleasure that we can take in allowing ourselves to be enchanted by these buildings.

Senses of “shipscapes”: an artful navigation of ship architecture and aesthetics

John Griffiths, Kathy Mack — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – In the context of organizational aesthetics, “built environments” remain under-explored. The purpose of this paper is to enter the maritime world of ship architectures to navigate sensory-aesthetic knowledge of a sailor's place-based memories. Design/methodology/approach – Challenges have been issued to explore the potential for artistic-sensual methodologies to both study and represent organizational aesthetics. The authors accept these challenges in the context of “shipscapes”. Findings – A sailor's “artworks” become artefacts through which are evoked rich, multi-sensory descriptions of deep-sea tug vessels. The sailor's sensible knowledge is related to seafaring practice, the aesthetic taste for ships and the aesthetic bond with them. Sensory-aesthetic architectural memories are further connected to functional and symbolic aspects of ships as built environments. Research limitations/implications – Certain place/space shipboard knowledge remains constrained by the boundaries of an “arts-based” sensory-aesthetic method. Originality/value – The multi-sensed, remembered and co-constructed nature of “shipscapes”, as celebrated through a seafarer's already created art, keeps aesthetic knowledge close to the source of both embodied experience and aesthetic meaning.

Objects in exile: the intimate structures of resistance and consolation

Ricky Yuk-kwan Ng, Heather Höpfl — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – This paper looks at small spaces. In particular, it aims to focus on small gestures of resistance and the objects which accompany them. It takes its inspiration from Goffman's “secondary adjustments”, in other words, from reactions to organizational socialization, but draws most of its theoretical support from the literature of exile and architectural concepts of structure. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is located in the interpretative paradigm and draws on Goffman's observations, photographic approaches, and artistic and literary works on exile. It does not work with psycho-analytic approaches to object-relations and has merely an affinity with science and technology studies. Findings – The primary findings concern the relationship between work and its other. At a time when work has extended to define all areas of life, the paper considers the relationship between exile and homeland, between memories and aides memoires. The paper examines the intimate relationship between the prevailing conditions of exile and the miniscule gestures which might help to give consolation, offer compensation and serve as resistance to the relentless demands of work. Practical implications – The paper outlines some of the conceptual concerns. An empirically based study will follow. Its practical relevance lies in its questioning the blurring of boundaries between home and work and raises issues about the importance of personal belongings in the workspace. Originality/value – The paper's originality lies in the emphasis it gives to the small spaces of resistance which it characterises.

Settlers, vagrants and mutual indifference: unintended consequences of hot-desking

Alison Hirst — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a sociological analysis of emergent sociospatial structures in a hot-desking office environment, where space is used exchangeably. It considers hot-desking as part of broader societal shifts in the ownership of space. Design/methodology/approach – This analysis is based on an ethnographically-oriented investigation, in which data collection methods used were participant-observation and interviewing. The analysis uses Lefebvre's conceptualisation of the social production of space and draws on the urban sociology literature. Findings – The analysis first indicates that, in hot-desking environments, there may be an emergent social structure distinguishing employees who settle in one place, and others who have to move constantly. Second, the practice of movement itself generates additional work and a sense of marginalisation for hot-deskers. Research limitations/implications – The paper does not provide a generalisable theory, but suggests that loss of everyday ownership of the workspace gives rise to particular practical and social tensions and shifts hot-deskers' identification with the organisation. Practical implications – Official requirements for mobility may result in a new social structure distinguishing settlers and hot-deskers, rather than mobility being spread evenly. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature on organisational spatiality by focusing on the spatial practices entailed in hot-desking, and by contextualising hot-desking within the wider spatial configuration of capitalism, in which space is used exchangeability in order to realise greater economic returns. Rather than using the popular “nomadic” metaphor to understand the experience of mobility at work, it uses a metaphor of vagrancy to highlight consequences of the loss of ownership of space.

Heidegger among dryads: on the origin of the female work of art

Tim Scott — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine a lacuna in Heidegger's “The Origin of the Work of Art”, that is, that it does not consider that such “origin” might be gendered. Originally published in a collection entitled Holzwege, which in the Cambridge (2002) edition is translated as Off the Beaten Track, Heidegger explains, “Wood” is an old name for the forest. In the wood there are paths, mostly overgrown, that come to an abrupt stop where the wood is untrodden. They are “Holzwege”. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is written within a philosophical tradition and seeks to examine Derrida's lengthy deconstruction of Heidegger's essay and Irigaray's elegant gender critique, which are among works attesting to the importance and controversy The Origin has provoked among post-structuralist thinkers. Findings – The paper considers The Origin as an auto-deconstructive text, through which other voices (one, or more, not Heidegger's) are heard; voices calling him, through him, as him; which he cannot identify or silence. They disrupt and confound his thinking and writing; he tries (unsuccessfully) to mend the discrepancies, assuage the violence, but ultimately leaves the essay in limbo, intuiting something even he cannot comprehend, an alien writing, that its internal contradictions be reserved for others to puzzle over. Originality/value – The paper offers a reading of The Origin against the Classical male hegemony excluding women from their proper participation in architecture, art in general, aesthetic hermeneutics and philosophy of art. These circuits of exclusion being integral to the phallocentric orthodoxy inherited from the Ancient Greeks.

Multiple architectures and the production of organizational space in a Finnish university

Tuomo Peltonen — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a study of architectural development and organizational meanings and uses of space in a Finnish university. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws from actor-network theory and Lefebvre's spatial-social approach to shed light on the organizational assumptions of the various building phases and how current employees use and make sense of the architectural space in the case organization. The methods used include participant observation, interviews of employees and architects, and interpretation of planning documents, architectural statements and administrative representations of the complex. Findings – It took over 30 years to build the campus. The original plans for the university buildings were substantially revised as architectural and organizational paradigms changed over time. However, regardless of the more recently built state-of-the-art facilities, the early architectural design ideas have persisted as material-social forces that participate in the ongoing production and reproduction of organizational space. Originality/value – Despite of the recent surge of writings on organizational space and architecture, there are relatively few empirical studies done on the topic. In particular, analyses investigating the travel of design ideas from architectural planning to actual physical constructions and further to the everyday organizing practices of employees have so far been rare in organizational literature. This paper partially fills this gap.

Performativity in place of responsibility?

Barbara Czarniawska — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to question the common conviction that responsibility is the major factor influencing performance. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a comparison of two recent cases of ecological catastrophes. Findings – In emergency situations, locating parties able to perform gives better results than establishing responsibility for the accident. Research limitations/implications – More similar cases should be examined systematically. Practical implications – If the conclusions are accepted, the conventional mode of acting in emergencies may change. Social implications – Hopefully, the paper may redirect attention from responsibility to performativity. Originality/value – The paper opposes a commonly accepted belief and the corresponding mode of acting.

A healthcare case study of team learner style and change management

Velma Lee, Frank Ridzi, Amber W. Lo, Erman Coskun — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the learner styles of a healthcare institution transition team and its respective members within a change management context. In particular we focus on the role of learner style in the success of change efforts within a team setting. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a case study that employs a questionnaire survey, non-participant observation, and semi-structured interviews as part of a larger study of healthcare change management. Findings – Findings suggest that a mix of learning styles is ideal for successful healthcare change management. Specifically, this limited study suggests a learner ratio that favors convergers and assimilators over divergers and accommodators may be the most effective staffing strategy for change leadership teams in a healthcare environment. Originality/value – Managing change in healthcare has been researched from a process perspective but few studies examine the individual team members' learner styles and the impact of these learning styles over time. Implications for human resources and change implementation are discussed.

Developing a collaborative network organization: leadership challenges at multiple levels

Ellen Baker, Melanie Kan, Stephen T.T. Teo — 2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine a collaborative non-profit network which is undergoing organizational change. Design/methodology/approach – The authors present a case study of an employment-services network in its first year of change, as the network implemented various activities to enhance its performance. A grounded-theory approach was adopted to study the organizational and collaborative processes within the member-site and Head-Office levels. Findings – It was found that member-site leadership was the critical factor influencing site culture and site performance, and that high-performing sites were initiating collaborative activities with other sites. Head-Office leadership also influenced site performance and collaboration, but its initiatives were only moderately successful. The findings also indicate that change efforts should focus on leadership at both the site and network levels, and may need to begin with low-performing sites. Practical implications – The paper discusses the implications of leadership on the implementation of collaborative networks in the employment services sector. Originality/value – The qualitative findings of the study add to, and help to explain, earlier research findings on the questions of how public sector organizations utilize various activities to implement collaborative networks and their impact on managerial practice.

Vagrants, voyagers, travellers and exiles: a journey into the structures of organization

2011-10-18 00:00:00.0

Editorial postscriptum

2011-10-18 00:00:00.0