Discourse and Organization

Front Cover
David Grant, Tom W Keenoy, Cliff Oswick
SAGE, Sep 28, 1998 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 248 pages
This major work from renowned scholars in the field, analyzes the role of language and symbolic media and shows how this enables us to move to new levels of understanding of contemporary organizational issues.

An introductory chapter examines the role and growing importance of discourse in the study of organizations. It critically evaluates the contributions of various disciplines and defines organizational discourse as a subject area. The chapters in the first section, Talk and Action, explore the relationship between discourse, action and interaction and their impact on organizational structure and behaviour. Stories and Sensemaking focuses on the analytical potential of the `story' as a means of illuminating the ways in

 

Contents

The Text of Organizing
31
Emotional Discourse in Organizations
51
Conversations and Narrative
65
Stories and Sensemaking
84
As God Created the Earth A Saga that Makes Sense?
104
The Struggle with Sense
119
Discourse and Social Theory
134
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About the author (1998)

Cliff joined Cass in 2011. Before coming to Cass he spent 4 years at Queen Mary, University of London as a Professor of Organization Theory in the School of Business and Management and also served as Dean of the Faculty of Law & Social Sciences. He has also previously held posts at University of Leicester (2002-2007), King’s College, University of London (1990-2002), and Westminster University (1988-1990). Before becoming a full-time academic in 1988, Cliff worked as a HR manager in local government. Cliff’s research interests focus on the application of aspects of discourse, dramaturgy, tropes, narrative and rhetoric to the study of management, organizations, organizing processes, and organizational change. He has published over 120 academic articles and contributions to edited volumes, including contributions to Academy of Management Review, Human Relations, Journal of Management Studies, British Journal of Management, Organization, and Organization Studies. He is the European Editor for Journal of Organizational Change Management, Associate Editor for Journal of Change Management, and co-director of ICRODSC (International Centre for Research on Organizational Discourse, Strategy and Change) which links a network of researchers in several renowned institutions located in the UK, Canada, US, Sweden and Australia