| Organizational Discourse: Contributions and Challenges |
| Presenter | Oswick, Cliff | King's College | clifford.oswick@kcl.ac.uk | 44-171-333-4164 |
| Presenter | Grant, David | King's College, London | David.Grant@kcl.ac.uk | 61-2-9514-3333 |
| | Researchers are increasingly advocating theories and methodologies that illuminate the fragility, rather than the solidity, of organizations
and organizing processes. Theory and research using discourse analysis is particularly useful in this regard because it shows how
organizations emerge at the site of discursive struggles between pluralistic interests. This symposium reviews current theory in the
area of organizational discourse to identify the challenges and contributions associated with this work. Critics argue that there is a
lack of clarity regarding a definition of discourse; that discourse theory represents intellectual self-indulgence with no practical pay-off;
that it focuses on "mere" talk; and that it only draws on qualitative methodologies. Nonetheless, organizational discourse offers a number
of contributions, including the ability to capture the struggle for dominance among competing interest groups; the ability to show how
discourse socially constructs "reality"; and access to a breadth of methodological approaches that can be used to the study different
levels of analysis. Following this review, the symposium presents a series of case studies that have used organizational discourse.
They show how the criticisms of organizational discourse can be addressed. They also demonstrate the
value of this mode of analysis as an analytical tool that can be used at a variety of levels; show how dialogical approaches reveal
organizations as comprising of a plurality of interests that are represented though competing discourses; identify some of the ways
in which discursive activity leads to tangible outcomes; and employ a variety of methodological approaches. |
| | Keywords: Discourse Analysis; Organizational Discourse |
| Dialogical Approaches to Organizational Discourse: A Program of Research |
| Presenter | Hardy, Cynthia | U. of Melbourne, Australia | c.hardy@ecomfac.unimelb.edu.au | 61-3-9344-5344 |
| | Researchers are increasingly advocating theories and methodologies that illuminate the fragility, rather than the solidity, of organizations
and organizing processes. Theory and research using discourse analysis is particularly useful in this regard because it shows how
organizations emerge at the site of discursive struggles between pluralistic interests. This symposium reviews current theory in the
area of organizational discourse to identify the challenges and contributions associated with this work. Critics argue that there is a
lack of clarity regarding a definition of discourse; that discourse theory represents intellectual self-indulgence with no practical pay-off;
that it focuses on "mere" talk; and that it only draws on qualitative methodologies. Nonetheless, organizational discourse offers a number
of contributions, including the ability to capture the struggle for dominance among competing interest groups; the ability to show how
discourse socially constructs "reality"; and access to a breadth of methodological approaches that can be used to the study different
levels of analysis. Following this review, the symposium presents a series of case studies that have used organizational discourse.
They show how the criticisms of organizational discourse can be addressed. They also demonstrate the
value of this mode of analysis as an analytical tool that can be used at a variety of levels; show how dialogical approaches reveal
organizations as comprising of a plurality of interests that are represented though competing discourses; identify some of the ways
in which discursive activity leads to tangible outcomes; and employ a variety of methodological approaches. |
| | Keywords: Discourse Analysis; Organizational Discourse |
| Levels of Discursive Struggle |
| Presenter | Phillips, Nelson W. | McGill U. | phillips@management.mcgill.ca | (514) 398-3602 |
| | Researchers are increasingly advocating theories and methodologies that illuminate the fragility, rather than the solidity, of organizations
and organizing processes. Theory and research using discourse analysis is particularly useful in this regard because it shows how
organizations emerge at the site of discursive struggles between pluralistic interests. This symposium reviews current theory in the
area of organizational discourse to identify the challenges and contributions associated with this work. Critics argue that there is a
lack of clarity regarding a definition of discourse; that discourse theory represents intellectual self-indulgence with no practical pay-off;
that it focuses on "mere" talk; and that it only draws on qualitative methodologies. Nonetheless, organizational discourse offers a number
of contributions, including the ability to capture the struggle for dominance among competing interest groups; the ability to show how
discourse socially constructs "reality"; and access to a breadth of methodological approaches that can be used to the study different
levels of analysis. Following this review, the symposium presents a series of case studies that have used organizational discourse.
They show how the criticisms of organizational discourse can be addressed. They also demonstrate the
value of this mode of analysis as an analytical tool that can be used at a variety of levels; show how dialogical approaches reveal
organizations as comprising of a plurality of interests that are represented though competing discourses; identify some of the ways
in which discursive activity leads to tangible outcomes; and employ a variety of methodological approaches. |
| | Keywords: Discourse Analysis; Organizational Discourse |
| The Discursive Construction of Identities |
| | Maguire, Steve | McGill U. | smaguire@management.mcgill.ca | 514-398-2115 |
| | Researchers are increasingly advocating theories and methodologies that illuminate the fragility, rather than the solidity, of organizations
and organizing processes. Theory and research using discourse analysis is particularly useful in this regard because it shows how
organizations emerge at the site of discursive struggles between pluralistic interests. This symposium reviews current theory in the
area of organizational discourse to identify the challenges and contributions associated with this work. Critics argue that there is a
lack of clarity regarding a definition of discourse; that discourse theory represents intellectual self-indulgence with no practical pay-off;
that it focuses on "mere" talk; and that it only draws on qualitative methodologies. Nonetheless, organizational discourse offers a number
of contributions, including the ability to capture the struggle for dominance among competing interest groups; the ability to show how
discourse socially constructs "reality"; and access to a breadth of methodological approaches that can be used to the study different
levels of analysis. Following this review, the symposium presents a series of case studies that have used organizational discourse.
They show how the criticisms of organizational discourse can be addressed. They also demonstrate the
value of this mode of analysis as an analytical tool that can be used at a variety of levels; show how dialogical approaches reveal
organizations as comprising of a plurality of interests that are represented though competing discourses; identify some of the ways
in which discursive activity leads to tangible outcomes; and employ a variety of methodological approaches. |
| | Keywords: Discourse Analysis; Organizational Discourse |
| Conversations and Narrative in Interorganizational Collaboration |
| | Lawrence, Thomas B. | U. of Victoria | tlawrenc@business.uvic.ca | 250-7216401 |
| | Researchers are increasingly advocating theories and methodologies that illuminate the fragility, rather than the solidity, of organizations
and organizing processes. Theory and research using discourse analysis is particularly useful in this regard because it shows how
organizations emerge at the site of discursive struggles between pluralistic interests. This symposium reviews current theory in the
area of organizational discourse to identify the challenges and contributions associated with this work. Critics argue that there is a
lack of clarity regarding a definition of discourse; that discourse theory represents intellectual self-indulgence with no practical pay-off;
that it focuses on "mere" talk; and that it only draws on qualitative methodologies. Nonetheless, organizational discourse offers a number
of contributions, including the ability to capture the struggle for dominance among competing interest groups; the ability to show how
discourse socially constructs "reality"; and access to a breadth of methodological approaches that can be used to the study different
levels of analysis. Following this review, the symposium presents a series of case studies that have used organizational discourse.
They show how the criticisms of organizational discourse can be addressed. They also demonstrate the
value of this mode of analysis as an analytical tool that can be used at a variety of levels; show how dialogical approaches reveal
organizations as comprising of a plurality of interests that are represented though competing discourses; identify some of the ways
in which discursive activity leads to tangible outcomes; and employ a variety of methodological approaches. |
| | Keywords: Discourse Analysis; Organizational Discourse |