Session Summary

Session Number:214
Session ID:S199
Session Title:Organization Life Through a Temporal Lens: Advancing a Research Agenda
Short Title:Time and Organizations
Session Type:Division Joint Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt East
Floor:LL2
Room:GndBall F
Time:Monday, August 09, 1999 10:40 AM - 12:00 PM

Sponsors

OCIS  (JoAnne Yates)jyates@mit.edu (617) 253-7157 
OMT  (Joseph Porac)j-porac@staff.uiuc.edu (217) 244-7969 
OB  (Robert Liden)bobliden@uic.edu (312) 996-4481 

General People

Co-Chair Perlow, Leslie A. U. of Michigan perlow@umich.edu (734)-764-4712 
Co-Chair Okhuysen, Gerardo A. U. of Texas, Dallas gerardo@utdallas.edu 972-883-2334 
Discussant Bluedorn, Allen  U. of Missouri, Columbia bluedorna@missouri.edu 573-882-3089 
Discussant Ancona, Deborah  Massachusetts Institute of Technology ancona@mit.edu 617-253-0568 

Submissions

The Many Faces of Time: Temporal Considerations in the Study of Organizational Decision Making 
Presenter Okhuysen, Gerardo A. U. of Texas, Dallas gerardo@utdallas.edu 972-883-2334 
Work Family and the Struggle Over the Meaning of Time 
Presenter Kunda, Gideon  Stanford U. gkunda@leland.stanford.edu 650-725-1633 
Managerial, Expertise and Team-Centered Forms of Organizing: A Cross-Cultural Explaination of Temporal Norms 
Presenter Perlow, Leslie A. U. of Michigan perlow@umich.edu (734)-764-4712 
The Time of our Lives: Enacting Temporal Structures in Organizations 
Presenter Orlikowski, Wanda J. Massachusetts Institute of Technology wanda@mit.edu 617-253-0443 

Abstract

In our society we suffer from a time famine. Managers face pressure to get their products out the door faster and cheaper. Employees face pressure to work longer and more efficiently. Amidst professional chaos, someone must care for the home and family. Management in organization has long been obsessed with time. However, only in the past decade has time emerged as a central focus in organization studies. Several prominent researchers have called for a new research agenda that brings time to the forefront of organization research. This symposium presents the work of four studies each separately responding to the call to apply a temporal lens to the study of organization life. The papers explore the role of time in decision making, work/life tradeoffs, forms of organizing work and ongoing organizational practices. Moreover, the papers progress from those grounded in the objectivity of time and how it affects work to the very creation of this objectivity itself. Two of the original researchers to play a central role in setting this research agenda have been asked to provide their comments specifically on these four papers, and, more broadly, on the progress to date in the emerging field of research on time and organization.