Utterance as a tool for change agents: implications based on Bakhtin

Abstract

Purpose

This paper proposes a perspective of change agency that builds on the regenerative power of language achieved through ongoing talk and conversations associated with managing change. It seeks to elaborate on the role of speech in helping one to see change as a continuous stream of socially constructed utterances.

Design/methodology/approach

Configurations have played a central role in determining the extent of fit or misfit between entities – a prelude for steering change and modes of intervention. Much of the reliance on the notion of fit or misfit between entities has been largely driven by conceptions of organizations as consisting of objective entities. But change is not separate from its own construction; conduct of change is deeply rooted in meanings people attach to events. The paper develops a constructionist perspective of change agency; one that builds on the role of language in constructing change.

Findings

The social construction of meaning remains crucial for building connections with organizational identity. The main finding is that there is a very rich meeting point where both language and social construction converge to find each other. For change to take root, change agents would need to emphasize the social co‐construction of meaning and to focus on the role utterance plays in the formation of organizational identity.

Originality/value

The paper develops a constructionist perspective of change agency (regenerative and transforming qualities); one that builds on the role of language in constructing change.

Citation

Jabri, M. (2010), "Utterance as a tool for change agents: implications based on Bakhtin", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 535-544. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711011046503