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Fieldworking the relational complexity of organizations

Wafa Said Mosleh (Department of Design and Communication, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark)
Henry Larsen (Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management, Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark)

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management

ISSN: 1746-5648

Article publication date: 11 August 2020

Issue publication date: 15 October 2020

265

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present researcher's reflexive writing about emergent events in research collaborations as a way of responding to the process-figurational sociology of Norbert Elias in the practice of organizational ethnography.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing parallels between Norbert Elias' figurative account of social life and auto-ethnographic methodology, this paper re-articulates the entanglement of social researchers in organizational ethnographic work. Auto-ethnographic narration is explored as means to inquire from within the emerging relational complexity constituted by organizational dynamics. Writing about emergent events in the research process becomes a way of inquiring into the social figurations between the involved stakeholders; thus nurturing sense-making and increasing the awareness and sensitivity of the researcher to her own entanglement with the relational complexity of the organization under study.

Findings

In the paper, we argue that the writing of auto-ethnographic narratives of emergent field encounters is a process of inquiry that continuously depicts the temporal development of the relational complexity in organizations. Viewing that from the perspective of Elias' concept of figuration, we find a common commitment to the processual nature of research processes, which insists on moving beyond objectifying empirical insights.

Originality/value

This paper encourages awareness of the interdependency between ourselves as social researchers and field actors as we engage with the field. It moves beyond simplifying the ethnographic research agenda to that of “studying” and “describing” organizations. It offers unique insights into the organizational context, and increased sensitivity toward the social entanglement of the experiences that we, ourselves, as researchers are part of.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Associate Professor, Line Revsbaek (University of Aalborg) for her contributions to a previous version of this paper. We appreciate the effort you put into our discussions and writing. We also thank the reviewers for their helpful input in the further development of our manuscript.

Citation

Mosleh, W.S. and Larsen, H. (2020), "Fieldworking the relational complexity of organizations", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 421-439. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-07-2019-1792

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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