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Article
Publication date: 7 October 2014

Jean-François Chanlat

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between language, thinking and society for explaining the degree of visibility of the French organizational studies (OS…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between language, thinking and society for explaining the degree of visibility of the French organizational studies (OS) production.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a sociological analysis based on Bourdieu field to understand the variation of reception the French OS production have had among the Anglo-Saxon field. The paper aims to underline some key elements, which can explain the differences of reception experienced by the French OS scientists. The paper opted for a general review using historical data; reviews of OS literature; and Google scholar, Web of Science and major OS Journal data.

Findings

The paper provides some evidence about how the degree of visibility of the French OS production is related to translation, cognitive and social resonance, producer place in the scientific network and relationship between the fields. It suggests that the degree of visibility is the result of a complex set of socio-cognitive schemes, social issues raised by the scholar and the place occupied by the researcher in the field.

Originality/value

The paper brings interesting ideas concerning the international development of the OS field, the degree of visibility of diverse contributions coming from non-English speaking researchers, notably the French ones, and how the dialogue between different linguistic and social universes can be ameliorated.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2005

Gary P. Radford and Marie L. Radford

Explores the relevance of structuralism and post‐structuralism to the field of library and information science (LIS).

7074

Abstract

Purpose

Explores the relevance of structuralism and post‐structuralism to the field of library and information science (LIS).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a literature‐based conceptual analysis of the two philosophical movements, structuralism and post‐structuralism, as represented by the seminal figures of Ferdinand de Saussure and Michel Foucault.

Findings

The principles of structuralism and post‐structuralism have significant implications for how the role of the modern library can and should be viewed.

Originality/value

Provides insights into LIS by drawing on philosophical perspectives that are beyond the LIS literature.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 61 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2013

Kathleen A. Langan

49

Abstract

Details

Reference Reviews, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0950-4125

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Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

Aurelie Leclercq‐Vandelannoitte

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics that underlie contradictions and paradoxes in organizational change over time. Little research has explored the role of…

1283

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics that underlie contradictions and paradoxes in organizational change over time. Little research has explored the role of contradictions and paradoxes in the continuous cycle of organizing, which are simultaneously embedded in the process and outcomes of organizational change. An encompassing framework, based on the thinking of Michel Foucault, more fully captures both the paradoxical roots and the effects of organizational change.

Design/methodology/approach

An in‐depth qualitative case study of an IT‐based organizational change in a company offers a clear longitudinal analysis, based on 31 semi‐structured interviews and direct field observation.

Findings

The Foucauldian framework deepens understanding of organizational change and its underlying dynamics by highlighting contradictions and paradoxes as both the medium and the outcome of the organizing process over time. The organizing process evolves through power‐knowledge relations, which are forces that provide the energy to make change possible.

Research limitations/implications

The findings indicate the need for further research to develop insight into Foucauldian concepts, such as by replicating the proposed methodology in other companies or with other types of organizational change.

Practical implications

This paper is of managerial interest for various corporate players (management, human resources, information management) who must understand what underlies employees' acceptance of organizational change.

Originality/value

The proposed conceptual model can help interpret the role of contradictions and paradoxes in the organizing process. The strength of this “political model of organizational change” is that it can be combined with other perspectives, such as change management, to explore how organizations drive change and how managers can integrate contradictions and paradoxes in change management to help the organization further evolve.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2022

Asmaa Bouaamri and Ágnes Barátné Hajdu

The purpose of this study is to explore the virtual space of the library and how it is part of the library building and many spaces offered. It inspects as well the work of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the virtual space of the library and how it is part of the library building and many spaces offered. It inspects as well the work of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ section related to library buildings and equipment libraries can play if they are able to provide remote users education, which can help in fighting illiteracy and promote digital literacy.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a structuralist approach from linguistics, sociology and anthropology to decorticate the concept of space. It favoured the literature review method, which was the most adequate approach for multidisciplinary results.

Findings

The study results indicate that the library virtual space became equally important as its physical spaces for our modern world and development. The significance of the virtual spaces is similar nowadays to the physical spaces of libraries as they allow for social integration and self-recognition.

Originality/value

The value of this study is uniquely exhaustive, as it highlights the value and significance of the library virtual space in the contemporary world, in comparison with the library physical spaces.

Details

Library Hi Tech News, vol. 39 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0741-9058

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1991

Kenneth W. Stikkers

Mainstream economics has long prided itself to be an empirical “science”, at least in aspiration if not yet in practice. Yet, some of the most elementary, commonplace premises of…

Abstract

Mainstream economics has long prided itself to be an empirical “science”, at least in aspiration if not yet in practice. Yet, some of the most elementary, commonplace premises of the discipline are flatly contradicted by the empirical findings of cultural anthropology. Karl Polanyi made this point:

Details

Humanomics, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

Article
Publication date: 5 December 2018

Bernard Korai and Nizar Souiden

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study that investigates the historical roots of quantitative paradigm hegemony over the qualitative paradigm in marketing using…

Abstract

Purpose

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study that investigates the historical roots of quantitative paradigm hegemony over the qualitative paradigm in marketing using a critical lens. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate thoughtful reflections among marketing scholars so that the dialog among paradigms expands, the stale paradigmatic debates disappear, and the marketing discipline evolves and contributes to the actual functioning of markets and the welfare of society.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is conducted in the light of foucauldian genealogy through the analysis of historical materials that Foucault called discourses, a set of languages, systems of thinking and governality techniques that determine how individuals or organizations come to be disciplined. In this paper, the concept of discourse mainly refers to visible rituals and practices by which marketing researchers have been psychologically and behaviorally shaped to reproduce and perpetuate a hypothetical-deductive mainstream within their discipline.

Findings

This paper intends to stimulate a dialog among marketing scholars about expanding paradigms so that stale debates disappear, and marketing disciplines proves their scientific status by better contributing to the functioning of markets and the welfare of society. As an evolving social science, marketing requires new theory, new concepts and new research methods.

Originality/value

The intellectual contribution of this paper lies in its intention to alert marketing researchers about the danger we are exposing our discipline to by promoting imperialist traditions and standardization of thinking.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 57 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2015

Peter Bertram

A problem is typically defined prior to an architectural process and the result is seen as a solution. The process as a whole is conceived as problem solving. However, the…

Abstract

A problem is typically defined prior to an architectural process and the result is seen as a solution. The process as a whole is conceived as problem solving. However, the artistic element of the process is inseparable from constructing the problem. From the artistic point of view the solution is merely a derivative.

Conventional understanding of artistic creation is sometimes coloured by the misconception that invention first and foremost takes place in the mind of the artist parallel or prior to the actual process. However, as far as the artistic element in an architectural process is concerned the problem cannot be abstracted from the specificity of the material, the drawings, models etc., which constitutes the project under development. The problem is an immanent relational field and invention is triggered by the difference between maker and architectural media.

The aim of the paper is to portray the artistic practice as a learning process different from communication of knowledge. It proposes a kind of leaning not about improvement of skills and competences but rather concerned with the dynamics of a material field. It emphasises the role of technique and presents architectural media as the prime material field investigated by the process.

The discussion uses examples of assignments and student projects developed under my supervision to demonstrate how a problem field is framed by the ordering of techniques.

Details

Open House International, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 May 2019

Francis Jonathan Gilbert and Margaret Pitfield

This paper focuses on the affordances of and issues surrounding the teaching of George Orwell’s novel 1984 (1949) as a set text for General Certificate of Secondary Education…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper focuses on the affordances of and issues surrounding the teaching of George Orwell’s novel 1984 (1949) as a set text for General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) English and English Literature in an examination-obsessed and heavily surveilled school system. It considers this by focussing on the classroom practice of a beginning teacher tackling the teaching of this novel for the first time and the newly appointed university tutor who is required to assess her teaching against a prescribed set of national Teachers’ Standards.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study design is used, drawing on data from classroom observation, records of conversations and textual study. These data are analysed with reference to Perryman et al.’s (2018) re-evaluation of Foucault’s Panopticon (1995), a concept which explains how institutions set up surveillance systems in which people’s behaviour is shaped by their feelings of being watched.

Findings

In the context of her practicum school the beginning teacher adopts a particular approach to language study as a vehicle for teaching the novel 1984. This paper argues that such an approach, which finely focuses on the micro-detail of language, prevents teachers and students from seeing the big picture in Orwell’s novel and is therefore contrary to the spirit of his writing. It also restricts teachers from approaching the novel in ways which draw on students’ lived experiences as participants in the highly surveilled education system.

Practical implications

The push for performativity in the current era of schooling ensures that, for English teachers, fear of failing to comply with imposed and implied norms contributes to a prevailing sense of unease about their subject. Thus, persistent pressures of exam preparation and inspection-readiness drive a wedge between their subject knowledge/expertise and the classroom practices prevalent in English teaching.

Social implications

English teachers and teacher-educators are subject to a plethora of “guidelines” which filter through at every level of education and operate in a similar way to the totalitarian figurehead of Big Brother, Orwell’s fictional dictator who dominates 1984. This paper argues that away from Big Brother’s all-seeing eye there are still, however, opportunities for those professional practices that do not fit within such parameters to be discussed, explored and shared.

Originality/value

This paper offers a unique perspective on the teaching of George Orwell at the levels of school student, beginning teacher and teacher-educator. The Big Brother of this paper is not the Stalinist dictator of Orwell’s dystopia, instead manifesting in many different education-related personas. This Big Brother demands compliance with his fuzzy norms (Courtney, 2016; Perryman et al., 2018), rules which are deliberately vague and shifting and if contravened have far-reaching consequences for all concerned in the teaching and learning of English.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2010

Ann‐Christine Frandsen

This paper aims to offer a critical pathway to understanding recent changes and improvements in organizing and managing healthcare – such as the emerging “patient‐centred care”…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer a critical pathway to understanding recent changes and improvements in organizing and managing healthcare – such as the emerging “patient‐centred care” (PCC) approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on fieldwork performed as a mobile ethnography of translations of everyday healthcare work at a Swedish healthcare institution in which an analysis of the significance of contemporary accounting practices for disciplining action and thought was carried out.

Findings

Accounting is increasingly interlinked with medical practices today, with more and more people involved in translating action and thought into accounting‐based terms and values at all levels of their work lives; as this happens, accounting “produces” a way of thinking and valuing that even modifies professional identities. The discipline of medical knowledge is played out differently as accounting‐based valuation measures become internalised into the performance of medical professionals and as additionally their images of themselves and their patients change. Patient‐centred care is thereby seen not as a means of generating a pure or positive value for patients, expressed in the form of greater efficiencies and nation‐wide performance indicators. The loosely coupled forms of patient‐centred care are about how nurses, having translated accounting practices into their work and selves, use them as a means of managing the constraints and “cracks” in the PCC approaches.

Originality/value

Accounting allows the dynamics of the PCC approach to be understood and acted on in new ways. Accounting as a discipline involves both accounting professionals and medical professionals who circulate accounting numbers and values. Accounting, thus, is an activity that takes place inside and outside the self.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

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