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The purpose of this study is to explore whether a group dynamics perspective still exists in the scientific study of groups and what factors may account for the current situation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore whether a group dynamics perspective still exists in the scientific study of groups and what factors may account for the current situation.
Design/methodology/approach
Alongside reflections based on my professional experience, I have analyzed the main academic journals that publish group research.
Findings
A group dynamics perspective is almost totally absent in the scientific study of groups. Contributing factors to this state of affairs are disciplinary developments in psychology (e.g. individualization, experimentalization and specialization), the demise of the status of psychoanalysis, changes in the meaning and manifestation of the “group,” and effects of New Public Management.
Originality/value
The study offers a critical perspective on current group research practices and considers these in a larger (social and historical) context. It advocates a group dynamics perspective for the study of groups, based on systems-psychodynamic insights.
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Sandra G.L. Schruijer, Tharsi C.B. Taillieu, Leopold S. Vansina and Petru L. Curșeu
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the authors’ action research praxis regarding the development of collaborative relations between organizations that incorporates an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the authors’ action research praxis regarding the development of collaborative relations between organizations that incorporates an element of play. Based on transitional change thinking, the authors use play and simulation, creating a naturalistic setting, and provide spacing for relational dynamics to unfold so as to learn from these.
Design/methodology/approach
The perspective taken in this paper draws on organizational psychology, systems psychodynamics and organization development.
Findings
One workshop is described in detail, namely, “The Yacht Club.”
Originality/value
The rationale for and design of workshops that provide transitional space for experiencing, researching and learning about interorganizational dynamics as a valuable alternative to positivist experimentation are described.
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Babak Ghaempanah and Svetlana N. Khapova
The purpose of this paper is to advance our understanding of identity play process by including the stories we live by in depth. Over the past decade, identity play literature has…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to advance our understanding of identity play process by including the stories we live by in depth. Over the past decade, identity play literature has placed more emphasis on the role of self-narratives. Yet, the “stories we live by”, including the told or untold stories of past and imagined events of the future, have not been considered in depth in these self-narratives.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper draws on the personal construct theory, narrative identity and constructivist psychotherapy literatures and attempts to include the stories we live by in scholarly conceptualizations and explorations of identity play processes.
Findings
Drawing on the personal construct theory, narrative identity and constructivist psychotherapy literatures this paper offers a comprehensive conceptual model of how the stories we live by infuse individual identity construction processes. The model highlights the inter-connectivity among stories we live by, identity play, identity work, sensemaking and social validation. Looking through the lens of the personal construct theory and taking these inter-connectivities into account lead to the observation of temporality in identity construction and the plurivocality of self-narratives.
Originality/value
This paper looks at identity play through the lens of the personal construct theory. However, self-narratives are seen as a medium for manifestation of personal constructs. Thus, this paper also draws on the narrative identity literature and dialogical-self concept, which helps access the multiplicity of the self-narratives to widen our grasp of personal constructs. This paper combines discourse of deconstruction with the dialogical-self concept and provides more means for the explication of identity play.
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Pratibha Rai, Priya Gupta and Bhawna Parewa
Task conflict and relationship conflict are common in organizations. This paper aims to present a unique case of the use of the targeted conflict-resolution technique. The revival…
Abstract
Purpose
Task conflict and relationship conflict are common in organizations. This paper aims to present a unique case of the use of the targeted conflict-resolution technique. The revival of positive group dynamics is aptly shown.
Design/methodology/approach
This descriptive case study is developed as a practice insight to showcase how a peculiar case of misunderstanding is resolved in the most unconventional way through the intervention of a mediator who unearths the real cause of contention. The mediator works through logic and emotion to remove negativity. Narration, a necessary component of the case study approach, peeps into the research subject involving flashbacks, flash forward, backstories and foreshadowing. The mediator uses reframing as a tool very efficiently, encouraging the people in conflict to understand the nothingness in their cold war and eventually prompting them to collaborate and compromise.
Findings
The shifts in communication dynamics post-mediator’s intervention are subtle and full of wisdom, encouraging introspection and constructive interaction, eventually bridging the differences. The possibility of achieving a state of homeostasis in the future magnifies. The belief in the power of affirmation and manifestation is validated. The heavy, difficult, hardened negativity loses ground and gets transformed.
Social implications
Conversation/prayers at the deepest level in several meetings are the communication tools that have immense social relevance in the Indian context.
Originality/value
A unique combination of intermediation encompassing written communication and energy transformation is adopted to resolve ongoing conflict by stroking the positive psychology of the partakers. To some, the method may appear to have a spiritual connotation.
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