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Article
Publication date: 1 December 1996

Ian Palmer and Richard Dunford

Since the mid‐1980s, there has been strong advocacy of the use of reframing through the application of organizational metaphors as one of the skills of the “new” manager. The…

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Abstract

Since the mid‐1980s, there has been strong advocacy of the use of reframing through the application of organizational metaphors as one of the skills of the “new” manager. The reframing approach champions the virtues of analysing and responding to organizational situations through the use of multiple frames and is centrally implicated in the process of organizational change. The underlying message is that it enables both analysis and action to occur. Argues that this link has not been adequately explored in the literature which tends to assume that “appropriate” actions are able to be taken and that they will be successful. Explores four main constraints: cognitive limits; frame dominance and the limits of language; conceptions of action and their limits on reframing; and knowledge and power as limits to reframing.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 9 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1997

Richard P. Winter, James C. Sarros and George A. Tanewski

This paper presents an organizational learning framework for reframing management practices within large bureaucratic organizations. Reviewing the relevant literature, the paper…

Abstract

This paper presents an organizational learning framework for reframing management practices within large bureaucratic organizations. Reviewing the relevant literature, the paper argues managers' control orientations and practices effectively stifle learning and personal development by severely limiting the ability of employees to exert control or change the nature of their work activities. To encourage organizational learning, a number of reframing tools are proposed The paper concludes by discussing how reframing tools may be used in conjunction with other psychoanalytic techniques to challenge and change managers' control orientations and practices.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2000

Patricia Bryans and Richard Smith

Radical shifts are taking place in management theory; equivalent shifts need to occur, we argue, in the theory of training and development. The move towards a knowledge economy…

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Abstract

Radical shifts are taking place in management theory; equivalent shifts need to occur, we argue, in the theory of training and development. The move towards a knowledge economy makes such a shift particularly urgent. Notions of training tend to foreclose on outcomes; typically they are short‐term and assume transferability of skills. Notions of personal development may be insufficiently focused on the workplace. We argue for a conception of workplace learning that foregrounds the dialectical relationship between persons and their organisations. Crucial in that relationship are notions of openness, uncertainty, complexity, relationships, reflection, reframing and restoration.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 12 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2002

Halia Silins and Bill Mulford

An Australian government‐funded four‐year research project involving 96 secondary schools, over 5,000 students and 3,700 teachers and their principals has provided a rich source…

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Abstract

An Australian government‐funded four‐year research project involving 96 secondary schools, over 5,000 students and 3,700 teachers and their principals has provided a rich source of information on schools conceptualised as learning organisations. The LOLSO project focused on three aspects of high school functioning: leadership, organisational learning and the impact of both on student outcomes. This research has established a relationship between the system factors of leadership and organisational learning and student outcomes as measured by student levels of participation in and engagement with school. This paper summarises this research and reports on a study that empirically tests the relationship between students’ participation in and engagement with school and student achievement using model building and path analysis. The importance of learning at the system, teacher and student level is discussed in the context of school restructuring.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 16 September 2019

Ville Juhani Teräväinen and Juha-Matti Junnonen

The construction industry has struggled with efficiency issues for decades. Organizational culture is identified as one of the biggest hindrances for the enhancement of efficiency…

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Abstract

Purpose

The construction industry has struggled with efficiency issues for decades. Organizational culture is identified as one of the biggest hindrances for the enhancement of efficiency in a highly labor-intensive sector such as construction. Based on recent academic studies, Finnish construction industry professionals would embrace clan and adhocracy culture features to achieve a better level of construction efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the promoters and the barriers for making the desired culture change happen in the case company.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a semi-structured theme interview case study, including 12 in-depth interviews. The interviews were recorded, and later, transcribed into text, which forms the empirical data of this paper.

Findings

The Finnish construction industry must adopt a holistic approach to enhance its prevailing level of efficiency through the culture change. Basic learning and knowledge management processes seem to be missing from the industry and organizational levels. Better knowledge management in the case company would be the first step to start fixing this problem.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the nature of a case study, the research results can be generalized only with caution in the Finnish construction industry. Generalizing the findings in another country would require further studies in a different cultural environment, e.g. in another European country.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the development of the organizational culture on the Finnish construction industry level and on an organizational level.

Originality/value

The found influencers are discussed through Engeström’s activity model for the first time in the construction culture context.

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2021

Richard Badham

Taking issue with the predominance of reviews of James March’s writings that focus on his technical contributions to organizational studies, this study aims to emphasize the…

Abstract

Purpose

Taking issue with the predominance of reviews of James March’s writings that focus on his technical contributions to organizational studies, this study aims to emphasize the central significance and contemporary relevance of his critical reflections on the meaning of life and work in modern organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a novel framework illustrated by extensive original quotations for capturing and making more accessible March’s profound contribution to organization studies. His work on organizational behaviour and decision-making is viewed as identifying and grappling with three key paradoxes of modernity: of rationality, performance and meaning. His prescriptions on how to handle and address these paradoxes are explored through a focus on his reflections on the poetry of leadership.

Findings

Whilst March himself emphasized that not all of his insights can be captured in an article level overview, March, his collaborator Olsen and others who worked with and studied under him have confirmed the accuracy of the review and the value of the enterprise.

Practical implications

Capturing March’s advocacy of sensible foolishness and playful seriousness in the face of ambiguity, uncertainty and contestation hopefully contribute to enhancing practitioners’ “lightness of being” in coping with and finding meaning in challenging environments.

Originality/value

Through the range of ideas covered, the framework used and the extensive use of March’s own worlds, the study, hopefully, communicates the depth and richness of March’s humanitarian enterprise and the “playfully serious spirit” that he advocates and exemplifies – in a way that is often omitted from narrower, more technical and somewhat dry treatments of his work.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 November 2010

Kokila Doshi

Microfinance is an effective tool for poverty alleviation. The sustainability of microfinance institutions is essential to create desired social impact. The chapter provides…

Abstract

Microfinance is an effective tool for poverty alleviation. The sustainability of microfinance institutions is essential to create desired social impact. The chapter provides insight into how microfinance organizations create sustainable value, using a case study of ACCION San Diego (ACCION SD). The evolution of and progress of ACCION SD is studied through the lens of Appreciative Intelligence framework. A conceptual framework of the appreciative approach to sustainable microfinance is developed and applied to ACCION SD, describing sustaining cycles of success. ACCION SD emerges as an organization with a vision of possibilities, continuously reframing and expanding what is successful. The Appreciative Intelligence of its leadership and innovative programs has led to competitive advantage and sustainable value. The Appreciative Intelligence of its clients reinforces ACCION SD's sustainability. The case study shows that building upon positive possibilities and ability to reframe are important success factors for both clients and microfinance organizations.

Details

Positive Design and Appreciative Construction: From Sustainable Development to Sustainable Value
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-370-6

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2019

William T. Holmes and W. Reed Scull

The purpose of this paper is to integrate the Bolman and Deal’s (2017) Four Frames of Reframing Organizations with the Mayfield and Mayfield (2018) Motivating Language Theory so…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to integrate the Bolman and Deal’s (2017) Four Frames of Reframing Organizations with the Mayfield and Mayfield (2018) Motivating Language Theory so that those who lead organizations can better do so and those who guide the improvement and development of organizations can better prepare organizational managers/leaders.

Design/methodology/approach

Through the fusion of the Four-Frames Assumptions and Motivating Language Categorical Forms into one integration table, linkages and connections between the two frameworks are identified.

Findings

The findings of this work provide a “voice” to the Four Frames of Reframing Organizations and extend the field Motivating Language Theory as the medium of leader praxis.

Research limitations/implications

The implications for researchers are new opportunities for research and teaching.

Practical implications

The implications for those in the field are new opportunities for leader development and training leading to improved outcomes for employees and organizations.

Originality/value

This is the first integration of the Four-Frames and Motivating Language Theory extending and enriching both fields.

Details

Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7282

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 May 2004

Tojo Thatchenkery

Though paradoxes constitute a basic ontological condition of organizational processes, the modernist approach has always been to find ways to resolve them. In this chapter, an…

Abstract

Though paradoxes constitute a basic ontological condition of organizational processes, the modernist approach has always been to find ways to resolve them. In this chapter, an alternative approach called hermeneutic appreciation is proposed. By accepting and affirming paradoxes through the process of hermeneutic appreciation, the generative potential inherent in them can be recognized and unfolded. This chapter presents a case study of an organization that demonstrated such a sophisticated understanding of hermeneutic appreciation. By not dismissing the paradoxes but by affirming and reframing them, members of this organization were able to reverse a visible organizational decline and instead infuse it with new energy and vitality leading to an eventual organizational renewal. Lessons learned from this appreciative inquiry project suggest that a hermeneutic appreciation of paradoxes may act as a change intervention and is likely to enable innovation and organizational transformation.

Details

Constructive Discourse and Human Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76230-892-7

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2016

Gustaf Kastberg and Sven Siverbo

In the last decade, greater attention has been paid to the role of management accounting and control (MAC) in making professional organizations more horizontal. The authors argue…

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Abstract

Purpose

In the last decade, greater attention has been paid to the role of management accounting and control (MAC) in making professional organizations more horizontal. The authors argue that earlier research has not shown how the interrelatedness between professional identities and MAC influences attempts to make organizations more horizontal. In this paper the authors respond to the call for more research on the relationship between horizontalization and accounting and control. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the emerging literature on the relationship between accountability arrangements and professional identities.

Design/methodology/approach

Theoretically the authors have an actor-network theory (ANT) approach. Empirically, the authors followed two episodes where actors at top management levels in two Swedish health care organizations introduced horizontalization.

Findings

The two episodes support the view that the role of MAC when making professional organizations more horizontal is limited. Professionals dominate what happens at the operational level and they do not act on MAC rules and performance targets in opposition of their professional identity. However, in alliance with other interessement devices MAC may have a role in creating overflows, that is, pointing out imperfections in the existing frame. The authors noticed no signs that professionals developed hybrid identities as in previous research.

Originality/value

The authors apply ANT to move beyond the commonly used contingency and new institutional sociology perspectives.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

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