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1 – 10 of 43
Article
Publication date: 1 December 2002

Yiannis Gabriel and Dorothy S. Griffiths

Far from being emotional deserts, organizations are full of emotion and passion. Increasingly, management has sought to harness emotion to increase work motivation, enhance…

6430

Abstract

Far from being emotional deserts, organizations are full of emotion and passion. Increasingly, management has sought to harness emotion to increase work motivation, enhance customer service and work performance and the “emotional intelligence” advocates have sought to develop a toolkit for the smarter deployment of emotions in organizations. Using social constructionist and psychoanalytic ideas, the author argues that the management of emotions is problematic and precarious. Some emotions may be contained or re‐directed, but many arise from deeper unconscious sources and are impervious to learning. Two specific emotions, anxiety and love, are discussed.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 9 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2019

Yiannis Gabriel

The purpose of this paper is to introduce psychosocial research methodology as a method that makes use of the emotions of researcher and researched and goes well-beyond empathetic…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce psychosocial research methodology as a method that makes use of the emotions of researcher and researched and goes well-beyond empathetic understanding.

Design/methodology/approach

This short piece critically introduces the recently published book Further Researching Beneath the Surface (Volume 2): Psycho-social Research Methods in Practice, Eds Cummins, A.-M., and Williams, N., and analyses the psychosocial approach to qualitative research that emphasizes research as an emotional activity and makes use of the researcher’s and the researched’s emotional responses to each other in drawing interpretations about organizational phenomena.

Findings

By analysing transference and counter-transference, researchers can draw valuable insights into organizational phenomena that remain unseen by more conventional research methodologies.

Originality/value

Emotions, far from being the enemy of the researcher, can, if recognized properly, be valuable resources in social research.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 May 2008

David Collins

This paper has been timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the publication of In Search of Excellence. Observing this anniversary, the paper aims to offer a critical…

1884

Abstract

Purpose

This paper has been timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the publication of In Search of Excellence. Observing this anniversary, the paper aims to offer a critical review of the works of Tom Peters – a man vaunted as the guru of management. Reviewers have observed that Tom Peters' narratives of business build and depend upon organizational stories to achieve their effects. Recognising that tales of the organization play an important role in sensemaking and sensegiving endeavours, this paper reviews Peters' organizational storytelling in the light of critical academic reflection in this arena.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses the eight key works on management produced by Tom Peters between 1982 and 2003 from a storytelling perspective. Building upon Yiannis Gabriel's account of the essence of the poetic tale, the paper compiles a catalogue of Tom Peters' storywork.

Findings

On the strength of the cataloguing exercise, the paper charts a decline in this guru's storytelling; the predominance of certain story types; Peters' transmutation from narrator for, to hero of, the business world.

Originality/value

While acknowledging the need for further research and analysis, the paper suggests that the quantitative and qualitative changes evident in Peters' storywork catalogue suggest that this guru's connection to the world of business has become increasingly remote and unproductive. Accordingly, this review questions Peters' status as an organizational storyteller/organizational “sensegiver”, and so, questions his future prospects as a guru.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

Monica Colon-Aguirre

The purpose of this study is to look at organizational stories shared among academic librarians who work at the reference desk, and create a typology of the stories based on the…

1452

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to look at organizational stories shared among academic librarians who work at the reference desk, and create a typology of the stories based on the knowledge transferred in these. Previous research suggests that stories are the main way in which organizations communicate common values, organizational rules and promote organizational learning. The main question researched here will be: what kind of knowledge is transferred through the stories shared among librarians? This is an important consideration since the meaning carried through the story can shape the employee’s perception of the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

This research employed long interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire based on the works of Yiannis Gabriel (2000) as a guide. A total of 20 reference librarians working at four different academic institutions in the southern USA participated in this study.

Findings

The analysis of the data reveals a typology of organizational stories shared. The main topics covered by the stories all deal with cultural knowledge exchanges, while also serve as coping mechanisms and present important organizational culture aspects. The stories shared also reflect negative aspects related to the lack of proper communication within the organizations, with the presence of rumors among the narratives shared.

Originality/value

These findings can serve as a first step for the development of healthier organizational cultures in libraries and may have implications for training and development, change management, motivation and collective memory.

Details

Library Management, vol. 36 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2013

Paul F. Donnelly, Yiannis Gabriel and Banu Özkazanç‐Pan

The Guest Editors’ intent with this special issue is to tell tales of the field and beyond, but all with the serious end of rendering visible the largely invisible. This paper…

924

Abstract

Purpose

The Guest Editors’ intent with this special issue is to tell tales of the field and beyond, but all with the serious end of rendering visible the largely invisible. This paper aims to introduce the articles forming the special issue, as well as reviewing extant work that foregrounds the hidden stories and uncertainties of doing qualitative research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors advance their arguments through a literature review approach, reflecting on the “state of the field” with regard to doing research and offering new directions on reflexivity as an ethical consideration for conducting qualitative research.

Findings

Far from consigning the mess entailed in doing qualitative research to the margins, there is much to be learned from, and considerable value in, a more thoughtful engagement with the dilemmas we face in the field and beyond, one that shows the worth of what we are highlighting to both enrich research practice itself and contribute to improving the quality of what we produce.

Originality/value

This paper turns the spotlight onto the messiness and storywork aspects of conducting research, which are all too often hidden from view, to promote the kinds of dialogues necessary for scholars to share their fieldwork stories as research, rather than means to a publication end.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2001

Elena P. Antonacopoulou and Yiannis Gabriel

Develops an understanding of the complex interface between emotion and learning and highlights the special contribution of psychoanalytic insights in understanding individuals’…

11688

Abstract

Develops an understanding of the complex interface between emotion and learning and highlights the special contribution of psychoanalytic insights in understanding individuals’ reactions to organizational changes. Explores the extent to which emotions are products of learning, the ways in which emotions facilitate or inhibit learning, and the ways in which learning redefines and re‐organizes emotions at both an individual and an organizational level. The analysis shows the interdependence between emotion and learning and highlights many of the subtleties of individuals’ reactions to change that current research into individuals’ adaptability to organizational change tends to neglect. Reviews some of the implications of the psychodynamic explication of emotion and learning to our understanding of individuals’ reactions to organizational change.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 14 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2001

Adrian Carr and Yiannis Gabriel

The notion of the unconscious is introduced and contextualised as part of the larger psychodynamics relevant to the process of managing change. The other papers in this special…

8383

Abstract

The notion of the unconscious is introduced and contextualised as part of the larger psychodynamics relevant to the process of managing change. The other papers in this special issue are introduced.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 14 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2013

Helen Kara

This paper aims to explore the scope of fiction writing in academic research as a way of studying “messier” aspects of the process, such as emotion.

1524

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the scope of fiction writing in academic research as a way of studying “messier” aspects of the process, such as emotion.

Design/methodology/approach

The author reflects on her “lived experience” of conducting doctoral research, five years earlier and re‐searched for the paper, by composing a fictional narrative that aims to capture some of the emotional and other complexities of the process.

Findings

The author demonstrates that fictionalisation opens possibilities for a deeper probing of the emotional aspects of the research experience. Her conclusion is that this method can help researchers to think about the processes of writing, reflexivity, and emotion. It can also be useful to academic writers more widely, by showing how fiction writing techniques can convey some of the more complex aspects of their day‐to‐day activities.

Practical implications

The paper can act as a model for extending academic writing skills in the area of fiction, by introducing characterisation, plot and dialogue.

Originality/value

This paper offers an original account of the emotions of the doctoral writer, situated within current discourses on emotion, fiction writing and methodology. It will be of value to scholars of arts, humanities and social sciences.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 August 2002

Yiannis Gabriel

47

Abstract

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 December 2015

Yiannis Gabriel

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that, important as reflexivity is, it does not constitute the gold standard of qualitative research. Instead the author makes a plea…

1910

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that, important as reflexivity is, it does not constitute the gold standard of qualitative research. Instead the author makes a plea for the use of sociological imagination.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper makes use of data from the ISI Web of Science database to demonstrate the increasing popularity of the concept of reflexivity.

Findings

All researchers exercise reflexivity in as much as carrying out research alters both the subject and the object of the research. Conscious reflexivity enables researchers to question their assumptions and consequences of their work but does not guarantee high quality research. For this, creative imagination in recognizing the creative possibilities afforded by the data, are essential.

Originality/value

Arguing against the emerging orthodoxy of qualitative research methodology, the original proposal of this paper lies in its plea to relax methodological strictures and judge the quality of research pragmatically in terms of its scientific value and social usefulness.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

1 – 10 of 43