A collection of views on the use of metaphors in organizations and organization studies. The book provides an introduction to the use of metaphor in organization studies, outlines key areas of debate, explains how metaphors contribute to creating new theories about organizations and demonstrates how metaphors impact on organizational ability. Part One considers the role of metaphor in creating new theories of organization and in reinterpreting existing theories. Part 2 explores metaphor in organizational discourse and language, showing how the construction of different metaphors can provide powerful tools with which to manage the organization. Part Three investigates the relevance of metaphors in real organizational situations and how they actually impact on attitudes and behaviour. Part Four of the book offers an agenda for the use of metaphors in organizational research and suggests new directions that research might take.
Cliff Oswick is Professor of Organization Theory at The Business School (formerly known as Cass), City, University of London (and previously served as Deputy Dean between 2011 and 2016). Before joining Cass, he spent 4 years at Queen Mary, University of London as Dean of the Faculty of Law & Social Sciences. His research interests focus on the study of organizing processes and non-traditional approaches to organizational change. He has published over 150 academic articles and contributions to edited volumes. He is an Associate Editor for Journal of Change Management, a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, an Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, an elected member of the National Training Laboratory, former chair of the board of trustees for the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (2014-2020), and previously served as chair of the Organization Development and Change Division of the Academy of Management (2015-2020). Cliff has also undertaken a variety of executive education and consultancy assignments for private and public sector organizations.
Introduction - David Grant and Cliff Oswick Getting the Measure of Metaphors PART ONE: METAPHORS OF ORGANIZATION: SCOPE AND APPLICATION Some Consequences of Taking Gareth Morgan Seriously - Iain L Mangham Metaphor in the Development of Organization Theory - Geoffrey MacKechnie and Gemma Donnelly-Cox The Triune-Brain Metaphor - Gerrit Broekstra The Evolution of the Living Organization Metaphors in Organizational Research - Stewart R Clegg and John T Gray Of Embedded Embryos, Paradigms and Powerful People PART TWO: METAPHORS OF ORGANIZING: LANGUAGE AND DISCOURSE Metaphors in Popular Management Discourse - Richard Dunford and Ian Palmer The Case of Corporate Restructuring Metaphor in Organization Theory - Dawn E Inns and Philip J Jones Following in the Footsteps of the Poet? Metaphors and Metaphorization in Organizational Analysis - Robert Chia Thinking beyond the Thinkable PART THREE: METAPHORS IN ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS: IMPACT AND OUTCOMES Metaphors, Metaphoric Fields and Organizational Change - Robert J Marshak Telling Tales - Timothy Clark and Graeme Salaman Management Consultancy as the Art of Story Telling In the Image of Man - Erik D[o with a line thru]oving Organizational Action, Competence and Learning Can You Resist a Dream? Evangelical Metaphors and the Appropriation of Emotion - Heather H[um]opfl and Julie Maddrell PART FOUR: METAPHOR AND ORGANIZATIONS: ISSUES AND DIRECTIONS The Organization of Metaphors and the Metaphors of Organization - Cliff Oswick and David Grant Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here? An Afterword - Gareth Morgan Is There Anything More to Be Said about Metaphor?
`This anthology presents some current ideas and controversies on the uses of metaphors in organizational studies and offers a valuable overview of the field. It is composed of eleven papers, framed by a lucid introduction and a concluding summary and suggestions for future research by the editors' - Work, Employment and Society
