Abstract
The way in which managers perceive their organization's intellectual and social capital has an impact in shaping their choices and how they lead change. The aim of the study was to explore how the managers of a trade union framed the role of its intangible assets in a context of organizational change. A qualitative approach was used; 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the leaders of a trade union and then analyzed using the method of thematic analysis. Particular attention was paid to the metaphors the managers used to narrate change. The hypothesis underlying this approach is that metaphors are a meaningful resource in that they can convey how organization and its intangible assets are framed. In the results, three “root metaphors” are illustrated—the trade union seen either as a system of domination, an organism, or a culture—together with the consequences of each of these images for the perception and value attributed to the trade union's intangible assets. In conclusion, implications for changing management practices and for further research are discussed.
Highlights
This article presents a study that explored how the managers of a large Italian trade union organization perceive and give value to their intangible assets—intellectual capital and relational capital—within a context of organizational change
Drawing on Benevene and her colleagues, we argue that the way in which managers “perceive their organization’s intangible resources has an impact in shaping strategic analysis and choices and the organization’s management” (Benevene et al, 2019, p. 163). This is even more true in situations of organizational crisis, such as those that the union has been experiencing for some years : “In a neoliberal political economy the space for independent trade unionism is continually narrowed as the state seeks to release market forces from inhibiting regulation and employers” (Heery, 2009, p. 327)
This study describes how, when faced with their own internal crisis, the managers of a trade union organization develop different new frames with which to rethink its purpose and possible actions, and the role of the organization’s intangible assets
Summary
This article presents a study that explored how the managers of a large Italian trade union organization perceive and give value to their intangible assets—intellectual capital and relational capital—within a context of organizational change. The questions remain open, and they support an attitude of actively seeking out a new identity that does not completely exclude the union’s core values In this last cluster, the recurring terms are: “values,” “identity,” “research,” “the social value of the union,” “purpose.” The meaning of these terms, which evoke the trade union’s search for a new identity, has led us to conclude that the root metaphor of this cluster is culture: this is an agricultural image being used to interpret organizations: just as in agriculture, a man takes care of plants and animals and helps them grow, in the same way, society and organizations devise models for their members’ development which are mirrored in the systems of knowledge, ideologies, values, laws, rites and daily rituals. The union does represent a group: it represents those ideals of inclusion and integration necessary for civil co-existence
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