Psychodynamics and intersubjectivity in management organisations

Abstract

The modern origins of organisation theory probably date from the work of Taylor and Weber at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was Freud, however, who elaborated how early identification processes influence the form of adult association, and this was elucidated further by Klein's concepts of developmental positions and projective identification. Expanding Kleinian theory, Bion was probably the first to develop a comprehensive psychoanalytic view of group and organisational behaviour. This paper describes briefly the contributions of Klein and Bion to organisation theory and, with the use of a vignette, illustrates how their approach might describe a typical management situation. A further company case study is presented in which this approach is used to elucidate the organisational dynamics that were experienced by the author/consultant. An alternative account is also given using an existential phenomenological perspective, making tentative links between the concepts of projective identification and intersubjectivity. The paper concludes that managers and consultants must understand the psychodynamic or existential nature of anxiety and its influence on interpersonal relations if they are to effect real organisational change.