Organizational Aesthetics Research Articles

Organisational aesthetics in temporary project organisations: a systematic literature review

Organisational aesthetics in temporary project organisations: a systematic literature review

Sustainable affordances of information systems for cultural tourism: An organisational aesthetics perspective

AbstractAlthough information systems (IS) are increasingly used to provide sustainable solutions for tourism, our understanding of the social mechanisms whereby IS contribute to a sustainable visitor economy is limited. This paper fills the gap by investigating how organisations enact the affordances of IS in preserving intangible cultural heritage (ICH) to contribute to a sustainable visitor economy. Using an organisational aesthetics perspective, we explore the mechanisms through an in‐depth case study of an ICH‐based company in Jingdezhen, a famous historical porcelain city in China. Through the effective use of IS tools, the case organisation has successfully transformed from a ceramic manufacturing plant to a popular tourist attraction. Our study unveils six sustainable affordances of IS in three dimensions, wherein ICH aesthetics act as direct stimuli, knowledge tools and experiences. Affordances emerge from the processes of both creating and managing aesthetics. By enacting these affordances, the case organisation builds a more profound engagement with online audiences, attracts more ICH visitors and transfers ICH knowledge to potential inheritors of the tradition, creating a sustainable visitor economy. Our findings, summarised into a sustainable affordances model, contribute to the IS for sustainable tourism literature by shedding light on the black box of the social mechanisms of IS‐enabled ICH preservation. The sustainable affordances model can also help ICH‐based organisations reflect on how to build a sustainable visitor economy using IS.

Aesthetics as Knowledge: An Aspect of the Future of Knowledge Management?

Knowledge Management (KM) is concerned with the process of capturing, organizing, sharing or utilizing knowledge within an organization. At least since the works of Nonaka and Takeuchi in the 90s, it is a commonplace that the term knowledge, as understood from the perspective of KM, includes both explicit and tacit elements. However, it seems that the focus of many KM initiatives and resulting KM systems still lies mostly on the more explicit facets of knowledge. This has two implications for the field: the first is the obvious danger of confusing knowledge management with information management. The second, which is actually a consequence of the first, is that the focus on technology and explicit knowledge can lead to a diffusion of the field of KM towards more technical domains such as Semantic Web, Knowledge Graphs or Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Those fields have arguably become way more capable of managing explicit knowledge and draw the attention of companies away from ‘traditional’ KM systems (Davenport, 2015). Thus, in this paper, I argue that KM research should somewhat reconsider its strengths which lie in the management of tacit knowledge that is closely tied to humans. Following this argument, I propose organizational aesthetics as one of many promising avenues for KM research in the future. The idea for this stems from a recent literature review on organizational aesthetics that identifies three perspectives on the topic – one being aesthetics as a knowledge tool (Baldessarelli, Stigliani and Elsbach, 2022). According to this perspective, aesthetics is seen as a form of knowledge that originates in sensory perceptions and is permanently deployed in the interaction with organizations, organizational artifacts, and social settings. The present paper hence aims to contextualize the notion of organizational aesthetics for the field of KM to give an overview of the idea and offer a basis for discussion on whether aesthetics could be a useful field for future inquiry.

Will aesthetic sensitivity and healthy perfectionism fit enhance service quality? The moderating effect of organizational aesthetics

At present, the dominant aesthetic of consumer culture has become a universal standard for design. In the hotel industry, frontline service providers play a key role in incorporating and conveying aesthetic values when providing service. Based on aesthetic theories and the perspective of supplementary fit, the current study investigates the role of the fit between aesthetic sensitivity and the healthy perfectionism of frontline service providers in the enhancement of service quality. We employ organizational aesthetics as our moderator. A total of 296 valid questionnaire sets were collected, representing a valid return ratio of 70%. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the path from aesthetic sensitivity and healthy perfectionism to service quality indicated a positive relationship (β = 0.23, p < .01); and the interaction between organizational aesthetics and aesthetic sensitivity and healthy perfectionism fit exhibited a positive correlation with service quality (β = 0.17, p < .01). (1) the aesthetic sensitivity and healthy perfectionism fit is positively related to service quality; (2) high levels of organizational aesthetics among frontline service providers strengthen the positive correlation between aesthetic sensitivity and healthy perfectionism fit and service quality; and (3) low levels of organizational aesthetics among frontline service providers weaken the positive correlation between aesthetic sensitivity and healthy perfectionism fit and service quality. This study contributes to theory and practice with respect to the hotel industry.

Aesthetic categories: construction and validation of the AESCATScale

Purpose: The aim of this study focused on the elaboration and validation of an organizational aesthetic perception scale (AESCATScale) to be used in understanding individuals’ perceptions of organizational life. Design/methodology/approach: We carried out a literature review, exploratory interviews, two separate surveys, and multivariate analyses. The scale was validated through an application with a large sample of college professors. Findings: Our outcomes consisted of a multidimensional construct model for the perception of organizational aesthetics (AESCATScale), with seven dimensions and 20 items. According to our analysis, the organizational aesthetics construct is consistent and may be the basis for future studies on the subject. Research limitations/implications: We highlight three peculiar limitations to the research: a) the subjective nature of the theme, b) the lack of comprehension of some categories by respondents and c) the sample used was chosen for its accessibility and to have been restricted to college professors of a single state in Brazil. Practical implications: The AESCATScale may reveal the sensitive logic underlying several organizational practices in the workplace based on a sensitive point of view. Also, it can be a valuable tool to aid in a manager’s decision-making in situations of change. Originality/value: This study introduces a differentiated approach to organizational management that can sometimes be missed due to its abstract nature. Therefore, it introduces a novelty research tool that can be used in corporate and academic environments.

Organizational Aesthetics: On Certain Practices and Genealogies

Abstract “Organizational Aesthetics” traces the genealogies of artistic practices engaging socially, politically, and aesthetically with form to enter into fundamental debates about hierarchy, horizontality, and centralization. Against the background of historical conflicts over relational aesthetics and tactical media, the essay problematizes the exclusive focus on physical gatherings as the exclusive site of relationality. Instead, it offers an analysis that revolves around the dialectic of such gatherings and the organizational and technological structures that subtend and transcend them. Spanning the mid-1990s to the present, this account of organizational aesthetics includes critical discussions of artists, activists, theorists, and collectives including BüroBert, Alice Creischer, Andrea Fraser, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Geert Lovink, ruangrupa, and Jonas Staal.

Aesthetic Labor in Religious Contexts: Women Encountering Modest Dress in the Workplace in the UK and Saudi Arabia

This article explores how UK women encounter religious dress and behavior codes in religious work contexts. It compares two very different case studies: women working at faith-based organizations in the UK and women working for secular organizations who travel for work to Saudi Arabia. Using 65 semi-structured interviews, participant wardrobe photographs, and observation in regional modest fashion retail, the article analyzes women workers’ experience in religious contexts as a form of aesthetic labor. It investigates the gendered and religious components which structure women’s different responses to workplace modesty codes. Detailing the additional aesthetic and emotional labor demanded of women in crafting modest professional appearances in religious contexts, the research reveals continuities in how workplace modesty requirements impact on women’s occupational performance and sense of self. The conclusion argues that religion-related workplace modesty codes constitute a religiously-inflected form of organizational aesthetics that may operate simultaneously with, but be experienced differently from, secular-driven organizational aesthetics. We find that religious dress codes are arbitrated by the avoidance of shame, an affect accompanying the government of modesty for all involved. We find that organizations benefit from, but do not recognize or recompense, the additional aesthetic labor that modesty demands of women.

Aesthetic Leadership and Organizational Symbolism Experienced at the Paintbrush Factory in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

The study of organizational symbolism in the 1980s brought into discussion aspects referring to the image, the sentiments, and the representative values of an organization, pointing to an aesthetic sensibility that can generate meaning. This paper is part of a larger endeavor that examines the latest developments of the methodological models pertaining to organizational aesthetics. Starting from the categories of research in the field of organizational aesthetics proposed by Taylor and Hansen in 2005, I attempt to analyze an art space phenomenon, the Paintbrush Factory in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2009–22). I focused on aspects of aesthetic leadership and the day-to-day experience of those involved in Paintbrush Factory, especially at the peak of its existence (2009–13), with the aim of finding an appropriate methodological model for research such a complex enterprise as well as to discover lessons that can be learned in terms of its impact and legacy.&#x0D; The Paintbrush Factory brought a memory of the past to light (through the conversion of a communist space), acquiring an exemplary role in contemporary art (through the type of network developed by this spontaneous, contextual space). The presence of individuals (involved in the management of this art space, artists, or participants in events) was observed in light of the “intelligence of the feeling” and of various symbolic effects. Thus, the Paintbrush Factory is an example of the transformations undergone by an industrial space, which became a creative model of cultural management, a cultural brand with a unique mode of organization: a federation.

Experiential learning through applied theatre in corporate training: a qualitative approach

PurposeExperiential learning pedagogy has been an increasingly popular mode of learning in educational and training programs. While there have been methods such as role plays which have been popular in training and educational programs, applied theatre in corporate training (ATCT) is gaining popularity because of its great potential in connecting intellect and emotions, to meaningfully challenge norms and assumptions. This article aims to present empirical and “participant-centric” evidences to posit ATCT as a potentially powerful participant-centric pedagogical tool in corporate training programs that is likely to make the learning process more engaging for participants and more fruitful for the organization.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used qualitative approach. Focused group discussion (FGD) and author's first-hand experience of observing ATCT helped gather data for further analysis. Review of related literature from management, organizational behavior and training and development was done to identify the major themes.FindingsThe findings suggest that ATCT is a novel, innovative mode of enhancing individual learning and development by utilizing all the four modes of experiential learning as conceptualized by Kolb. ATCT also helps in developing organizational aesthetics (OA) among participants that help businesses to better execute their strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThe application of ATCT could enable greater involvement of employees from across different levels and of different backgrounds in looking at organizational issues. ATCT helps participants gain greater insights and understanding of organizational situations beyond technical nuances by establishing deeper connections between intellect and emotions and collectively contributing to resolving them.Originality/valueThe study points to the possibility and potential of using participant-centric ATCT in organizational learning which goes beyond basic skill development. It also draws attention towards a participatory form of organizational development via ATCT by improving OA among participants.

Not Just for Show: How Aesthetics Underpins Work Within and Around Organizations

Organizational aesthetics is a way of understanding organizational life based on sensory reactions to its material components, such as objects and settings (Baldessarelli, Stigliani, & Elsbach, 2022; Strati, 1992). Following the recent material and spatial turn in organization studies (Boxenbaum et al., 2018; Jones et al., 2017; van Marrewijk & Yanow, 2010), scholars have begun to acknowledge and document the role of aesthetics in organizations and institutions. However, the topic remains relatively unexplored, and substantial opportunities exist in management research for further analysis and theorization. This symposium brings together scholars who empirically study aesthetics in relation to key organizational topics (i.e., coordination, creative collaboration, institutionalization, stigmatization) to provide novel insights into how aesthetics contributes to organizational and institutional processes. In particular, the symposium extends management scholarship by emphasizing how aesthetics influences the construction and disruption of meanings across a variety of research settings. The four empirical papers highlight how material and visual artifacts and the subsequent experiences emerging from their use and manipulation support organizational and institutional work by forming or challenging collective understandings. In doing so, the studies point to novel research directions concerning (1) the role of interactions with artifacts that trigger sensory reactions leading to collective achievements, and (2) the use and manipulation of artifacts to strengthen cognitive and symbolic processes that challenge dominant meanings. Inducing Artifactual and Aesthetic Experience to Enable Coordination Presenter: Mercedes McBride; Case Western Reserve U. Presenter: John Paul Stephens; Case Western Reserve U. Clients as Feedback Providers: A Study of Creative Projects Presenter: Giada Baldessarelli; Imperial College Business School Presenter: Ileana Stigliani; Imperial College Business School The Role of Multimodality in the Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric Presenter: Elena Bruni; Luiss Guido Carli U. Presenter: Dennis Clemens Jancsary; WU Vienna Presenter: Renate Elisabeth Meyer; WU Vienna & Copenhagen Business School The Symbolic Manipulability of Market Offerings: Strategies for Mitigating Consumer Resistance Presenter: Anders Dahl Krabbe; King's Business School

Does office aesthetics drive job choice? Boosting employee experience and well-being perception through workplace design

PurposeDrawing from experiential theory and decision-making theory, this article aims to posit that workplace aesthetics acts as a driver for job choice when included with an employment offer. Whilst organisational literature has recognised that office experiential cues in general, and aesthetics in particular, affect employee performance and well-being, employer attractiveness scales have not yet incorporated office aesthetics as a component of job-offer choice.Design/methodology/approachA choice-based conjoint (CBC) experiment was conducted to estimate the weighted utilities of three aesthetic and three non-aesthetic employer attributes. Subsequently, the attributes' importance in the job choice decision was estimated.FindingsThe results indicate that aesthetic attributes in the workplace can be equally important in the decision-making process as non-aesthetic attributes and that aesthetic attributes deliver as much utility as non-aesthetic attributes in driving job choice.Practical implicationsThese conclusions are relevant for Human Resource (HR) managers engaged in crafting job offers, who should consider that employees may improve their assessment of a job offer as a result of superior organisational aesthetics demonstrated during the recruitment process as well as in contexts where employees would be expected to combine remote and office-based work.Originality/valueThe present study represents a novel approach to understanding job applicants' preferences for aesthetic elements in the workplace. The results suggest that the workplace experience is relativistic and that considering applicants' latent preferences is crucial when designing efficient job offers.

Organizing In Sound: Sound Art and the Organization of Space1

Starting from the assumption that music and sou"sound art" in the framework of organization studies. The paper takes the steps from the consideration proposed by sound artists and theorists that sound is not only an aesthetic object but a ‘relational medium', in which and through which social knowledge and organizational dynamics deploy. Since sound is fundamentally inseparable from space, we refer to scholarship on the organization of space and organizational aesthetics in order to show the connection between sensorial, perceptual and socio-material aspects in organizing. We explore this topic through ethnographic study of the sound art festival La Digestion, held in Naples and focused on the relation between sound and space. Adopting a constructionist view of organizing, we show how sound is part of the socio-material action-net from which organizational space performatively emerges. Thus, we argue that the perspective of "organizing in sound" can offer scholars of organization studies a method by which to more accurately study and comprehend various organizational phenomena with multimodal manifestations.

Aesthetic wisdom of older workers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to propose the notion of the value and contribution of the wisdom of older workers in working life.Design/methodology/approachUsing a framework of organisational aesthetics, this paper presents an empirical case study analysing the material collected from Finnish municipal home care services and sheltered accommodation designed for older people. Through the analysis of the stories of older and younger employees, the case study shows how workers construct ideas of skills related to ageing, how the wisdom of older workers has been transformed into practices and how aesthetic wisdom might benefit this social process.FindingsThe findings reveal three characteristics of ageing wisdom – caring, graceful and joyful wisdom – that all present focused sensitivity, emphasizing the subject’s experience, feelings and emotions. The findings also illustrate how the authority of older workers made visible this feeling-driven wisdom and values, and through these means, enhanced the skills of younger employees.Social implicationsThe present paper challenges the debate on ageing which has mainly focused on the problems of older workers in a social context.Originality/valueThis paper provides new insights into the skills of older workers in the empirical and theoretical framework of organisational aesthetics.

The Aesthetic Dimension of Organizing: A Review and Research Agenda

Organizational aesthetics comprises a way of understanding organizational life based on immediate sensory reactions (i.e., sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch) to the material components of org...

Exploring Idea Evaluators' Aesthetic Learning in Creative Projects

Clients are increasingly involved in creative projects as external idea evaluators. While research has provided evidence on expert evaluators accustomed to expressing aesthetic feedback—i.e., feedback that rests on subjective, sensory reactions—, far less attention has been devoted to understanding how non-expert clients can provide such feedback during creative projects. We draw on an ethnographic study of the collaboration between creative workers and their clients to explore how the latter learn to formulate aesthetic feedback through repeated feedback interactions. We find that idea evaluators engage in aesthetic learning that allows them to acquire the knowledge to express sophisticated judgments and suggestions vis-à-vis material artifacts. Our findings contribute to the research on feedback in creative contexts by illustrating how evaluators acquire knowledge to perform their role. We also contribute to the research on organizational aesthetics by unpacking aesthetic learning and highlighting the underlying mechanisms that lead to its emergence.

BODY AND SENSES IN ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH: EMPATHIC UNDERSTANDINGFROM AN EMBODIED EXPERIENCE

ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the contributions of the method of empathic understanding to the field of Organizational Studies by highlighting the corporeality and sensitivity of the researcher in the production and interpretation of data. Originality/value: Since empathic understanding can be viewed as a method for analyzing the researcher’s experience during fieldwork, this paper situates the role of the researcher’s body as an instrument for the collection of data during their research. The theory of organizational aesthetics is taken as a basis to discuss the relevance of the sensory dimension during the research process. Without giving priority to any particular sense (such as that of sight, for example), the construction of scientific knowledge is therefore discussed in terms of the human senses that respond to diverse stimuli by highlighting the relevance of the processes involved in the production of embodied and sensible knowledge for Organizational Studies. Design/methodology/approach: A theoretical-empirical study of qualitative nature was carried out in a street market of a Brazilian city. The method of empathic understanding directed the entire process of data collection and analysis, in which the limitations of field observations were discussed by expanding the notion of the researcher’s own experience into that of a sensory experience. Findings: The findings suggest that it is possible for the researcher to engage their mind and body during research by experiencing the field and overcoming dichotomies such as cognition/sensitivity. Such an engagement can be viewed as a major contribution of the method of empathic understanding to Organizational Studies. Thus, the notion of the body as a major vehicle for the construction of knowledge is made evident in this paper through both the discussion of the empathic understanding approach and the research carried out.

The Creation and Development of Organizational Aesthetics

The Creation and Development of Organizational Aesthetics

Studio Practices in Management Education: Creative Adventures in Aesthetic Formativeness

As collaborative artistic inquiries, studios challenge logical–analytical approaches to knowledge. Studio activities entail materializing artifacts to explore a range of management and organization issues. Theoretical references are currently needed to keep pace with the growing interest in studio-informed pedagogy. Inspired by organizational aesthetics, my article engages with Luigi Pareyson’s hermeneutic–aesthetic philosophy of production and theory of formativity for new understandings on the art of “learning-by-making” studio practices. Based in sensory knowing, formativity—conceptualized as aesthetic formativeness—denotes how artistic “making/doing” unfolds through trial and error, socio-material processes involving simultaneous invention and production. Building on previously established analytical distinctions for studying formativeness dynamics in practice, studio experimentations with two distinct MBA cohorts are explored. Excerpts from these studio accounts guide the reader through students’ creative formative adventures. Extensions to the initial conceptual framework are put forward with the aim of contributing more nuanced aesthetic insights on studio-based education. Practical implications and future directions are considered.

Gendering the Boy Scouts: Examining Hegemonic Masculinity at a Co-Ed Backpacking Camp

Masculinity has been studied in various outdoor settings, including the industries of ecotourism, outdoor education, and forestry. However, few studies have examined how physical space contributes to the construction of hegemonic masculinity in organizations associated with nature and the outdoors. This study relies on nine in-depth interviews conducted with outdoor educators and sixteen hours of ethnographic research completed at Mountain View Scout Camp, a backpacking program for youth operated by the Boy Scouts of America. Findings indicate that Mountain View is gendered both through its organizational aesthetics, which valorize a hegemonically masculine ideal, and via sta members’ conception of nature as feminine and forestry work and tools as masculine. Results also suggest that men employed at Mountain View will occasionally embody a hybrid masculine gender performance by utilizing non-hegemonic traits of masculinity such as pro-feminist ideas. However, these episodic masculine performances also serve to subtly reproduce gender inequalities by accepting only a speci c type of woman and rewarding men for super cial allyship.

Guest editorial

Welcome to the “Creativity in Work-Applied Management” special issue of the Journal of Work Applied Management. When we created the call for papers, we characterised creativity as both a process and an outcome within business and as essential for societal and economic growth (Shalley, 2013; Wall et al., 2017a). We thought such characterisation was likely to remain appropriate as technological development, globalisation and urbanisation trigger significant change in everyday life and employment, making it essential to recognise the skills and capabilities needed for continued participation and influence in the workplace, and that these will include “originality abilities” (Bakhshi et al., 2017). We also thought creativity could be considered through the use of creative problem-solving (Osborn, 1953), organisational aesthetics (Taylor and Hansen, 2005; Wall et al., 2017b), flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997), future skills (Ehlers and Kellermann, 2019) or development of the workforce through learning (Helyer, 2015). [...]