Organizational Discourse Research Articles

Contingent maternities? Maternal claims-making in third party reproduction.

The new reproductive technologies have significantly impacted definitions of motherhood. Historically, mothers were defined through the act of giving birth, but egg donation, embryo donation, and surrogacy disrupt this. Now multiple women can potentially claim maternity through gestational, genetic, legal, and social ties. Although there is some legal precedent for designating parentage, there is no simple solution to identify the 'true' mother. I address maternal claims-making in third party reproduction via a content analysis of US patient literature for infertile women. Major tensions arise over which link to privilege, especially regarding genetic versus gestational ties in egg donation versus surrogacy; however, adding embryo donation to the analysis illuminates another crucial dimension previously overlooked - that heterosexual women's maternal claims are supported by their partner's paternity claims. Ultimately, I argue that although reproductive organisational discourse carefully constructs credible options for maternal claims-making, contemporary reproductive medicine does not define maternity through assisted reproduction as a truly autonomous connection. Rather, maternity is highly contingent and thus potentially discreditable.

<b>Deriva referencial em discursos sobre a organização dos jogos olímpicos de 2016

O foco deste estudo é o funcionamento referencial em sequências representativas do construto teórico que denominamos Discurso de Organização das Olimpíadas 2016. Inicialmente, apresentamos a configuração desse discurso. Em seguida, discutimos a ocorrência da primeira pessoa do plural com base em uma perspectiva discursiva, enfatizando a noção de ‘nós’ político. Finalmente, analisamos sequências discursivas extraídas de declarações de Carlos Nuzman, presidente do comitê organizador do evento. Por meio de exercícios parafrásticos e da relação entre o linguístico e a memória discursiva, percebemos que, quando da ocorrência do ‘nós’, o discurso de Nuzman varia entre referentes imaginários distintos. Essa deriva produz um efeito de socialização da responsabilidade pelo trabalho organizacional. Entretanto, tal efeito faz supor um alinhamento, controverso, entre a posição daquele que enuncia (em confronto com certo imaginário sobre o Brasil) e a do referente. Ressaltamos, portanto, a importância de abordar o ‘nós’ em um nível discursivo, de maneira a pôr em causa a ilusão de homogeneidade de vozes que tal representação pode produzir.

Leading transformational culture change through conversations

How can leaders use conversational approaches to shape organisational cultures is the question explored in this paper. Following a definition of key terms, a theoretical framework is offered using social constructionist ideas. Drawing upon theoretical literature, the paper argues that people's realities in organisations are largely shaped through their conversational interactions. Change in perceptions of performance and culture is therefore achieved as conversations and the broader organisational discourses shift. How this can be accomplished is outlined in detail using Appreciative Inquiry, World Café and Open Space as examples of effective change processes. Case study research is signposted highlighting the impact and challenges of working with conversation. The implications for change leaders and their development are considered given the role and power challenges they are likely to face when using conversation to enable culture change. In conclusion, practical guidance is offered about how to grow new mindsets and skill sets for individuals wanting to use these approaches.

The Word as Weapon: Sermons as Organizational Discourse During the 1979 Southern Baptist Convention

ABSTRACTAs part of a larger multiyear examination of the discourse surrounding the split of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1979–1989, this article examines the ways in which Fundamentalists utilized their 1979 convention sermons as means to define their vision for the organizational soul of the Southern Baptist Convention. Consequently, this article explores how sermons function as more than theological discourse but as key organizational rhetoric in the life and conflict of religious organizations.

Book Review: Organizational Discourse: Communication and Constitution, by François Cooren

Book Review: <i>Organizational Discourse: Communication and Constitution</i>, by François Cooren

Discourses of an Organizational Tragedy: Emotion, Sensemaking, and Learning After the Yarnell Hill Fire

How an organization discursively responds to a tragedy can have lasting impacts on how it makes sense of its past and plans for future actions. This study explores the organizational discourses that emerged after the Yarnell Hill Fire. We argue examining the social discourses following this fatality fire can illuminate how a high reliability organization, its crews, and members experience and make sense of an organizational tragedy. Several themes are found to be at tension with one another within the overarching discourses of emotion, sensemaking, and learning. We examine how these are negotiated and offer implications of these discursive tensions.

A mudança organizacional sob a ótica do discurso: um caso de ensino de uma comunidade de pessoas com e sem deficiências de aprendizado

This article presents a teaching case focused on the discussion of organizational change, from the perspective of the interpretive paradigm and of the studies of organizational discourse. It describes a process of change within a non-profit organization, where people with and without learning disabilities, the latter called assistants, live in community. The introduction of new government guidelines changed the system of financing of such activity, giving more autonomy to people with learning difficulties and failing to provide activities that were central to the organization’s system of meanings. With the “heart” of the community threatened, assistants express the challenges to experience organizational change, reporting that they are dancing in blood. The case aims to contribute to the discussion of organizational change processes in postgraduate and possibly undergraduate courses, through an unusual perspective, which states the change not only as deliberate, but mainly as something built in participants’ interactions. It also can be used for supporting the discussion between agents and recipients of change in organizations.

A solidão na cibercultura e o discurso do consumo consciente: um estudo da campanha “#usarbempegabem” da vivo

O artigo se prope a refletir sobre o discurso da empresa de telefonia Vivo na campanha publicitria #UsarBemPegaBem, que faz um apelo ao pblico a favor do uso consciente da internet em celulares e demais aparelhos eletrnicos. Embora configure uma aparente contradio o fato de que uma companhia que obtm seus lucros atravs da internet mvel advogue o seu uso moderado, buscamos imergir nos fatores que representariam a possvel fundamentao desse discurso, como a hodierna solido na cibercultura, a superficialidade das representaes no ciberespao e outras provveis causalidades. Ademais, pincelamos brevemente a questo da Responsabilidade Social Empresarial e sua influncia no discurso organizacional. Levando em conta o ethos enunciativo nos termos propostos por Maingueneau, propusemos uma anlise dos vdeos institucionais da empresa, a fim de identificar a mudana no tom e indagar sobre a imagem enfim alcanada pela Vivo atravs das peas flmicas e frmulas propagandsticas produzidas sob a rubrica #PegaBem.

Book review: François Cooren, Organizational Discourse: Communication and Constitution

Book review: François Cooren, <i>Organizational Discourse: Communication and Constitution</i>

A quantitative analysis of food movement convergence in four Canadian provinces

Whether the food movement is most likely to transform the food system through ‘alternative’ or ‘oppositional’ initiatives has been the focus of considerable scholarly debate. Alternative initiatives are widespread but risk reinforcing the conventional food system by supporting neoliberal discourse and governance mechanisms, including localism, consumer choice, entrepreneurialism and self-help. While oppositional initiatives such as political advocacy have the potential for system-wide change, the current neoliberal political and ideological context dominant in Canada poses difficulties for initiatives that explicitly oppose the conventional food system. As such, some argue that the food movement requires convergence between alternative and oppositional initiatives. In this paper, we investigate convergence using survey results from 143 food movement organizations in four Canadian provinces. Results based on cluster analysis and descriptive statistics on organizational discourse, activities and visions of sustainable food systems demonstrate convergence around neoliberal discourse and governance mechanisms. Localism and consumer education characteristics are particularly prominent, with a majority of respondents describing their organizations as ‘local’, engaging in consumer education activities, and stating the importance of consumer education activities, indicating convergence around alternative, rather than oppositional, initiatives. While convergence around these discourse and strategies may limit the transformative potential of the food system when interpreted as neoliberalisation of the movement, such a reading does not demonstrate their full potential, as survey results also indicate trends of transformative visions of change and political engagement, particularly at the municipal level. This research demonstrates that the movement can work simultaneously within, and opposed to, the conventional food system, and provides understanding of both neoliberal leanings and the politics of the possible of the food movement.

Using the outdoor scavenger hunt to teach theories of organizational communication

Courses: Communication Theory, Organizational Communication, Strategic Communication.Objectives: Students will identify and categorize organizational discourses on their campuses; students will become aware of the ethical considerations of communication; students will recognize the different perceptions of organizational culture on campus.

REPOSICIONANDO CONCEITOS: A ORGANIZAÇÃO FORA DOS EIXOS

RESUMO O estudo das organizações de resistência, multiplicidade de experiências sociais desperdiçadas pelo discurso organizacional dominante, é uma das ações políticas da crítica no contexto dos estudos organizacionais. Ainda que o Brasil tenha uma longa trajetória crítica na análise das organizações, as alternativas são frequentemente abordadas de modo abstrato, conceitual. Assim, por meio de um estudo de caso do tipo intrínseco, analisamos a dinâmica organizacional do Circuito Fora do Eixo (FDE), um agrupamento de coletivos de produção cultural independente, como uma organização que se encontra no limite da formação social discursiva dominante. Por meio da análise do FDE, procuramos demonstrar os limites do quadro teórico dominante no estudo sobre organizações, apresentando abordagens alternativas que parecem mais adequadas para dar conta da ordem social em que vivemos.

Disobedience of Immoral Orders from Authorities: An Issue Construction Perspective

The purpose of this study is to examine how disobedience to immoral orders from an authority emerges in organizations. Using organizational discourse analysis to analyze the verbal communication of the original participants in Stanley Milgram’s obedience to authority experiments, I show how participants constructed the same experimental situation differently by analyzing their communication. Disobedient participants were more likely to display two different communication patterns: assessing consequences or self-referential objections. In contrast, obedient participants were more likely to seek guidance on the experimental procedure and interrupt the learner’s protests. Overall, I present a process model of how disobedience emerges in situations. This study’s findings also expand our understanding of moral imagination, moral decision making, and employee voice in organizations primarily by demonstrating how people can exercise agency in equivocal situations by constructing the situations they face.

Prophetic Organization Theory: A Brief Historical and Organizational Discourse of Early Islamic Civilization

This paper examines the management style practiced by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during the early period of Islamic Civilization. This management style is labeled as Prophetic Organization Theory (POT). POT is compared with two discourses preva-lent in the contemporary Organization Theory which are briefly introduced. The com-parison of POT with these discourses is undertaken through employing some facets of contemporary Organization Theory such as ethics, organizational epistemology and ontological states, organizational metaphorical forms, leadership and management styles and, organizational culture. Discussion section summarizes the findings of the comparison.

War Veterans and Fascism during the Franco Dictatorship in Spain (1936–1959)

This article argues that analysis and contextualization of the history of the Francoist veterans of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) leads to an understanding of Franco’s dictatorship as a fascist regime typical of the late 1930s and early 1940s. It reveals the congruence of the regime with the phenomenon of neo-fascism during the Cold War era. Drawing on a large range of archival and published sources, this article examines the history of the main Francoist veterans’ organization, the Delegación Nacional de Excombatientes (DNE) of the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS (FET-JONS), between 1939 and 1959. The evolution of the Francoist veterans’ organizational structures and political discourses can be understood as part of a process of fascistization and defascistization, which provides rare insights into the overall relationship between fascism and war.

The interplay of text, meaning and practice: methodological considerations on discourse analysis in medical education.

The study of discourses (i.e. verbal interactions or written accounts) is increasingly used in social sciences to gain insight into issues connected to discourse, such as meanings, behaviours and actions. This paper situates discourse analysis in medical education, based on a framework developed in organisational discourse analysis and widely deployed in other social science disciplines. This paper aims to examine the constructs of 'discourse' and 'discourse analysis', and how various understandings of discourse and discourse analysis may play out in empirical and analytical settings, with a particular focus on the field of medical education. The study is based on a literature analysis of discourse analysis approaches published in Medical Education. Findings suggest that empirical studies through discourse analysis can beheuristically understood in terms of thelinks between text, practices and meaning. Discourse analysis provides a more strongly supported argument when it is possible to defend claims on three levels: practice, using observational data; meaning, using ethnographic data, and text, using conversational and textual data.

Money Talks: Discourse, Networks, and Structure in Militant Organizations

Scholarship on militant organizations and rebel movements emphasizes the effects of fragmentation and disunity on military and political outcomes. Yet this scholarship’s focus on formal, durable, and externally observable aspects of organizational structure omits the social practices that constitute, reinforce, and reproduce intra-group schisms. How do intra-organizational divisions calcify into permanent cleavages? What processes reproduce factions over time? Using the case of Fatah in Lebanon, I argue that informal discursive practices—e.g., gossip, jokes, complaints, storytelling—contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of intra-organizational factions. Specifically, I focus on how networks of meaning-laden, money-centric discourse structure relations among militants who identify as being “Old Fatah.” I demonstrate that while these practices frequently originate in the organizational realm, cadres subsequently reproduce them within kinship, marriage, and friendship networks. This “money talk” between age cohorts within the quotidian realm connects younger members of Fatah to older cadres through collective practices and conceptions of organizational membership. These practices both exemplify an intra-organizational schism and constitute, in part, the faction called Old Fatah. Examining how symbolic practice comprises social structure thus provides important insight into the politics of organizations such as militant groups, social movements, and political parties.

Transformative change towards sustainability: the interaction between organisational discourses and organisational practices

This paper adopts a case study approach to explore the complex process of organisational change towards greater social and environmental sustainability. The case study of a major global financial services organisation involved interviews and examination of company documents, and their website over the period 2000–2014. The rare longitudinal empirical evidence from different sources provides important insights to how companies are responding to increasing demands for sustainable development. Using Laughlin’s [1991. Environmental disturbances and organizational transitions and transformations: some alternative models. Organization Studies, 12 (2), 209–232] pathways of change model, the study investigates the interaction between organisational discourses (i.e. its interpretive schemes) and organisational practices (i.e. design archetypes). The findings demonstrate the centrality of organisational discourses, especially those relating to accounting calculative practices, to radical change towards sustainable development. The paper also contributes to the literature on institutional logics, particularly multiple institutional logics, and how these are implicated in change processes.

Sustainability as an Identity Construct: (Re)Crafting Organizational Identification for Organizational Immigrants

The study attempts to understand the complexities of identification in situations when broader organizational and institutional discourses actively challenge the skills and expertise of organizational members who are minorities, arguing that a lens of sustainability allows greater understanding of the ongoing processes at stake, rather than achieving a static outcome. By studying international female graduate engineering students, the paper examines the intersections of gender and foreignness which lie at the root of the nature of identification with the engineering profession. Analysis of data from interviews and focus groups involving 49 participants reveals that the members face barriers which create tensions regarding linkages with the organization and the broader engineering profession, which in turn threaten their engineering identities. Additional analysis shows that the members communicatively reconfirm and recombine their identities, drawing from alternate non-organizational resources which help the members sustain themselves in the organization. The findings extend our understanding of organizational identity, capitalizing on member identification and diversity through the mobilization and utilization of organizational and non-organizational resources in the organizations.

Grandiosity in contemporary management and education

Contemporary practitioner and academic discourses of organizations and management have developed a tendency to discuss everyday organizational phenomena in overblown and remarkable ways. It is now commonplace to view organizations in terms of visions, missions, strategies, charisma, entrepreneurship, best practice and so on. A hyped-up language is becoming endemic to ordinary discussions of ordinary organizations doing ordinary things. This calls for some critical attention. One way of capturing this tendency to hype is through the idea of grandiosity that is taking over the ways mundane organizational phenomena are constructed and debated. In this essay, we argue that grandiosity is the product of the narcissism of our times, reinforced by contemporary consumerism; we suggest that grandiosity not only affects adversely critical reflection of organizations and management, but more importantly that it undermines organizational performance and learning.