The author explores how events in organisations are turned into stories. Three major types of story are identified and illustrated: the comic, the tragic, and the epic, as well as a number of hybrids. The emotions generated by these stories are explored as well as some of the meanings which they reveal. The author then discusses why people espouse particular stories with almost religious fervour and suggests that organisational stories are essentially fulfilments of unconscious wishes. In conclusion, he argues that stories and the `careers' which they pursue in organisations can illuminate that dimension referred to as the unmanaged organisation, where desires and pleasure predominate over rationality and expedience.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
APTE, L. 1983. `Humor Research, Methodology and Theory in Anthropology', in McGhee, P.E. and Goldstein, J.H. (eds.), Handbook of Humor Research.New York: Springer Verlag.
BECKER, E. 1962. The Birth and Death of Meaning.Harmondsworth: Penguin.
4.
BERGSON, H. 1980. `Laughter', in Meredith, G. (ed.), Comedy.Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
5.
BEYNON, H. 1973. Working for Ford.London:Allen Lane.
6.
BOWLES, M.L.1989. `Myth, Meaning and Work Organization'.Organization Studies10 (3): 405-421.
7.
CAESAR, Julius 1915. The Gallic War and Other Commentaries.London: J.M. Dent.
8.
COSER, R.L.1959. `Some Social Functions of Laughter'.Human Relations12: 171-182.
9.
DAVIES, C.1984. `Commentary on Anton C. Zijderveld's Trend Report on “The Sociology of Humour and Laughter`'.Current Sociology30 (2): 142-157.
10.
DAVIES, C. 1988. `Stupidity and Rationality: Jokes from the Iron Cage', in Powell, C. and Paton, G.E.C. (eds.), Humour in Society.London: Macmillan.
11.
DEAL, T.E. and KENNEDY, A.A. 1982. Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life.Reading: Cox and Wyman.
12.
DOUGLAS, M. 1975. `Jokes', in Douglas, M. (ed.), Implicit Meanings: Essays in Anthropology.London: Routledge.
13.
ELIAS, N. 1978. The Civilizing Process: The History of Manners.Oxford: Blackwell.
14.
FINE, A. 1983. `Sociological Approaches to the Study of Humor', in McGhee, P.E. and Goldstein, J.H. (eds.), Handbook of Humor Research.New York: Springer Verlag.
15.
FREUD, S. 1905. Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious, Vol. 8. London: Hogarth Press.
16.
FREUD, S. 1927. Humour, Vol. 21. London: Hogarth Press.
17.
GABRIEL, Y. 1991. `Turning Facts into Stories and Stories into Facts: A Hermeneutic Exploration of Organizational Folklore'.Human Relations (in press).
18.
HOCHSCHILD, A.R. 1983. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling.Berkeley: University of California Press.
19.
HOLDAWAY, S. 1988. `Blue Jokes: Humour in Police Work', in Powell, C. and Paton, G.E.C. (eds.), Humour in Society.London: Macmillan.
20.
INGERSOLL, V.H. and ADAMS, G.B.1986. `Beyond Organizational Boundaries: Exploring the Managerial Myth'.Administration and Society18 (3): 360-381.
21.
KANTER, R.M. 1983. The Change Masters.London: Unwin-Hyman.
22.
LINSTEAD, S. 1988. “Jokers Wild`: Humour in Organizational Culture', in Powell, C. and Paton, G.E.C. (eds.), Humour in Society.London: Macmillan.
23.
MANGHAM, I.L. and OVERINGTON, M.A. 1987. Organizations as Theatre: A Social Psychology of Dramatic Appearances.Chichester: Wiley.
24.
MARTIN, J. , FELDMAN, M.S., HATCH, M.J. and SITKIN, S.B.1983. `The Uniqueness Paradox in Organizational Stories'.Administrative Science Quarterly28: 453-473.
25.
MITROFF, I.I. 1984. Stakeholders of the Corporate Mind.San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
26.
MITROFF, I.I. and KILMAN, R.H. 1976. `On Organizational Stories: An Approach to the Design and Analysis of Organizations through Myths and Stories', in Kilman, R.H., Pondy, L.R. and Slevin, D. (eds.), The Management of Organizational Design.New York: North Holland.
27.
NOVAK, M. 1975. “Story” and “Experience”, in Wiggins, J.B. (ed.), Religion as Story.New York: Harper and Row.
28.
PETERS, T.J. and WATERMAN, R.H. 1982. In Search of Excellence.New York: Harper and Row.
