This article adopts the middle perspective, the fluorescent light model to examine the painful and stressful experiences, which employees face in the course of their working lives in learning organizations. The article provides insights on why such abuses are accepted and tolerated by the organizational members without any form of external confrontation and resistance against the management of the learning organizations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Akella, D.2000. ‘ The Learning Organization and its Impact on Traditional Views of Power and Control ’, British Academy of Management Conference Proceedings 2000, Edinburgh, UK.
2.
Akella, D.2003. Unlearning the Fifth Discipline: Power, Politics and Control. New Delhi: Sage Publications .
3.
Alvesson, M. and H.C. Willmott . 1992. Critical Management Studies. London: Sage Publications .
4.
Armstrong, H.2000. ‘ The Learning Organization: Changed Means to an Unchanged End ’, Organization, 7(2): 355–61 .
5.
Burgess, E.W.1966. Field Research: A Source Book and Field Manual. London: Allen and Unwin .
6.
Coopey, J.1995. ‘ The Learning Organization: Power, Politics and Ideology ’, Management Learning, 26(2): 193–214 .
7.
Coopey, J.1998. ‘ Learning to Trust and Trusting to Learn: A Role for Radical Theatre ’, Management Learning, 29(3): 362–82 .
8.
Dewe, P.J. and D.E. Guest . 1990. ‘ Methods of Coping with Stress at Work: A Conceptual Analysis and Empirical Study of Measurement Issues ’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11: 135–50 .
9.
Dixon, N.M.1998. ‘ The Responsibilities of Members in an Organization that is Learning ’, The Learning Organization, 5(4): 1–8 .
10.
Driver, M.2002. ‘ The Learning Organization: Foucauldian Gloom or Utopian Sunshine? ’ Human Relations, 55(1): 33–53 .
11.
Easterby-Smith, M.1997. ‘ Disciplines of Organizational Learning: Contributors and Critiques ’. Human Relations, 50(9): 1085–1114 .
12.
Folkman, S.1984. ‘ Personal Control and Stress and Coping Patterns: A Theoretical Analysis ’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(4): 839–52 .
13.
Fulmer, R.M. and B.A. Keys . 1998. ‘ Conversion with Peter Senge: New Developments in Organizational Learning ’, Organizational Dynamics, 27(2): 33–43 .
14.
Gabriel, Y.1999. ‘ Beyond Happy Families: A Critical Revaluation of the Control-Resistance-Identity Triangle ’, Human Relations, 52(2): 179–99 .
15.
Goh, S.1998. ‘ Towards a Learning Organization: The Strategic Building Blocks ’, SAM Advanced Management Journal, 63(2): 15–21 .
16.
Grey, C.1994. ‘ Career as a Project of the Self and Labor Process Discipline ’, Sociology, 28(2): 569–87 .
17.
Habermas, J.1971. Toward a Rational Society. London: Heinemann .
18.
Handy, C.1995. ‘Managing the Dream’, in S. Chawla and J. Reynolds (eds), Learning Organizations. Portland, OR: Productivity Press .
19.
Horkheimer, M. and T. Adorno . 1976. ‘Traditional and Critical Theory’, in P. Connerton (1937), Critical Sociology. England: Penguin , pp. 188–243.
20.
Jermier, J.M.1998. ‘ Introduction: Critical Perspectives on Organizational Control ’. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2): 235–56 .
21.
Kofman, F. and P.M. Senge . 1990. Communities of Commitment: The Heart of Learning Organizations. Portland, OR: Productivity Press .
22.
Lazarus, R.S.1966. Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. New York: McGraw-Hill .
23.
Lee, A.S.1991. ‘ Integrating Positivist and Interpretive Approaches to Organizational Research ’, Organization Science, 2(4): 342–65 .
24.
Lifton, R.J.1956. ‘ Thought Reform of Western Civilians in Chinese Communist Prisons ’, Psychiatry, 19: 173–95 .
25.
Marsick, V.J. and K.E. Watkins . 1999. ‘ Looking again at Learning in the Learning Organization: A Tool That Can Turn into a Weapon! ’, The Learning Organization, 6(5): 207–11 .
26.
McGrath, J.E.1976. ‘Stress and Behavior in Organizations’, in M.D. Dunnette (ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago: Rand McNally , pp. 1351–95.
27.
Miles, M. and M. Huberman . 1984. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods. New Delhi: Sage Publications .
28.
Mills, D. and B. Friesen1992. ‘ The Learning Organization ’, European Management Journal, 10(2): 146–55 .
29.
Rosengarten, P.1995. ‘ Learning Organizations and their Characteristics: The Case of Automotive Components Suppliers in Britain ’, ECLO Conference, Warwick, UK.
30.
Reynolds, M.2000. ‘ Bright Lights and the Pastoral Idyll ’, Management Learning, 31(1): 67–81 .
31.
Schein, E.H.1999. ‘ Empowerment, Coercive Persuasion and Organizational Learning: Do they Connect? ’, The Learning Organization, 6(4): 163–72 .
32.
Schutz, A.1973. ‘Concept and Theory Formation in the Social Sciences’, in M. Natanson (ed.), Collected Papers 1, pp. 48–66. The Hague: Martinus Nihhoff .
33.
Smith, P.A.C. and P. Tosey . 1999. ‘ Assessing the Learning Organization: Part 1-Theoretical Foundations ’, The Learning Organization, 6(2): 1–8 .
34.
Snell, R. , and Chak, A., M-ky (1998). ‘ The Learning Organization: Learning and Empowerment for Whom? ’ Management Learning, 29(3), 337–64 .
35.
Starkey, K.1998. ‘ The Organizational Learning Cycle: How Can We Learn Collectively? ’, Human Relations, 51(4): 531–47 .
36.
Taylor, S.J. and R. Bogdan . 1998. Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill Books .
37.
Tran, V.1998. ‘ The Role of Emotional Climate in Learning Organizations ’, The Learning Organization, 5(2): 1–7 .