This article proposes a model of organizational change by describing change as a discursive process, sparked by a conflict in an organization's narratives and images. As such, change is the process of realigning an organization's discordant narratives and images. Several implications that the model has for organizational communication and for the study of organizational change are presented.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aristotle
. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civil Discourse. Ed. and trans. George A. Kennedy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
2.
Berkenkotter, Carol
, and Thomas Huckin. Genre Knowledge in Disciplinary Communication: Cognition/Culture/Power. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995.
3.
Blyler, Nancy Roundy
, and Charlotte Thralls, eds. Professional Communication: The Social Perspective. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1993.
4.
Bourdieu, Pierre
. Language and Symbolic Power. Ed. John B. Thompson. Trans. Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 1992.
5.
Bourdieu, Pierre
. Outline of a Theory of Practice. Trans. Richard Nice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1977.
6.
Boycott Nike Home Page. Available on-line at www.saigon.com 25 Oct. 1997.
7.
Burrell, Gibson
, and Gareth Morgan. Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis: Elements of the Sociology of Corporate Life. London: Heinemann, 1979.
8.
Casey, Catherine
. Work, Self and Society: After Industrialism. London: Routledge, 1995.
9.
Cherry, Roger D.“Ethos versus Persona: Self-Representation in Written Discourse.”Written Communication5 (1988): 251-276.
10.
Community Aid Abroad. Available on-line atwww.caa.org.au/campaigns/nike/index.html, 25 Oct. 1997.
11.
Debs, Mary Beth
. “Reflexive and Reflective Tensions: Considering Research Methods from Writing-Related Fields.”Writing in the Workplace: New Research Perspectives. Ed. Rachel Spilka. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1993. 238-252.
12.
Derrida, Jacques
. Margins of Philosophy. Trans. Alan Bass. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
13.
Development and Peace
. “1996-1997 Campaign on Nike and Levi's Codes of Conduct.” Available on-line at www.devp.org 25 Oct. 1997.
14.
Duin, Ann Hill
, and Craig J. Hansen, eds. Nonacademic Writing: Social Theory and Technology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1996.
15.
Faber, Brenton
. “Creating Bankers out of Brokers: Communication, Literacy, and Organizational Change.”Conference on College Composition and Communication. Phoenix, AZ. 15 Mar. 1997.
16.
Faber, Brenton
. “Strategic Narratives in at Risk Organizations: Lessons from Pleasant View Cemetery.”Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago. 3 Apr. 1998.
17.
Fairclough, Norman
. Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 1992.
18.
Frost, Peter J.
, et al., eds. Organizational Culture: The Meaning of Life in the Workplace. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1985.
19.
Giroux, Henry
. “Living Dangerously: Identity Politics and the New Cultural Racism.”Between Borders: Pedagogy and the Politics of Cultural Studies. Ed. Henry Giroux and Peter McLaren. New York: Routledge, 1994.
20.
Goodall, H. L. Jr.Casing a Promised Land: The Autobiography of an Organizational Detective as Cultural Ethnographer. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1994.
21.
Grossberg, Lawrence
. “Introduction: Bringin' It All Back Home (Pedagogy and Cultural Studies).”Between Borders: Pedagogy and the Politics of Cultural Studies. Ed. Henry Giroux and Peter McLaren. New York: Routledge, 1994. 1-25.
22.
Hall, Stuart
, and David Held. “Citizens and Citizenship.”The Changing Face of Politics in the 1990's. Ed. Stuart Hall and Martin Jacques. London: Verso, 1990.
23.
Hammer, Michael
, and Steven Stanton. The Reengineering Revolution. New York: HarperBusiness, 1995.
24.
Hatch, Gary Layne
. Arguing in Communities. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1996.
25.
Heath, Robert L.Management of Corporate Communication: From Interpersonal Contacts to External Affairs. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994.
26.
Hyman, Michael
. PC Roadkill. Foster City, CA: IDG Books, 1995.
27.
Johansen, Robert
, and Robert Swigart. Upsizing the Individual in the Downsized Organization: Managing in the Wake of Reengineering, Globalization, and Overwhelming Technological Change. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994.
28.
Kerby, Anthony P.Narrative and the Self. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.
29.
LaRoche, Mary G.
, and Sheryl S. Pearson. “Rhetoric and Rational Enterprises: Reassessing Discourse in Organizations.”Written Communication2 (1985): 246-268.
30.
Maturana, Humberto R.
, and Francisco J. Varela. Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living. Pref. Sir Stafford Beer. Dordrecht, Neth.: Reidel, 1980.
31.
Mitford, Jessica
. The American Way of Death. New York: Simon, 1963.
32.
Mitford, Jessica
. “Death Incorporated.”Vanity Fair. Mar. 1997: 110-131.
33.
Morgan, Gareth
. Images of Organization. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1986.
34.
Mumby, Dennis K.Communication and Power in Organizations: Discourse, Ideology, and Domination. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1988.
35.
Mumby, Dennis K.
, ed. Narrative and Social Control: Critical Perspectives. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1993.
36.
Mumby, Dennis K.
. “The Political Function of Narrative in Organizations.”Communication Monographs54 (1987): 113-127.
37.
Nike. Available on-line at www.info.nike.com, 25 Oct. 1997.
38.
Spilka, Rachel
, ed. Writing in the Workplace: New Social Perspectives. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1993.
39.
Sullivan, Francis J.“Dysfunctional Workers, Functional Texts: The Transformation of Work in Institutional Procedure Manuals.”Written Communication14 (1997): 313-359.
40.
Tomasko, Robert M.Downsizing: Reshaping the Corporation for the Future. New York: AMACOM, 1987.
41.
Tomasko, Robert M.
. Rethinking the Corporation: The Architecture of Change. New York: AMACOM, 1993.
42.
Turner, Barry A.Exploring the Industrial Subculture. New York: Seabury, 1971.
43.
Winsor, Dorothy
. “An Engineer's Writing and the Corporate Construction of Knowledge.”Written Communication6 (1989): 270-285.
