A Beginning, a Middle and an End: Narratives in Organisations

Edward Peck and Helen Dickinson
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Edward Peck: University of Birmingham
Helen Dickinson: University of Birmingham

Chapter 7 in Performing Leadership, 2009, pp 114-130 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract This chapter explores the nature of narratives — of myths, stories, anecdotes — in organisational life. It starts by looking at a selection of accounts of structural forms in narratives before focusing on their use in organisations. This focus will highlight three strands in the literature on narratives in organisations: firstly, the emphasis placed on organisational myths by a school of writers concerned with organisational culture during the 1980s and 1990s; secondly, the importance attributed to the analysis of organisational discourse since the mid-1990s; and, thirdly, the efficacy attributed to the use of stories in the pursuit of organisational change over a similar period. There are strong links back to — and examples that illustrate — the notions of postmodernism and sensemaking introduced in Chapter 4. Furthermore, the crucial influence of context is glimpsed on several occasions without any serious attempts being made to articulate any framework within which it could be coherently characterised; the importance of the NDIT framework introduced in Chapter 3 is thus reinforced.

Keywords: Organisational Member; Organisational Leader; Charismatic Leader; Strategic Resource; Discursive Form (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-24617-1_7

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230246171_7

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