High-touch and high-tech--paradoxical narratives in a bank merger

Johan Berglund, Lars Strannegård and Ulrika Tillberg

Scandinavian Journal of Management, 2004, vol. 20, issue 4, 335-355

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the role of paradoxes as narrative devices in organizational contexts. A merger between two banks is used to illustrate managers employing paradoxes to construct meaning and to influence future actions of organizational members. We argue that when paradoxes are reshaped as hybrids, they provide a buffer between conflicting arguments. By employing hybrids, organizational storytellers facilitate links between existing and desired mental frameworks, thus potentially rendering transitions and changes less friction-prone. A convincing story told under these forms--striking the right balance between potentially incommensurable but both in their own way appealing ideas--has the potentiality to create an inclusive vision in which diverse groups can find "their" place.

Keywords: Mergers; Change; management; Paradox; Narratives; Hybrids; Translation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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