Organisational gossip, sense-making and the spookfish: a reflexive account

Kathryn Waddington

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2010, vol. 4, issue 3/4, 311-325

Abstract: This paper offers a reflective and reflexive account of doing research into gossip in healthcare organisations. It advances the concept of sense-making, drawing upon Weick's perspective theoretically and reflexively to incorporate a 'sixth sense' of intuition. The spookfish, which has developed highly specialised eyes to cope with very low light levels, is used as an organising metaphor to illustrate how attention to everyday talk can illuminate our understanding of gossip and intuition in organisational and managerial contexts. The paper exemplifies some practical aspects of working reflexively, illustrating how critical conversations and metaphor were used in the research process, and beyond, as a means of encouraging creative thought in the emergent scholarship of organisational gossip.

Keywords: organisational gossip; reflexivity; metaphor; sense-making; intuition; healthcare organisations; everyday talk; organisational context; managerial context. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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