Aesthetics, Morality and Power: Design as Espoused Freedom and Implicit Control

Abstract

This article is intended to contribute to debate on the arguments that are propounded both in support and in condemnation of new forms of workplace aesthetic. I draw upon experience in organizational intervention and on literature from the arenas of physical and social workplace design to support a multi-contextual debate on the new workplace aesthetic and on interpretations that are placed upon it within different contexts of study. While an essential tension of freedom and control is identified in the literature, I offer no conclusion in support or in condemnation of any particular viewpoint. Rather, I argue for a multi-perspective analysis of workplace aesthetic in order to surface meaning for different groups of actors within their own context of thinking/acting. From this, general theories for analysis of other situations may be derived rather than particular models or recipes for application.

Aesthetic leadership

“…Ramírez (2005) developed a theory to empirically examine why some aesthetics appeal to us ("it is working beautifully") more than others ("it is working effectively"), emphasizing the importance of symbols that are used in experiencing and sharing aesthetic dimensions (1987). Chua & Degeling (1993) add aesthetics as another lens for critically assessing managerial actions and others draw on aesthetics to continue the critical project in management studies (Cairns, 2002;Dale & Burrell, 2002;Hancock, 2002). Finally, Pelzer (2002) takes an aesthetic perspective in exploring disgust that comes from an organizational change.…”

Organizational Aesthetic Capability and Firm Product and Process Innovativeness

“…White (1996), in his study called -It's working beautifully‖, construes aesthetics as working smoothly, efficiently, and exactly as it is planned. Cairns (2002) related aesthetics with physical design of workplace, and Harding (2008) with the organization of work itself as an 1 Although organizational improvisation is a well-known concept in organizational behavior literature, organizational aesthetic capability differs from it in many ways. Specifically, organizational aesthetic capability illuminates spontaneous act more deeply by engaging art-based approach and applying aesthetic perspective.…”

“…In addition, viewing organizations through the lens of aesthetics helps organizations to find non-conventional approaches to the problems that cannot be comprehensively and objectively stated in uncertain environments (Gibb, 2004), deviate from existing practice or knowledge, create more flexibility for behavior and more spontaneous decision making (Chelariu et al, 2002). However, it should be noted that organizational aesthetics scholars take different approaches to adapt aesthetics to organizational research, and examine the subject from different perspectives and within different contexts such as beauty of efficiency (White 1996;Guillen, 1997;Harding, 2008), organizational culture (Nissley, Taylor, & Butler, 2002), physical design of workplace (Cairns, 2002), leadership (Merritt & DeGraff 1996;Palus & Horth, 2005;Ladkin, 2008), and sense perception (Strati, 2002;Taylor & Ladkin, 2009;Hansen et al, 2007;Gagliardi, 1996). Many of these studies adapt organizational symbolism www.ccsenet.org/ibr International Business Research Vol.…”

Relações de gênero e estética organizacional: sugestões para estudos sobre relações, cultura e desempenho

“…Diante dessa prevalência da cultura masculina, deve-se colocar também que, em cada contexto, pode ser encontrada uma relação diferente entre os gêneros, devido às múltiplas realidades que advém da diversidade de linguagens, temporalidades e percepções dos indivíduos que compõem essas diversas realidades (CAIRNS, 2002). Nesse sentido, encaixa-se também o conceito de beleza da estética organizacional que não pode ser dissociado da percepção que reside na mente humana, sendo desta dependente, uma vez que a criação de sentido ocorre em nível individual, assim como coletivo (WEICK, 1995).…”