Communication and Cognition in Appraisal: A Tale of Two Paradigms

Abstract

This research explores the basic question: Are there shared cognitive structures (scripts) underlying common organizational events'? Linguistics and social cognition were used to fashion a framework for the interpretation and analysis of videotaped appraisal interviews, which were coded via speech act analysis and then computer-mapped to create a graphic display of each appraisal interaction. Interpretive analyses of these maps revealed a common behavioural script, which implied the existence of a consensual cognitive script for enacting the appraisal interviews. Additionally, the approach and findings of this study, which is based on an 'interpretive' research paradigm, are contrasted with a companion study (Gioia and Sims 1986), which was based on a 'positivist' paradigm. The comparison of two studies investigating the same set of events from alternative paradigmatic perspectives reveals not only convergent and divergent findings, but also suggests that when one adopts different 'lenses' with which to view ostensibly the same organizational phenomena, one simply 'sees' different things.

Introduction: Organizational Discourse: Exploring the Field

“…Studies adopting the cognitive approach show how the discursively constructed meanings that reside in our minds impact on collective sense-making and thus on the processes of organizing (Gioia, 1986;Weick, 1995). In so doing, these studies have looked at the impact of cognitive scripts and schema on such activities as performance appraisals (Gioia et al, 1989), negotiations and bargaining (Carroll & Payne, 1991;O'Connor & Adams, 1999) and superior-subordinate relationships (Gioia & Sims, 1983).…”

Perceptions of HRM and their effect on dimensions of innovative work behaviour: Evidence from a manufacturing firm

“…Interpretations may include assumptions, knowledge, and expectations expressed symbolically through language, visual images, metaphors, and stories that represent subjective data, and they act as a tool to facilitate decision making, problem solving, and negotiating within the context of organizational intervention (Cossette & Audet, 1992). Perceptions and interpretations have been linked with cognitive frames, which in their turn have been shown to be related to managers' performance (Jenkins & Johnson, 1997;Laukkanen, 1994), decision making (Axelrod, 1976), performance appraisal (Gioia, Donnellon, & Sims, 1989), strategic behaviour (Dutton & Jackson, 1987), strategy formulation (Hodgkinson & Johnson, 1994), exercise of power (Bartunek & Ringuest, 1989), leadership (Lord & Maher, 1991), and organizational performance (Thomas, Clark, & Gioia, 1993).…”

Controllers' Protoscripts and the Shaping of Control

“…Barley and Tolbert think that institutions both arise from and constrain social action, and that day-to-day operations involving institutions can be regarded as 'scripts'. Scripts describe the sequencing of events involving observable, recurrent activities and patterns of interaction characteristic of a particular setting (Gioia, Donnellon andSims, Jr. 1989, Lord andKernan 1987). In Figure 1, an overview is given of the series of steps, distinguished by Barley and Tolbert (1997), which portray the recursive nature of the shaping and evolution of institutions.…”