Learning to use the past: the development of a rhetorical history strategy by the London headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company

Smith, Andrew; Simeone, Daniel

doi:10.1080/17449359.2017.1394199

Cited by 38 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In contrast, the mode of historical organizational memory has witnessed a steady increase in contributions (Cailluet et al., 2018; Lubinski, 2018; Smith and Simeone, 2017). By employing historical contextualization, research into how rhetorical histories were used in the past allows authors to draw on the advantages of archival research in ways that provide a better appreciation of wider social and temporal trends – thus making an impact on how effectively versions of the past can be used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking history and memory in organization studies: The case for historiographical reflexivity

2020

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The historic turn in organization studies has led to greater appreciation of the potential contribution from historical research. However, there is increasing emphasis on integrating history into organization studies, rather than on recognizing how accommodating history might require a reorientation. As a result, key conceptual and methodological insights from historiography have been overlooked or at times misrepresented. We identify four modes of enquiry that highlight distinctions from history about ‘how to conceptualize’ and ‘how to research’ the past. First, historical organization studies research the past primarily through reference to archival sources. Second, retrospective organizational history reconstructs the past principally from retrospective accounts, such as those generated in oral history. Third, retrospective organizational memory uses ethnography and interviews to explore the role of memory in the present. Fourth, historical organizational memory traces the institutionalization of organizational memory through archival research. From the analysis, we argue that historical organization studies are increasingly established, and interest in ‘uses of the past’ has contributed to the rise of retrospective organizational memory. However, historiographical reflexivity – a new concept for organization studies – focuses attention on engaging with both history and collective memory, and on the distinct methodological choices between archival and retrospective methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking history and memory in organization studies: The case for historiographical reflexivity

2020

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“…Another stream of research demonstrates how a strategic narration of history can be used to create new product and competitive categories in furniture design (Hansen, 2006, 2018), Indian art (Khaire & Wadhwani, 2010), and fast food (Boje, Haley, & Saylors, 2016; Foster et al, 2011). Smith and Simeonie (2017) examine the emergence of the self-conscious use of history as a strategic asset at Hudson’s Bay Company.…”

Section: Why Organizations Use Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

History as Organizing: Uses of the Past in Organization Studies

Wadhwani¹,

Suddaby

Mordhorst³

et al. 2018

Organization Studies

126

120

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Research on the “uses of the past” in organizations and organizing is flourishing. This introduction reviews this approach to integrating history into organization studies and explores its paths forward. We begin by examining the intellectual origins of the approach and by defining why and how it matters to the study of management and organizations. Specifically, we emphasize the performative role of history in making and unmaking organizational orders. Next, we elaborate on how the articles in the special issue demonstrate the uses of the past in shaping organizational identity, strategy, and power. We also highlight how this work contributes to our understanding of the socially embedded character of history in organizations by accounting for the role of materiality, intertextuality, competing narratives, practices, and audiences in how the past is used. We conclude by considering four research frontiers particularly worthy of further exploration—the influence of temporal form, the role of non-rational knowledge, the range of methods, and the integration of ethics—in studies of the uses of the past in organizations.

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“…Emphasis is placed on actors’ capacity to reinterpret and reshape the past in light of present goals and interests. In this vein, recent studies have examined the role of social remembering and forgetting in responding to changing institutional pressures (Smith and Simeone, 2017), developing organizational identity (Anteby and Molnar, 2012), and promoting strategic change (Maclean et al, 2014). From this perspective, a distant past can be used to achieve long-term outcomes such as organizational identity, legitimacy, and competitive advantage (Foster et al, 2017).…”

Section: Towards a Dialogue Among Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

From organizational learning to organizational mnemonics: Redrawing the boundaries of the field

Coraiola

Murcia

2019

Management Learning

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In this article, we advocate for a more balanced approach to the study of the past in management and organization studies. We define organizational mnemonics as a broader field of inquiry focused on theorizing the past as an integral part of organizational life, including three major epistemic communities—that is, functionalist, interpretive, and critical. We contend that much of organizational mnemonics research has been dominated by functionalism, at the expense of other approaches. To remediate this situation, we first characterize organizational mnemonics’ core epistemic communities. Second, we look at the boundary work at the interstices of these communities to explore possibilities of dialogue among them. We argue that the future of the study of the past in organizations should acknowledge different perspectives, the intersections among them, and make a conscientious effort to maintain diversity of scholarship in the field.

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Learning to use the past: the development of a rhetorical history strategy by the London headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company

Cited by 38 publications

References 68 publications

Rethinking history and memory in organization studies: The case for historiographical reflexivity

Rethinking history and memory in organization studies: The case for historiographical reflexivity

History as Organizing: Uses of the Past in Organization Studies

From organizational learning to organizational mnemonics: Redrawing the boundaries of the field

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