Organizations in Depth: The Psychoanalysis of
                    Organizations

Gabriel, Yiannis; Hirschhorn, Larry; Allcorn, Seth

doi:10.4135/9781446217269

Cited by 22 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Other contributors, following Foucault's work also within the poststructuralists' tradition stressed the power dimension of identity construction in the workplace. Prasad et al [43], Kondo [44], Jack and Lorbiecki [45], and Gabriel [46], have all put emphasis on the impact of power in shaping the multiple forms of workers' identity in the workplace, (cited by Gagnon [7]). For instance, Lorbiecki (2007) in his own rejection of Foucault's "deterministic" reading of resistance as "being co-produced and therefore contiguous with, and immanent within power-relations", aligns his arguments with Gabriel [46], that in "the ambiguity and ambivalence inherent in the process of identity construction, there are still unmanaged spaces, in which subjects (workers) counteract and shape the managerial image of self" (cited in Gagnon [7]).…”

Section: "Identity-work" Construction: Conceptual Models For Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Identity-Work” and Workers’ Interests Articulation in an Oil Refinery, Nigeria: A Post-Structuralist Evaluation

Oladeinde

2022

JESBS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Beyond mainstream “essentialist” discourse and analysis of management and leadership practices in work organizations, labor process theory has continued to interrogate normative assumptions behind management roles and practices, in shaping the “lived-work” experiences and “agentic” responses of workers, in contemporary workplace. Critical analysis of management roles in the context of contemporary workplace has been able to make insightful and critical connections between work processes, workers own–sense making, and articulation of their interests in the workplace. Using post-structuralist analysis in the evaluations of the concepts of “identity-work”, and “interest articulation”, the paper offers a somewhat different understanding of management and leadership discourses and their normative assumptions, in an Oil Refinery, Nigeria. Workers construct and enact their workplace identity, thereby giving a re-interpretation and re-appropriation of management discourse in the organization. While utilizing the analytical remits of labour process theory and critical perspectives, the paper re-conceptualizes how workers in the oil refinery, enact “repertoire” of “selves” in securing their identities in the workplace. In their “knowledgeability” and “agentic orientation”, workers in the refinery “collude” with the “hubris” of management in the organization, in order to invert and subvert managerial practices, and its normative intentions. Through theoretical conceptualizations, the paper demonstrates the specific dimensions of these inversion and subversion. The paper therefore seeks to insert “workers-agency” back into the analysis of power-relations in the workplace; agency that is not overtly under the absolute grip of management’s control, but with multiplicity of identities and multilevel manifestations.

show abstract

Section: "Identity-work" Construction: Conceptual Models For Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Identity-Work” and Workers’ Interests Articulation in an Oil Refinery, Nigeria: A Post-Structuralist Evaluation

Oladeinde

2022

JESBS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Senior executives mold and express organizational culture and strategic directions (e.g. Gabriel, 1999; Maas et al , 2019; Schein and Schein, 2016; Trice and Beyer, 1993). Angwin and Savill (1997) found that executive cultural perspectives impact expansionist strategy such as outward CBA.…”

Section: Background and Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Multicultural leaders from emerging markets: transforming international acquisitions and corporate social responsibility

Park

Wallace

2021

IJOEM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the influence and advantages of leadership multiculturalism on global strategy development through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) from emerging market multinational companies (EMNCs) expanding into emerged markets. The key contribution of asymmetric multiculturalism is a novel finding based on inductive research. We fill a gap by further linking business leader characteristics and corporate strategic actions and examining how multicultural business leaders from emerging markets can be highly effective at CBA and CSR.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on in-depth interviews, observations and documentary evidence analyzed with iterative coding, construct definition and thematic development to understand how leadership multiculturalism affects CBA and CSR in an EMNC over time.FindingsThe new construct of leadership asymmetric multiculturalism describes strategic advantages accruing to leaders from developing markets who are culturally fluent in both emerging and emerged market milieus. The construct contributes to emergent research on the rise of multicultural leaders and their strategic advantages and delineates a pathway toward identifying advantages of emerging over emerged market business leaders.Research limitations/implicationsThe research addresses specific CBA and CSR strategies within one emerging market region and EMNC. Future research should further articulate and validate the key construct of asymmetric multiculturalism, further examine its sources, draw more explicit comparisons with data from emerged market leaders, and explore the applicability of these findings to strategic actions and advantages in both emerging and emerged markets.Practical implicationsEmerging market corporate leaders should identify and develop pertinent aspects of their own asymmetric multiculturalism in enacting CBA and CSR strategy with respect to EMNCs and firms from developed markets. Emerged market leaders should become more aware of and cultivate their own multiculturalism.Social implicationsAsymmetric multiculturalism can be accompanied by heightened awareness of global citizenship — including codes of ethics, environmental challenges, community outreach and fair labor practices — which, in tandem with CBA, can strengthen emerging market firms’ performance and reinforce their global stature and reputation.Originality/valueAsymmetric multiculturalism is a new explanatory construct in the sociological, economic and management disciplines. Emerging markets corporate leaders utilize their multicultural competence to accelerate global CBA and CSR activity and advance strategic opportunities for their firms. The identification of advantages deriving from emerging market leadership capabilities is an unusual finding given the more typical emphasis on the privileges of emerged market leaders and firms.

show abstract

“…This paper contributes to the literature of two relatively separate but complementary domains: strategic planning and the psychoanalytic approach to organizations. The former carries the benefits of familiarity and structure (Andersen, 2004) while the latter has the merit of interpretive depth (Gabriel, 1999). When combined, these domains allow for a robust understanding of the complexities of organizational consulting and the importance of working with tacit knowledge.…”

Section: Study Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organizational dynamics are defined here as largely unconscious forces that, in even the best-run organizations, give rise to “pockets of irrationality and behavior” that undermine performance (Obholzer and Roberts, 1994, p. xvii). Recent scholarship indicates that these dynamics pervade the workplace (Allcorn and Diamond, 1997; Gabriel, 1999; Gould et al , 2006; Levine, 2009; Diamond and Allcorn, 2009; Allcorn and Stein, 2015), disrupting even the most carefully made plans (Diamond, 2007), and above all, lending a sense of intractability and “toxicity” to organizational life (Stein and Allcorn, 2020). However, this scholarship has yet to be placed in explicit dialogue with strategic planning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infusing strategic planning with psychoanalytic insight: an exploratory case study

Gerard¹,

Allcorn²

2021

JWAM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThis paper aims to demonstrate the value of combining the strategic planning process with psychoanalytically informed interpretation through an exploratory case study.Design/methodology/approachThe authors present their experiences and findings from a consulting engagement that began as a strategic planning assignment and soon evolved into an opportunity to explore unconscious forces inhibiting organizational change. The authors, trained in both areas, chose to infuse the two into a combined process that ultimately benefited the organization and suggested novel ways to think about the common process of strategic planning going forward.FindingsThe organization's strategic planning process was considerably enhanced, and its outcomes sustained, by illuminating the unconscious forces at work, particularly as they pertain to issues of power and authority in a male organizational culture found to have a profound negative influence upon the quality of the work environment and employee morale. Findings suggest that without a psychoanalytically informed approach, strategic planning would have failed to produce sustainable change.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the findings reported are from a single case study, the themes explored are likely shared across multiple organizations. There is, therefore, significant potential in combining strategic planning with a psychoanalytic approach to improve organizational effectiveness and employee morale.Originality/valueAlthough common in organizations, strategic planning is rarely augmented with psychoanalytic insights. This case study is the first of its kind to show how the two interventions may complement each other.

show abstract

Organizations in Depth: The Psychoanalysis of Organizations

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

“Identity-Work” and Workers’ Interests Articulation in an Oil Refinery, Nigeria: A Post-Structuralist Evaluation

“Identity-Work” and Workers’ Interests Articulation in an Oil Refinery, Nigeria: A Post-Structuralist Evaluation

Multicultural leaders from emerging markets: transforming international acquisitions and corporate social responsibility

Infusing strategic planning with psychoanalytic insight: an exploratory case study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About