Re-Imagining Images of Organization

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. -2 - Permanent Even More on Metaphor: A Conversation with Gareth Morgan AbstractIn this paper we discuss the role and status of metaphor in organization theory with Gareth Morgan. We review his original formulation of metaphor as a device involving the carrying over of properties from a concrete source domain (i.e. a metaphor) to a relatively abstract target domain (i.e. an organization) and develop an alternative perspective which draws attention to the emergent and transitory properties of metaphor. We also explore the scope for complimenting the dominant resonance-based approaches to metaphor-use by advocating the deployment of dissonance-based metaphorical projections.

Quantum Sustainable Organizing Theory

“…Along similar lines, the idea of quantum entanglement has also been applied to look at the role of empathy in organizations (e.g., Heaton & Travis, 2014; Pavlovich & Krahnke, 2012, 2014; cf. Oswick & Grant, 2016, on “global brain”).…”

“…Drawing on theories from a seemingly distant discipline like physics puts us in good company, because organizational scholarship has a rich heritage of explicitly and metaphorically drawing on theories from a variety of nonmanagement disciplines, ranging from biology to sociology to engineering to cultural anthropology to mechanics (e.g., Hannan & Freeman, 1977; Morgan, 1988; Oswick & Grant, 2016). The influence of such theories is evident in our use of terms like organic versus mechanistic organizational structures, machine bureaucracies, organizational networks, resource niches, organizational culture and DNA, feedback loops, strategic architecture, and so on.…”

Beyond Morgan’s eight metaphors: Adding to and developing organization theory

“…This process is similar to Oswick and Grant's (2015) suggestion that elaborating on or projecting a new metaphor typically involves articulating the inverse or the opposite of an image -for instance, western versus eastern patterns of reasoning. Many of these comparisons are implicit in an author's use of suggested metaphors.…”

“…Moreover, the new metaphors presented in these articles, although descriptive, do not function at the same level as Morgan's images. Even though Morgan has suggested the global brain and organization as media as potentially new metaphors (Oswick and Grant, 2015), the critical point is whether his original eight metaphors form a relatively complete set of images (but see Morgan, 2016, for a contrasting view).…”

“…The book has been cited 15,496 times (Google Scholar, 2015) and translated into 14 languages (Morgan, 2015). Its first edition sold over 250,000 copies (Oswick and Grant, 2015), and the 1996a and 2006 versions sold more than 100,000 copies (Maggie Stanley, SAGE, August 2015, personal communication) [all citation and sales figures are for the English version only]. After 30 years, the book is still quite popular.…”