We argue that the initial three-part mandate for organization theory contained study of (1) internal organization structure and process; (2) relations between organizations and environmental actors; ...and (3) the impact of organizations on the broad social systems in which they were embedded. Though the influence of organizations in society has increased over time, the social system component of the field's mandate has faded from the research agenda. This paper proposes that the diminution of this social systems perspective occurred because the increasing complexity of social relations made determination of an appropriate unit of analysis more difficult. In addition, the business school environment in which organization research was accomplished discouraged examination of broad social questions, promoted a particular approach to science, and created specific career incentives. Recapturing a research interest in organizations' effects on society requires recognizing organizational impacts on social issues and accepting a broader range of methodologies. Ideas require greater opportunity for development, and quantity of publications deserves less emphasis. Journals that risk publishing the unconventional paper and providing incentives for tackling larger questions might reestablish the breadth of focus with which organizational theory was initially concerned.
This paper discusses the problems and processes involved in conducting longitudinal ethnographic research. The author's field study of technological change in radiology provides the context for the ...discussion. Specific attention is paid to how researchers can design a qualitative study and then collect data in a systematic and explicit manner. Consequently, the paper seeks to dispel the notion that participant observation and quantitative data analysis are inimical. Finally, the social and human problems of gaining entry into a research site, constructing a research role, and managing relationships with informants are illustrated.
This study examines how occupational mandates-the socially conferred right to perform a given set of tasks-are negotiated by nascent occupations. Because researchers typically examine occupational ...formation long after it has begun, they neglect activities that occur prior to the acquisition of key institutional supports. The commodification of work is one such activity. Work becomes a commodity when audiences deem a formerly unpaid activity worthy of remuneration. This study draws on ethnographic data to examine the strategic patterns of situated activity and interaction used by one fledgling occupation, emergency medical services, to convince key audiences that their work is indeed worthy of compensation. Strategies used to construct and communicate in situ impressions of expertise, consistency, fungibility, and contractual relations are examined. The results of the study shed light on the interactional foundation of institutionalization.
This article focuses on exploring what technology scholars and students of management of technology stand to benefit most by foraging through the history of technology. In order to show how ...historical sensitivity could sharpen scholarship, three strategies for complicating the simple are drawn from the historian's toolkit. Implications for research in technology and innovation management are discussed.
Semiotics offers an approach for researching and analyzing systems of meaning that undergird occupational and organizational cultures. Following a synopsis of semiotic theory, this paper presents ...data from an ethnosemantic study of a funeral home and demonstrates that semiotically identical codes structure a funeral director's understanding of his various tasks. The analysis not only suggests that semiotic research captures the redundant themes that characterize insiders' interpretations of this work world, but that it is also sensitive to the mundane, but critical, aspects of a culture. Finally, the study shows how semiotic research can elucidate rules by which members of a work culture consistently and coherently generate meaning.
Rejoinder Barley, Stephen R
Journal of management inquiry,
09/2008, Volume:
17, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The articles assembled for the special section on corporations, democracy, and the public good provide a useful starting point for outlining a possible trajectory for future research. Institutional ...theory can be a solid theoretical foundation, especially when researchers emphasize the role of ideologies and language as well as power and agency. The inner workings of the legal system, and specifically the formation and adjudication of the law, may be a promising arena for empirical work. Finally, meaningful research can be promoted by resisting the temptation to base scholarly work on overly simplistic, uni-dimensional, and naive conceptualizations of "democracy" and the "public good." PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Rejoinder Barley, Stephen R.
Journal of management inquiry,
09/2008, Volume:
17, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The articles assembled for the special section on corporations, democracy, and the public good provide a useful starting point for outlining a possible trajectory for future research. Institutional ...theory can be a solid theoretical foundation, especially when researchers emphasize the role of ideologies and language as well as power and agency. The inner workings of the legal system, and specifically the formation and adjudication of the law, may be a promising arena for empirical work. Finally, meaningful research can be promoted by resisting the temptation to base scholarly work on overly simplistic, uni-dimensional, and naïve conceptualizations of “democracy” and the “public good.”
Rejoinder Barley, Stephen R.
Journal of management inquiry,
09/2008, Volume:
17, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The articles assembled for the special section on corporations, democracy, and the public good provide a useful starting point for outlining a possible trajectory for future research. Institutional ...theory can be a solid theoretical foundation, especially when researchers emphasize the role of ideologies and language as well as power and agency. The inner workings of the legal system, and specifically the formation and adjudication of the law, may be a promising arena for empirical work. Finally, meaningful research can be promoted by resisting the temptation to base scholarly work on overly simplistic, uni-dimensional, and naïve conceptualizations of “democracy” and the “public good.”
This paper presents a method for assessing whether members of two subcultures, in this case academics and practitioners, have influenced each other's interpretations. Conceptual and symbolic ...influence are seen as special instances of acculturation, and their occurrence can be studied by specifying changes in the language that members of different subcultures use to frame a topic or issue. Models of academic- and practitioner-oriented discourse on organizational culture were derived from early papers on the topic. The texts of 192 articles on organizational culture written between June 1975 and December 1984 were then examined for evidence of acculturation. The data strongly suggest that those who wrote for practitioners and academics initially conceptualized organizational culture differently. Over time, however, academics appear to have moved toward the practitioners' point of view, while the latter appear to have been little influenced by the former. Besides showing that it is possible to study acculturation by investigating language use, the analysis raises important questions about the links between theory and practice in organizational behavior.
