Summoning the spirits

Organizational texts and the (dis)ordering properties of communication

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9890797
AutoresCamilla Vásquez (0000-0002-3904-9878, Université du Québec à Montréal, autor de correspondencia), Consuelo Vásquez (Université du Québec à Montréal), Dennis Schoeneborn (0000-0002-7922-9347, Copenhagen Business School, autor de correspondencia), Viviane Sergi (0000-0002-1585-395X, School of Management, Université du Québec à Montréal (ESG UQAM), Canada, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen69
Número3
Páginas629-659
Fecha de publicación2016-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
EditorialSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0018726715589422
OpenAlexW2306076068
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas25
Referencias citadas99

This article addresses the question: why does disorder tend to simultaneously accompany efforts to create order when organizing? Adopting a communication-centered perspective, we specifically examine the role of texts in the mutual constitution of order and disorder. Drawing on empirical material from three qualitative case studies on project organizing, we show that attempts of ordering through language use and texts (i.e. by closing and fixing meaning) tend to induce disordering (i.e. by opening the possibility of multiple meanings), at the same time. As we contend, these (dis)ordering dynamics play a key role in the communicative constitution of organization, keeping them in motion by calling forth continuous processes of meaning (re-)negotiation

Business · Cognitive science · Constitution · Dynamics (music · Empirical research · Epistemology · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Negotiation · Order (exchange · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Construction Project Management and Performance · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology