Eero Vaara
Biographic Data
| ID | 1131981 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Eero Vaara |
| GIVEN NAMES | Eero |
| FAMILY NAME | Vaara |
| SIGNATURE | VAARA E |
| AFFILIATIONS | École de management de Lyon |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7609-0135 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 191 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Near-Histories and Strategy Emergence
Even when anticipated strategic decisions or actions do not materialize, they can still set in motion emergent dynamics with collateral consequences that lead to profound strategic consequences. Adopting a microhistorical lens, we elucidate the dynamics of these processes by focusing on two largely dismissed near-history episodes in the relatively recent history of the Nokia Corporation. We develop a process model that elaborates on how anticipat…
Testing, stretching, and aligning
New Ways of Seeing through Qualitative Research
International audience
Narratives as Sources of Stability and Change in Organizations
Although narrative analysis has made significant advances in organization and management studies, scholars have not yet unleashed its full potential. This review provides an understanding of key issues in organizational narrative analysis with a focus on the role of narratives in organizational stability and change. We start by elaborating on the characteristics of organizational narratives to provide a conceptual framework for organizational nar…
Mastery, submission, and subversion
While research on strategy-making has begun to focus attention on identity construction, we nevertheless lack a critical understanding of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of strategy are (re)constructed at the level of identity. In this article, we draw on Judith Butler’s theorizing on performative subject formation—first to explore identity constructions grounded in the simultaneity of submitting to and mastering the socio-histo…
Integration
The aim of this article is to provide an overview of M&A integration. We describe what M&A integration entails, and discuss two important dimensions of this process, namely, operational and cultural integration. We also provide an overview of different integration styles related to these two dimensions, and discuss the dynamics of the M&A integration process.
Struggles over legitimacy in the Eurozone crisis
This article focuses on the discursive underpinnings of the legitimacy crisis that the Eurozone as a transnational institution is facing. By adopting a critical discourse analysis (CDA) perspective, the empirical analysis focuses on the media discussion in Finland. The analysis shows how discourses of financial capitalism, humanism, nationalism and Europeanism played a central role in legitimation, delegitimation and relegitimation. Furthermore, …
Strategy-as-Practice
This article reviews research in Strategy-as-Practice (SAP) and suggests directions for its development. The power of this perspective lies in its ability to explain how strategy-making is enabled and constrained by prevailing organizational and societal practices. Our review shows how SAP research has helped to advance social theories in strategic management, offered alternatives to performance-dominated analyzes, broadened the scope in terms of…
On the force potential of strategy texts
Despite increasing interest in the discursive aspects of strategy, few studies have examined strategy texts and their power effects. We draw from Critical Discourse Analysis to better understand the power of strategic plans as a directive genre. In our empirical analysis, we examined the creation of the official strategic plan of the City of Lahti in Finland. As a result of our inductive analysis, we identified five central discursive features of…
Becoming an international man
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative analysis based on interviews with virtually all top managers in the Nordic financial services company Nordea (53 men and two women). Findings It is found that beco…
Struggles Over Legitimacy in Global Organizational Restructuring
Critical organization scholars have focused increasing attention on industrial and organizational restructurings such as shutdown decisions. However, little is known about the rhetorical strategies used to legitimate or resist plant closures in organizational negotiations. In this article, we draw from New Rhetoric to analyze rhetorical struggles, strategies and dynamics in unfolding organizational negotiations. We focus on the shutdown of the bu…
A Discursive Perspective on Legitimation Strategies in Multinational Corporations
Few studies have examined legitimation in multinational corporations from a discursive perspective. To complement the existing institutional literature, we adopt a critical discourse analysis perspective that allows us to examine the microlevel processes of discursive legitimation. We provide an example of a media text— dealing with a production unit shutdown—to demonstrate how this perspective elucidates the various textual strategies used to le…
Struggling over subjectivity
We have seen growing interest in discursive perspectives on strategy. This perspective holds great promise for development of an understanding on how strategy discourse and subjectivity are intertwined. We wish to add to this existing research by outlining a discursive struggle approach to subjectivity. To understand the complex subjectification and empowering/disempowering effects of organizational strategy discourse, this approach focuses on or…
Pulp and Paper Fiction
Despite the central role of legitimacy in social and organizational life, we know little of the subtle meaning-making processes through which organizational phenomena, such as industrial restructuring, are legitimated in contemporary society. Therefore, this paper examines the discursive legitimation strategies used when making sense of global industrial restructuring in the media. Based on a critical discourse analysis of extensive media coverag…
Between West and East
The Cold War era was characterized by ideological struggles that had a major impact on economic decision-making, and also on management practice. To date, however, these ideological struggles have received little attention from management and organizational scholars. To partially fill this research gap, we focus on the role of the media in these ideological struggles. Our starting point is that the media both reflect more general societal debates…
The Merger Storm Recognizes No Borders
Despite the central role of the media in contemporary society, studies examining the rhetorical practices of journalists are rare in organization and management research. We know little of the textual micro strategies and techniques through which journalists convey specific messages to their readers. Partially to fill the gap, this paper outlines a methodological framework that combines three perspectives of text analysis and interpretation: crit…
Gender and National Identity Constructions in the Cross‐Border Merger Context
In this article we explore ways in which vertical gender inequality is accomplished in discourse in the context of a recent chain of cross‐border mergers and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of a multinational Nordic company. We analyse social interactions of ‘doing’ gender in interviews with male senior executives from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. We argue that their explanations for the absence of women in the top echelons of the com…
Critical Discourse Analysis as a Methodology for International Business Studies
This innovative Handbook draws together and reflects on the specific methodological challenges that an international business scholar is likely to face when undertaking a qualitative research project.
Making Sense of a Transnational Merger
In this study of symbolic power relations in a transnational merger, we suggest that the popular media can provide a significant arena for (re)constructing national identities and power in this kind of dramatic industrial restructuring, and are an under-utilized source of empirical data in research studies. Focusing on the press coverage of a recent Swedish-Finnish merger, we specify and illustrate a particular feature of discursive (re)construct…
Organization Studies
The International Match
This article focuses on cultural identity-building in the cross-border merger context. To provide an alternative to the dominant essentialist analyses of cultures and cultural differences, cultural identity-building is conceptualized as a metaphoric process. The focus is on two processes inherent in the cross-border merger context: construction of images of Us and Them and construction of images of a Common Future. Based on an analysis of a speci…
Justification, Legitimization and Naturalization of Mergers and Acquisitions
This article concentrates on the discursive construction of mergers and acquisitions in the media. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, the article focuses on justification, legitimization and naturalization processes in three historically significant cases in the Finnish media. The analysis reveals four distinctive discourse types- `rationalistic', `cultural', `societal' and `individualistic'-and elaborates their structural characteristics. T…
Struggles over legitimacy in the Eurozone crisis
This article focuses on the discursive underpinnings of the legitimacy crisis that the Eurozone as a transnational institution is facing. By adopting a critical discourse analysis (CDA) perspective, the empirical analysis focuses on the media discussion in Finland. The analysis shows how discourses of financial capitalism, humanism, nationalism and Europeanism played a central role in legitimation, delegitimation and relegitimation. Furthermore, …
Struggles Over Legitimacy in Global Organizational Restructuring
Critical organization scholars have focused increasing attention on industrial and organizational restructurings such as shutdown decisions. However, little is known about the rhetorical strategies used to legitimate or resist plant closures in organizational negotiations. In this article, we draw from New Rhetoric to analyze rhetorical struggles, strategies and dynamics in unfolding organizational negotiations. We focus on the shutdown of the bu…
Struggling over subjectivity
We have seen growing interest in discursive perspectives on strategy. This perspective holds great promise for development of an understanding on how strategy discourse and subjectivity are intertwined. We wish to add to this existing research by outlining a discursive struggle approach to subjectivity. To understand the complex subjectification and empowering/disempowering effects of organizational strategy discourse, this approach focuses on or…
The International Match
This article focuses on cultural identity-building in the cross-border merger context. To provide an alternative to the dominant essentialist analyses of cultures and cultural differences, cultural identity-building is conceptualized as a metaphoric process. The focus is on two processes inherent in the cross-border merger context: construction of images of Us and Them and construction of images of a Common Future. Based on an analysis of a speci…
Gender and National Identity Constructions in the Cross‐Border Merger Context
In this article we explore ways in which vertical gender inequality is accomplished in discourse in the context of a recent chain of cross‐border mergers and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of a multinational Nordic company. We analyse social interactions of ‘doing’ gender in interviews with male senior executives from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. We argue that their explanations for the absence of women in the top echelons of the com…
Making Sense of a Transnational Merger
In this study of symbolic power relations in a transnational merger, we suggest that the popular media can provide a significant arena for (re)constructing national identities and power in this kind of dramatic industrial restructuring, and are an under-utilized source of empirical data in research studies. Focusing on the press coverage of a recent Swedish-Finnish merger, we specify and illustrate a particular feature of discursive (re)construct…
Becoming an international man
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative analysis based on interviews with virtually all top managers in the Nordic financial services company Nordea (53 men and two women). Findings It is found that beco…
Between West and East
The Cold War era was characterized by ideological struggles that had a major impact on economic decision-making, and also on management practice. To date, however, these ideological struggles have received little attention from management and organizational scholars. To partially fill this research gap, we focus on the role of the media in these ideological struggles. Our starting point is that the media both reflect more general societal debates…
Testing, stretching, and aligning
Justification, Legitimization and Naturalization of Mergers and Acquisitions
This article concentrates on the discursive construction of mergers and acquisitions in the media. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, the article focuses on justification, legitimization and naturalization processes in three historically significant cases in the Finnish media. The analysis reveals four distinctive discourse types- `rationalistic', `cultural', `societal' and `individualistic'-and elaborates their structural characteristics. T…
Making Sense of a Transnational Merger
In this study of symbolic power relations in a transnational merger, we suggest that the popular media can provide a significant arena for (re)constructing national identities and power in this kind of dramatic industrial restructuring, and are an under-utilized source of empirical data in research studies. Focusing on the press coverage of a recent Swedish-Finnish merger, we specify and illustrate a particular feature of discursive (re)construct…
Organization Studies
The International Match
This article focuses on cultural identity-building in the cross-border merger context. To provide an alternative to the dominant essentialist analyses of cultures and cultural differences, cultural identity-building is conceptualized as a metaphoric process. The focus is on two processes inherent in the cross-border merger context: construction of images of Us and Them and construction of images of a Common Future. Based on an analysis of a speci…
Critical Discourse Analysis as a Methodology for International Business Studies
This innovative Handbook draws together and reflects on the specific methodological challenges that an international business scholar is likely to face when undertaking a qualitative research project.
The Merger Storm Recognizes No Borders
Despite the central role of the media in contemporary society, studies examining the rhetorical practices of journalists are rare in organization and management research. We know little of the textual micro strategies and techniques through which journalists convey specific messages to their readers. Partially to fill the gap, this paper outlines a methodological framework that combines three perspectives of text analysis and interpretation: crit…
Gender and National Identity Constructions in the Cross‐Border Merger Context
In this article we explore ways in which vertical gender inequality is accomplished in discourse in the context of a recent chain of cross‐border mergers and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of a multinational Nordic company. We analyse social interactions of ‘doing’ gender in interviews with male senior executives from Denmark, Finland and Sweden. We argue that their explanations for the absence of women in the top echelons of the com…
Pulp and Paper Fiction
Despite the central role of legitimacy in social and organizational life, we know little of the subtle meaning-making processes through which organizational phenomena, such as industrial restructuring, are legitimated in contemporary society. Therefore, this paper examines the discursive legitimation strategies used when making sense of global industrial restructuring in the media. Based on a critical discourse analysis of extensive media coverag…
Between West and East
The Cold War era was characterized by ideological struggles that had a major impact on economic decision-making, and also on management practice. To date, however, these ideological struggles have received little attention from management and organizational scholars. To partially fill this research gap, we focus on the role of the media in these ideological struggles. Our starting point is that the media both reflect more general societal debates…
Struggling over subjectivity
We have seen growing interest in discursive perspectives on strategy. This perspective holds great promise for development of an understanding on how strategy discourse and subjectivity are intertwined. We wish to add to this existing research by outlining a discursive struggle approach to subjectivity. To understand the complex subjectification and empowering/disempowering effects of organizational strategy discourse, this approach focuses on or…
A Discursive Perspective on Legitimation Strategies in Multinational Corporations
Few studies have examined legitimation in multinational corporations from a discursive perspective. To complement the existing institutional literature, we adopt a critical discourse analysis perspective that allows us to examine the microlevel processes of discursive legitimation. We provide an example of a media text— dealing with a production unit shutdown—to demonstrate how this perspective elucidates the various textual strategies used to le…
On the force potential of strategy texts
Despite increasing interest in the discursive aspects of strategy, few studies have examined strategy texts and their power effects. We draw from Critical Discourse Analysis to better understand the power of strategic plans as a directive genre. In our empirical analysis, we examined the creation of the official strategic plan of the City of Lahti in Finland. As a result of our inductive analysis, we identified five central discursive features of…
Becoming an international man
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative analysis based on interviews with virtually all top managers in the Nordic financial services company Nordea (53 men and two women). Findings It is found that beco…
Struggles Over Legitimacy in Global Organizational Restructuring
Critical organization scholars have focused increasing attention on industrial and organizational restructurings such as shutdown decisions. However, little is known about the rhetorical strategies used to legitimate or resist plant closures in organizational negotiations. In this article, we draw from New Rhetoric to analyze rhetorical struggles, strategies and dynamics in unfolding organizational negotiations. We focus on the shutdown of the bu…
Strategy-as-Practice
This article reviews research in Strategy-as-Practice (SAP) and suggests directions for its development. The power of this perspective lies in its ability to explain how strategy-making is enabled and constrained by prevailing organizational and societal practices. Our review shows how SAP research has helped to advance social theories in strategic management, offered alternatives to performance-dominated analyzes, broadened the scope in terms of…
Struggles over legitimacy in the Eurozone crisis
This article focuses on the discursive underpinnings of the legitimacy crisis that the Eurozone as a transnational institution is facing. By adopting a critical discourse analysis (CDA) perspective, the empirical analysis focuses on the media discussion in Finland. The analysis shows how discourses of financial capitalism, humanism, nationalism and Europeanism played a central role in legitimation, delegitimation and relegitimation. Furthermore, …
Integration
The aim of this article is to provide an overview of M&A integration. We describe what M&A integration entails, and discuss two important dimensions of this process, namely, operational and cultural integration. We also provide an overview of different integration styles related to these two dimensions, and discuss the dynamics of the M&A integration process.
Narratives as Sources of Stability and Change in Organizations
Although narrative analysis has made significant advances in organization and management studies, scholars have not yet unleashed its full potential. This review provides an understanding of key issues in organizational narrative analysis with a focus on the role of narratives in organizational stability and change. We start by elaborating on the characteristics of organizational narratives to provide a conceptual framework for organizational nar…
Mastery, submission, and subversion
While research on strategy-making has begun to focus attention on identity construction, we nevertheless lack a critical understanding of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of strategy are (re)constructed at the level of identity. In this article, we draw on Judith Butler’s theorizing on performative subject formation—first to explore identity constructions grounded in the simultaneity of submitting to and mastering the socio-histo…
New Ways of Seeing through Qualitative Research
International audience
Testing, stretching, and aligning
Near-Histories and Strategy Emergence
Even when anticipated strategic decisions or actions do not materialize, they can still set in motion emergent dynamics with collateral consequences that lead to profound strategic consequences. Adopting a microhistorical lens, we elucidate the dynamics of these processes by focusing on two largely dismissed near-history episodes in the relatively recent history of the Nokia Corporation. We develop a process model that elaborates on how anticipat…
Sociology (19 works) · Political science (18 works) · Management and Organizational Studies (17 works) · Law (13 works) · Politics (11 works) · Social science (10 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Linguistics (7 works) · Economics (6 works)