David A Buchanan
Biographic Data
| ID | 3820790 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David A Buchanan |
| GIVEN NAMES | David A |
| FAMILY NAME | Buchanan |
| SIGNATURE | BUCHANAN D A |
| AFFILIATIONS | De Montfort University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9913-6378 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 64 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Sinking into the unthinkable
Purpose We aim to show how extreme fiction can be used to study possible future extreme events, allowing researchers to get “up close” to potentially dangerous settings. Design/methodology/approach How can research help to understand a world that has become more unpredictable and dangerous? We assess the use of fiction as research material and explore dramatized movie accounts of possible future accidents, crises and disasters through “extreme fi…
Sherman Alexie’s “Green World” and Don Quixote
Sherman Alexie's "Green World" and Don Quixote." ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–2 Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author
Unconventional Methodology in Organization and Management Research
This book describes twelve unconventional methodologies in organization and management research. These include unconventional research settings and data sources, unconventional research designs and data collection methods, unconventional analytic approaches, and designs and methods that exploit new technology developments. Our aim is to encourage dialogue and experimentation with regard to the development of innovative, unconventional approaches …
Research in extreme contexts
David A. Buchanan and David Denyer explore how unconventional methods have been used to study extreme settings which, involving degrees of risk and threat, are often considered challenging in terms of research access. These methods include the extensive use of single case studies based on non-traditional public information sources, embedding researchers in the context to be investigated, and the use of fictional accounts from film and television …
‘Not another survey’
Research methods influence the nature of evidence that is collected, how that evidence is interpreted, styles of theorizing, and modes of reporting. David A. Buchanan and Alan Bryman argue that methods are not neutral. Unconventional methods give us new lenses and perspectives on traditional topics, and open up fresh lines of inquiry. The distinction between conventional and unconventional is blurred, and methodology can be unconventional on a nu…
Participant-led video diaries
Rebecca Whiting, Helen Roby, Gillian Symon, and Petros Chamakiotis develop an unconventional research design using video methods, asking participants to produce their own video diaries, a process which is then followed by narrative interviews. This approach generates multi-modal data: audio, visual, and textual, and involves adopting a qualitative perspective, and a social constructionist epistemology. This participant-led research design allows …
Extreme work, gendered work? How extreme jobs and the discourse of ‘personal choice’ perpetuate gender inequality
This review sets extreme jobs in the context of the institutional, occupational, organizational and individual drivers of long hours and work intensification and identifies the consequences for gender equality, human sustainability and long-term productivity. We suggest that extreme jobs derive not from the ‘nature’ of managerial and professional work but from working practices and occupational discourses which have developed to suit the gendered…
Movement, knowledge, emotion
Great Scott!? Popular Memory and Modern Identity
Ann Rigney's Afterlives of Walter Scott is a valuable extension of recent scholarship on the role of Scott's fiction in the development of the nation state and modernity, combining memory studies, book history and literary criticism to address the historical, popular and contemporary impact of his works and celebrity on modern life.1Rigney explores the Waverley novels in particular as points of reference for the production of cultural memory and …
Nobody in charge
This article illustrates how distributed change agency can implement complex organizational changes in the absence of formal management plans, roles, and structures. Distributed change agency typically involves small teams and senior groups. In this qualitative study of service improvements in the treatment of prostate cancer at an acute hospital, Grange, change roles were distributed more widely, with responsibilities `migrating' among a large i…
Research into Practice’
English Traditional modes of researching health service practice and policy have been criticised in terms of timeliness and relevance by potential users, and of poor uptake by researchers themselves. Newer models, based on principles of collaboration and integration, are being used in some healthcare settings, and there is evidence that these approaches help to bridge the gap that exists between ‘research’ and ‘practice’. This article describes t…
The way it really happened
Corporate narratives concerning technological change are often constructed around a linear event sequence that presents the organization in a positive light to internal and external observers. These narratives often sanitize the change process, and present data from which commentators can formulate neat linear prescriptions on how to implement new technology. In contrast, this article draws on processual-contextual theoretical perspectives to arg…
Learning from HIV and Aids
Demands, Instabilities, Manipulations, Careers
This article explores the lived experience of change drivers involved in a whole-hospital re-engineering programme. As these drivers were not a select management group, but included staff from all organization levels, this illustrates a `dispersed responsibility' model of change implementation. Other research suggests that many public and private sector organizations may similarly be blurring demarcations between change `drivers' and `driven'. Th…
Politics and Organizational Change
This paper explores the "lived experience" of organizational politics from the standpoint of the change agent. While political behavior appears inevitably to accompany organizational change, the literature of change management seems to adopt an ambivalent approach to this area. The literature of organizational politics, on the other hand, identifies power bases, and offers prescriptive lists of "power tactics" without explaining how these are dep…
When Two Worlds Collide
This paper outlines and discusses issues arising from a specific evaluation project. The project brief was to conduct a communications audit of a UK National Health Service trust hospital, focusing particularly upon the interface between junior doctors and other professional groups within the hospital. The experience of conducting the research and operating as management evaluators within a medical research environment is also discussed. The stag…
Desanitizing Organizational Behaviour
Agency of Fear
Confidence, visibility and pressure
This article analyses the use made of computer based information systems in hospitality management. The findings indicate that, rather than replacing the middle management role, computer systems are used as support mechanisms which remove uncertainty associated with decisions based on hunch or inadequate information
Advanced technology and the quality of working life
This article presents the findings of a case study which describes the impact of computerized controls on the jobs of biscuit‐making operators. Examination of company documents and interviews with managers indicated that decisions to use this technology were influenced more by people within the organization than by external economic and market forces. The chairman's investment policy, and the management objective of improving control over product…
Advanced technology and the quality of working life
This article presents the findings of a case study which describes the impact of word processing technology on the characteristics of typing jobs in an engineering consultancy. Examination of company documents and interviews with managers indicated that the decision to adopt this technology was influenced by pressures and people within the organization, rather than by external forces. Interviews with typists indicated that the change from copy ty…
Nobody in charge
This article illustrates how distributed change agency can implement complex organizational changes in the absence of formal management plans, roles, and structures. Distributed change agency typically involves small teams and senior groups. In this qualitative study of service improvements in the treatment of prostate cancer at an acute hospital, Grange, change roles were distributed more widely, with responsibilities `migrating' among a large i…
Politics and Organizational Change
This paper explores the "lived experience" of organizational politics from the standpoint of the change agent. While political behavior appears inevitably to accompany organizational change, the literature of change management seems to adopt an ambivalent approach to this area. The literature of organizational politics, on the other hand, identifies power bases, and offers prescriptive lists of "power tactics" without explaining how these are dep…
The way it really happened
Corporate narratives concerning technological change are often constructed around a linear event sequence that presents the organization in a positive light to internal and external observers. These narratives often sanitize the change process, and present data from which commentators can formulate neat linear prescriptions on how to implement new technology. In contrast, this article draws on processual-contextual theoretical perspectives to arg…
Demands, Instabilities, Manipulations, Careers
This article explores the lived experience of change drivers involved in a whole-hospital re-engineering programme. As these drivers were not a select management group, but included staff from all organization levels, this illustrates a `dispersed responsibility' model of change implementation. Other research suggests that many public and private sector organizations may similarly be blurring demarcations between change `drivers' and `driven'. Th…
Confidence, visibility and pressure
This article analyses the use made of computer based information systems in hospitality management. The findings indicate that, rather than replacing the middle management role, computer systems are used as support mechanisms which remove uncertainty associated with decisions based on hunch or inadequate information
Research into Practice’
English Traditional modes of researching health service practice and policy have been criticised in terms of timeliness and relevance by potential users, and of poor uptake by researchers themselves. Newer models, based on principles of collaboration and integration, are being used in some healthcare settings, and there is evidence that these approaches help to bridge the gap that exists between ‘research’ and ‘practice’. This article describes t…
Advanced technology and the quality of working life
This article presents the findings of a case study which describes the impact of word processing technology on the characteristics of typing jobs in an engineering consultancy. Examination of company documents and interviews with managers indicated that the decision to adopt this technology was influenced by pressures and people within the organization, rather than by external forces. Interviews with typists indicated that the change from copy ty…
Advanced technology and the quality of working life
This article presents the findings of a case study which describes the impact of computerized controls on the jobs of biscuit‐making operators. Examination of company documents and interviews with managers indicated that decisions to use this technology were influenced more by people within the organization than by external economic and market forces. The chairman's investment policy, and the management objective of improving control over product…
Confidence, visibility and pressure
This article analyses the use made of computer based information systems in hospitality management. The findings indicate that, rather than replacing the middle management role, computer systems are used as support mechanisms which remove uncertainty associated with decisions based on hunch or inadequate information
Agency of Fear
Desanitizing Organizational Behaviour
When Two Worlds Collide
This paper outlines and discusses issues arising from a specific evaluation project. The project brief was to conduct a communications audit of a UK National Health Service trust hospital, focusing particularly upon the interface between junior doctors and other professional groups within the hospital. The experience of conducting the research and operating as management evaluators within a medical research environment is also discussed. The stag…
Politics and Organizational Change
This paper explores the "lived experience" of organizational politics from the standpoint of the change agent. While political behavior appears inevitably to accompany organizational change, the literature of change management seems to adopt an ambivalent approach to this area. The literature of organizational politics, on the other hand, identifies power bases, and offers prescriptive lists of "power tactics" without explaining how these are dep…
Demands, Instabilities, Manipulations, Careers
This article explores the lived experience of change drivers involved in a whole-hospital re-engineering programme. As these drivers were not a select management group, but included staff from all organization levels, this illustrates a `dispersed responsibility' model of change implementation. Other research suggests that many public and private sector organizations may similarly be blurring demarcations between change `drivers' and `driven'. Th…
Learning from HIV and Aids
The way it really happened
Corporate narratives concerning technological change are often constructed around a linear event sequence that presents the organization in a positive light to internal and external observers. These narratives often sanitize the change process, and present data from which commentators can formulate neat linear prescriptions on how to implement new technology. In contrast, this article draws on processual-contextual theoretical perspectives to arg…
Research into Practice’
English Traditional modes of researching health service practice and policy have been criticised in terms of timeliness and relevance by potential users, and of poor uptake by researchers themselves. Newer models, based on principles of collaboration and integration, are being used in some healthcare settings, and there is evidence that these approaches help to bridge the gap that exists between ‘research’ and ‘practice’. This article describes t…
Nobody in charge
This article illustrates how distributed change agency can implement complex organizational changes in the absence of formal management plans, roles, and structures. Distributed change agency typically involves small teams and senior groups. In this qualitative study of service improvements in the treatment of prostate cancer at an acute hospital, Grange, change roles were distributed more widely, with responsibilities `migrating' among a large i…
Movement, knowledge, emotion
Great Scott!? Popular Memory and Modern Identity
Ann Rigney's Afterlives of Walter Scott is a valuable extension of recent scholarship on the role of Scott's fiction in the development of the nation state and modernity, combining memory studies, book history and literary criticism to address the historical, popular and contemporary impact of his works and celebrity on modern life.1Rigney explores the Waverley novels in particular as points of reference for the production of cultural memory and …
Extreme work, gendered work? How extreme jobs and the discourse of ‘personal choice’ perpetuate gender inequality
This review sets extreme jobs in the context of the institutional, occupational, organizational and individual drivers of long hours and work intensification and identifies the consequences for gender equality, human sustainability and long-term productivity. We suggest that extreme jobs derive not from the ‘nature’ of managerial and professional work but from working practices and occupational discourses which have developed to suit the gendered…
Unconventional Methodology in Organization and Management Research
This book describes twelve unconventional methodologies in organization and management research. These include unconventional research settings and data sources, unconventional research designs and data collection methods, unconventional analytic approaches, and designs and methods that exploit new technology developments. Our aim is to encourage dialogue and experimentation with regard to the development of innovative, unconventional approaches …
Research in extreme contexts
David A. Buchanan and David Denyer explore how unconventional methods have been used to study extreme settings which, involving degrees of risk and threat, are often considered challenging in terms of research access. These methods include the extensive use of single case studies based on non-traditional public information sources, embedding researchers in the context to be investigated, and the use of fictional accounts from film and television …
‘Not another survey’
Research methods influence the nature of evidence that is collected, how that evidence is interpreted, styles of theorizing, and modes of reporting. David A. Buchanan and Alan Bryman argue that methods are not neutral. Unconventional methods give us new lenses and perspectives on traditional topics, and open up fresh lines of inquiry. The distinction between conventional and unconventional is blurred, and methodology can be unconventional on a nu…
Participant-led video diaries
Rebecca Whiting, Helen Roby, Gillian Symon, and Petros Chamakiotis develop an unconventional research design using video methods, asking participants to produce their own video diaries, a process which is then followed by narrative interviews. This approach generates multi-modal data: audio, visual, and textual, and involves adopting a qualitative perspective, and a social constructionist epistemology. This participant-led research design allows …
Sherman Alexie’s “Green World” and Don Quixote
Sherman Alexie's "Green World" and Don Quixote." ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), pp. 1–2 Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author
Sinking into the unthinkable
Purpose We aim to show how extreme fiction can be used to study possible future extreme events, allowing researchers to get “up close” to potentially dangerous settings. Design/methodology/approach How can research help to understand a world that has become more unpredictable and dangerous? We assess the use of fiction as research material and explore dramatized movie accounts of possible future accidents, crises and disasters through “extreme fi…
Political science (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Public relations (8 works) · Management and Organizational Studies (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Engineering (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Medicine (5 works)