Negotiating organizational future

Symbolic Struggles in a Fiscal Crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID2246986
AuthorsZachary A Schaefer (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, corresponding author), Owen Hanley Lynch (Southern Methodist University)
Year2015
Volume4
Issue3
Pages281-305
Publication date2015-10-12
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Organizational Ethnography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2046-6749 • E-ISSN: 2046-6757
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/joe-07-2014-0017
OpenAlexW2172146472
LanguageEN
References cited38

Purpose- The authors use concepts from the "communication constitutes organizations" (CCO) literature in combination with Cooren's (2010, 2012) ventriloquism to demonstrate the symbolic uses of texts and shifting interpretations of authority during a negotiation regarding the future of a nonprofit educational institution. The two sides negotiating over how to resolve a fiscal crisis struggled to achieve legitimacy through competing institutional logics, and this paper captures this process through a detailed account. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach- This study emerged from a multi-year full immersion ethnography undertaken by the second author, who spent over 5,000 hours as a participant observer at the organization. The quotes and observations come form field notes taken during this time.Findings- Communication constitutes the nonprofit institution through two communication flows - self-structuring processes and institutional positioning - and these flows symbolically and materially unified the opposing negotiation parties during the negotiation process as each side struggled to gain legitimacy through competing institutional logics. The process of ventriloquism was the mechanism through which different actors and texts negotiated their levels of authority.Practical implications- This case demonstrates how oppositional groups used and viewed texts throughout a negotiation process, revealing the agency, authority, legitimacy, and symbolic power of texts. This case also highlights the political struggle between institutional logics backed by financial models and professional logics backed by traditional organizational values.Originality/value- At a material level, this case is a detailed examination of organizational members navigating the negotiation process during a fiscal crisis, but on a symbolic level this case demonstrates the communicative means through which oppositional groups negotiate core organizational values, and whether past values can lead organizations to a sustainable future. The observational depth of this case study was only possible through long term, full immersion ethnography, and this depth provides clarity to abstract concepts from CCO, ventriloquism, and institutional theory

Agency (philosophy · Institution · Institutional logic · Legitimacy · Negotiation · Organizational field · Originality · Participant observation · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Relations and Crisis Communication

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