Politics and strategy practice
An ethnomethodologically-informed discourse analysis perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8419441 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frank Mueller (0000-0003-0891-3261, Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, corresponding author), Andrea Whittle (0000-0003-0837-7403, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK), Alison Gilchrist (0000-0002-1646-6871, Lancaster University), Alan Gilchrist (0000-0002-0829-8556, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK), Peter Lenney (0000-0002-9311-1070, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 1168-1199 |
| Publication date | 2013-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Business History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-6791 • E-ISSN: 1743-7938 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00076791.2013.838037 |
| OpenAlex | W1999807648 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 96 |
In this article we aim to contribute to the ‘strategy-as-practice’ (SAP) field by studying organizational politics from an ethnomethodological perspective. We argue that it is important to study not only the ‘politics of sensemaking’, but also the ‘sensemaking of politics’. Existing research has examined how power and politics plays a role in the sensemaking processes involved in strategic action, yet we have little understanding to date about how power and politics are made sense of in accounts and used by members to conduct their practical affairs. Drawing on an in-depth qualitative study of a multinational branded apparel company, we show how politics constitutes a key interpretive method through which organizational reality is constructed and strategic decisions are made. We address two key research questions: How can we study politics as an interpretive procedure rather than a pre-existing entity? What practical actions are achieved through such interpretive procedures? The study reveals how a cross-functional team of senior managers used discourse to collectively co-author a version of the political landscape of the firm during team meeting interactions, with practical implications for how the group sought to undertake strategic change. As such, the paper furthers our understanding of the social construction of politics and strategy and puts forward a new and potentially more insightful form of analysis we call Ethnomethodologically-informed Discourse Analysis (EDA)
Multinational corporation · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public relations · Sensemaking · Sociology · Innovation and Knowledge Management · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Organizational Strategy and Culture
A primer on ethnomethodology
The business of talk
The politics of organizational decision-making
The Strengths of the Strong Programme
Representing Reality
Discourse and Cognition
Authoritative Sensemaking in a Public Inquiry Report
The Social Processes of Organizational Sensemaking
From Intended Strategies to Unintended Outcomes
Narrative Construction as Sensemaking
Triggers And Enablers Of Sensegiving In Organizations
Of strategies, deliberate and emergent
Strategy Retold
Narrative, organizations and research
Organizational Restructuring and Middle Manager Sensemaking.
Building Process Theory with Narrative
On Organizational Becoming
Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking
Work and organisation in real time
Language and social reality
Strategic Practice, 'Discourse' and the Everyday Interactional Constitution of 'Power Effects'
On Telling Stories But Hearing Snippets
Ethnomethodology
Power and Organizations
II.2 The Strengths of the Strong Programme
Politics and Organizational Change
Making sense of the collapse of Barings Bank
An Examination of the Perceptions of Organizational Politics Model
Varieties of Discourse
Strategizing in the multi-business firm
Strategic ambiguity as a rhetorical resource for enabling multiple interests
Managerial elites making rhetorical and linguistic ‘moves’ for a moving (emotional) display
A narrative approach to strategy-as-practice
Strategy as Practice
Decolonializing discourse
Making sense of sensemaking narratives
Corporate Strategy, Organizations, and Subjectivity
Completing the Practice Turn in Strategy Research
Disclaimers
A Model of Discourse in Action
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,77 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2020 (8) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |