The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

A critical plot twist: changing characters and foreshadowing the future of organizational storytelling

A critical plot twist: changing characters and foreshadowing the future of organizational storytelling
A critical plot twist: changing characters and foreshadowing the future of organizational storytelling
In this review, we explore the evolution of scholarly research about organizational storytelling over the past 40 years in a sample of 165 papers published between 1975 and 2015. We contend that organizational storytelling has established a conventional foothold beside the dominant, scientific narrative of organization studies. Meanwhile, the voice of critical storytelling in organizations has emerged, confirming (and extending) five organizational storytelling themes identified by Rhodes and Brown’s (2005a): sense-making (and subverting); communicating (and manipulating); change, learning (and challenge); power (and dissent); and identity, and identification (and alienation). Our review reveals the growing influence of critical management studies, emphasizing the role stories play in disrupting conventional narratives, enriching our understanding of present and future storytelling in organizations and of organizations in general.
1460-8545
Beigi, Mina
2986037e-5bb3-4ec0-be55-bf291ac17e24
Callahan, Jamie
626476ea-3509-44db-8725-0a77aab7a1c1
Michaelson, Christopher
af69f573-f898-4da1-8020-5ae789228f05
Beigi, Mina
2986037e-5bb3-4ec0-be55-bf291ac17e24
Callahan, Jamie
626476ea-3509-44db-8725-0a77aab7a1c1
Michaelson, Christopher
af69f573-f898-4da1-8020-5ae789228f05

Beigi, Mina, Callahan, Jamie and Michaelson, Christopher (2019) A critical plot twist: changing characters and foreshadowing the future of organizational storytelling. International Journal of Management Reviews. (doi:10.1111/ijmr.12203).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this review, we explore the evolution of scholarly research about organizational storytelling over the past 40 years in a sample of 165 papers published between 1975 and 2015. We contend that organizational storytelling has established a conventional foothold beside the dominant, scientific narrative of organization studies. Meanwhile, the voice of critical storytelling in organizations has emerged, confirming (and extending) five organizational storytelling themes identified by Rhodes and Brown’s (2005a): sense-making (and subverting); communicating (and manipulating); change, learning (and challenge); power (and dissent); and identity, and identification (and alienation). Our review reveals the growing influence of critical management studies, emphasizing the role stories play in disrupting conventional narratives, enriching our understanding of present and future storytelling in organizations and of organizations in general.

Text
A Critical Plot Twist - Accepted Manuscript
Download (883kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 28 January 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 April 2019

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 428104
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/428104
ISSN: 1460-8545
PURE UUID: 3df2d628-260f-4514-b821-94a146f4fc02
ORCID for Mina Beigi: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4866-7205

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 Feb 2019 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:33

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Mina Beigi ORCID iD
Author: Jamie Callahan
Author: Christopher Michaelson

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×