While the careers of secret agents have inspired many genres of popular culture, relatively little research has been carried out until now on spying as a profession. Through the lens of personnel management, the authors offer a unique and compelling analysis of secret service employee biographies and autobiographies, giving the reader an improved understanding of people management in all organisations. Personnel Management in Secret Service Organizations pinpoints key events in an agent’s career, focusing on how they enter their profession, how they perform espionage work; how they are trained and managed and what the circumstances of promotion and demotion might be, up to the point of exit from the profession (through retirement, capture, or death). Within this framework, it illustrates the ways that secret service organizations play a crucial role in contemporary societies. Drawing comparisons with personnel management in standard organizations, Personnel Management in Secret Service Organizations will be a valuable resource for researchers and students of management and organization. The use of narratology-inspired methods will appeal to younger scholars with an interest in organizational studies too.

In this timely book, Barbara Czarniawska and Bernward Joerges examine the hopes and fears around work and job security inspired by automation, from the original coining of the term 'robot' to the present day media fascination. Have these hopes and fears changed or do they remain the same? This discerning book investigates whether these changes in perception correlate to actual changes taking place in the field of robotics. Exploring several streams of popular culture, including ground-breaking science fiction novels and films, the impact of these globally renowned works on public opinion regarding robotics is assessed. Detailed media analysis identifies the frequency and complexity of common views that stem from the ideas found in both fiction and scientific research results disseminated by the news. Recent social science works dedicated to the study of robotziation are then reviewed, illustrating current and future debates surrounding the phenomenon of the 'robot revolution'. Robotization of Work? will be a key resource for students and scholars studying the organization of work, IT and digitalization, and cultural studies. It will also be of interest to anyone engaged with the concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotization.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Managing and organizing are now central phenomena in contemporary societies. It is essential they are studied from a variety of perspectives, and with equal attention paid to their past, their present, and their future. This book collects opinions of trailblazing scholars concerning the most important research topics, essential for study in the next 15-20 years. The opinions concern both traditional functions, such as accounting and marketing, personnel management and strategy, technology and communication, but also new challenges, such as diversity, equality, waste and cultural encounters. The collection is intended to be inspiration for young scholars and an invitation to a dialogue with practitioners. The book's contributions are written by well-established scholars. Each is a leader in their field and will remain important figures for the next twenty years and beyond. Each chapter starts with a short summary of the present situation but focuses on the future of the discipline. The contributors cover practically all subfields of what is called business administration, or management and organization studies and include contain topics that are new, such as invisible organizations or encounters between art, popular culture and organizing. Outlining the future and the state of the art, this comprehensive and innovative book is an essential resource for students and academics seeking to be at the forefront of future research in management and organization studies. Contributors include: Y. Benschop, T. Beyes, F. Cochoy, F. Cooren, H. Corvellec, J. Costas, A. Diedrich, M.-L. Djelic, G.S. Drori, C. Grey, M. Kornberger, M. Kostera, W.J. Orlikowski, M. Parker, P. Quattrone, C. Rhodes, S.V. Scott, J. Smolinski, J.-S. Vayre

The author asks: what is the use of the research results that consist of descriptions of practices rather than the foundation of principles? And the answers that she provides are so unconventional and surprising that they make the reading of the book pure pleasure.' - Professor Silvia Gherardi, University of Trento, Italy'In this Theory of Organizing, Barbara Czarniawska treats us to a fascinating journey. Bringing together many of her previous theoretical contributions into a coherent sum, she constructs an enticing and highly original conceptual toolbox to read a world of expansive organizing. Professor Czarniawska outlines a constructivist perspective of organizing that is both highly sophisticated and a pleasure to read. This refreshing theoretical exercise, by a major organization scholar is a must read!' - Marie Laure Djelic, ESSEC Business School, France This new edition of A Theory of Organizing continues to promote a processual view of organizing, and presents a theory developed by combining multiple field studies with recent theoretical insights. The author defends the constructionist perspective from idealist interpretations, demonstrating how people and machines collaborate in constructing action nets, which eventually produce both the global economy and its local translations. Helped by information technologies, global ideas travel across the world - in physical space and in cyberspace, over national, sectorial and organizational borders, within and outside organizations - and are then translated into local practices. Provocative in its questioning of established truths in the field of organizational studies, this book will continue to challenge and stimulate organizational theoreticians and organizational practitioners. It will also prove lively reading for academics from a range of backgrounds, including management studies, business administration, sociology, ethnology, and political sciences. Contents: 1. Perspective: A Constructionist View of Organizing 2. Starting Point: The Construction and Reconstruction of Action Nets 3. On Organizing: Narrating the Organizing and Organizing the Narratives 4. On Stability: How Institutions Become Inscribed in Technical Objects 5. On Codification: Ways of Managing Overflows 6. On Management: Leadership as Service 7. On Change: Is it Possible to Lift Oneself by The Hair? 8. On Imitation and Fashion: How Ideas Travel Around the World 9. On Gender: How Global is Discrimination? 10. On Speed and Slowness: Remembering and Forgetting 11. Epilogue: Organizing Without Organizations? References Index

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Managing and organizing are now central phenomena in contemporary societies. It is essential they are studied from a variety of perspectives, and with equal attention paid to their past, their present, and their future. This book collects opinions of trailblazing scholars concerning the most important research topics, essential for study in the next 15-20 years. The opinions concern both traditional functions, such as accounting and marketing, personnel management and strategy, technology and communication, but also new challenges, such as diversity, equality, waste and cultural encounters. The collection is intended to be inspiration for young scholars and an invitation to a dialogue with practitioners. The book's contributions are written by well-established scholars. Each is a leader in their field and will remain important figures for the next twenty years and beyond. Each chapter starts with a short summary of the present situation but focuses on the future of the discipline. The contributors cover practically all subfields of what is called business administration, or management and organization studies and include contain topics that are new, such as invisible organizations or encounters between art, popular culture and organizing. Outlining the future and the state of the art, this comprehensive and innovative book is an essential resource for students and academics seeking to be at the forefront of future research in management and organization studies. Contributors include: Y. Benschop, T. Beyes, F. Cochoy, F. Cooren, H. Corvellec, J. Costas, A. Diedrich, M.-L. Djelic, G.S. Drori, C. Grey, M. Kornberger, M. Kostera, W.J. Orlikowski, M. Parker, P. Quattrone, C. Rhodes, S.V. Scott, J. Smolinski, J.-S. Vayre

"It is simply too much" is a common complaint of the modern age. This book looks at how people and institutions deal with overflow - of information, consumption or choices. The essays explore the ways in which notions of overflow - framed in terms of excess and abundance or their implicit opposites, scarcity and dearth - crop up in a number of contexts such as sociological and economic theory, management consulting, consumer studies, and the politics of everyday life. Chapters range from studies of overload at home, at work or in the world of cyber information; strategies of coping with overflow in institutions such as news agencies; and historical comparisons. When, where, how and for whom is overflow a problem or a blessing?

Casting the Other focuses on the production and maintenance of gender inequalities in organizations. By emphasizing 'difference' as something to be managed many organizations institute the 'problem of difference', and while organizations pay lip-service to ideas of equality, their day-to-day practices may be unchanged and unchallenged. Discrimination of various groups such as women, immigrants and older people continues and its dynamics remain unclear, largely because of the difficulties of studying it in the field. Additionally, various programs aimed at removing inequality, such as gender equality of managing diversity programs, may actually promote it by making differences visible and stabilizing them. Management, under these circumstances, comes to refer to the management of appearances which take the place of more radical acts to change the 'status quo'.

Casting the Other: Maintaining Gender Inequalities in the Workplace focuses on the production and maintenance of gender inequalities in organizations. By emphasizing 'difference' as something to be managed many organizations institute the 'problem of difference', and while orgainzations pay lip-service to ideas of equality, their day-to-day practices may be unchanged and unchallenged. Discrimination of various groups such as women, immigrants and older people continues and its dynamics remain unclear, largely because of the difficulties of studying it in the field. Additionally, various programs aimed at removing inequality, such as gender equality of managing diversity programs, may actually promote it by making differences visible and stabilizing them. Management, under these circumstances, comes to refer to the management of appearances which take the place of more radical acts to change the 'status quo'.

In this timely book, Barbara Czarniawska and Bernward Joerges examine the hopes and fears around work and job security inspired by automation, from the original coining of the term 'robot' to the present day media fascination. Have these hopes and fears changed or do they remain the same? This discerning book investigates whether these changes in perception correlate to actual changes taking place in the field of robotics. Exploring several streams of popular culture, including ground-breaking science fiction novels and films, the impact of these globally renowned works on public opinion regarding robotics is assessed. Detailed media analysis identifies the frequency and complexity of common views that stem from the ideas found in both fiction and scientific research results disseminated by the news. Recent social science works dedicated to the study of robotziation are then reviewed, illustrating current and future debates surrounding the phenomenon of the 'robot revolution'. Robotization of Work? will be a key resource for students and scholars studying the organization of work, IT and digitalization, and cultural studies. It will also be of interest to anyone engaged with the concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotization.

Have you ever wondered how organizations decide which news is important? This insightful book portrays in detail everyday work in three news agencies: Swedish TT, Italian ANSA and the worldwide Reuters. This unique study is about organizing rather than journalism, revealing two accelerating phenomena: cybernization (machines play a more and more central role in news production) and cyborgization (people rely more and more on machines). Barbara Czarniawska reveals that technological developments lead to many unexpected consequences and complications. Cyberfactories will prove essential to researchers interested in contemporary forms of organizing, studies of technology, and media. It will also appeal to a lay reader interested in how news is produced.

The author asks: what is the use of the research results that consist of descriptions of practices rather than the foundation of principles? And the answers that she provides are so unconventional and surprising that they make the reading of the book pure pleasure.' - Professor Silvia Gherardi, University of Trento, Italy'In this Theory of Organizing, Barbara Czarniawska treats us to a fascinating journey. Bringing together many of her previous theoretical contributions into a coherent sum, she constructs an enticing and highly original conceptual toolbox to read a world of expansive organizing. Professor Czarniawska outlines a constructivist perspective of organizing that is both highly sophisticated and a pleasure to read. This refreshing theoretical exercise, by a major organization scholar is a must read!' - Marie Laure Djelic, ESSEC Business School, France This new edition of A Theory of Organizing continues to promote a processual view of organizing, and presents a theory developed by combining multiple field studies with recent theoretical insights. The author defends the constructionist perspective from idealist interpretations, demonstrating how people and machines collaborate in constructing action nets, which eventually produce both the global economy and its local translations. Helped by information technologies, global ideas travel across the world - in physical space and in cyberspace, over national, sectorial and organizational borders, within and outside organizations - and are then translated into local practices. Provocative in its questioning of established truths in the field of organizational studies, this book will continue to challenge and stimulate organizational theoreticians and organizational practitioners. It will also prove lively reading for academics from a range of backgrounds, including management studies, business administration, sociology, ethnology, and political sciences. Contents: 1. Perspective: A Constructionist View of Organizing 2. Starting Point: The Construction and Reconstruction of Action Nets 3. On Organizing: Narrating the Organizing and Organizing the Narratives 4. On Stability: How Institutions Become Inscribed in Technical Objects 5. On Codification: Ways of Managing Overflows 6. On Management: Leadership as Service 7. On Change: Is it Possible to Lift Oneself by The Hair? 8. On Imitation and Fashion: How Ideas Travel Around the World 9. On Gender: How Global is Discrimination? 10. On Speed and Slowness: Remembering and Forgetting 11. Epilogue: Organizing Without Organizations? References Index

Barbara Czarniawska is a distinguished scholar and author in the field of organization. Drawing on her extensive knowledge she has gathered together other leading experts to apply organization theory to yet another relevant field of practice - risk management.There are no prescriptions for organizing in the face of risk and threat, but the accumulating experience shows that a well-rehearsed improvisation brings much better results than planning and construction of formal organizations. This timely book contains cases of risk and threat where the former strategy succeeds and the latter fails. The wealth of cases presented includes the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola, bird flu, health insurance after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and the Tjorn bridge catastrophe in Sweden. Graduate and postgraduate students in business and management schools, as well as academics teaching courses in risk management across disciplines should not be without this book. Risk management specialists will also find this book invaluable.

Have you ever wondered how organizations decide which news is important? This insightful book portrays in detail everyday work in three news agencies: Swedish TT, Italian ANSA and the worldwide Reuters. This unique study is about organizing rather than journalism, revealing two accelerating phenomena: cybernization (machines play a more and more central role in news production) and cyborgization (people rely more and more on machines). Barbara Czarniawska reveals that technological developments lead to many unexpected consequences and complications. Cyberfactories will prove essential to researchers interested in contemporary forms of organizing, studies of technology, and media. It will also appeal to a lay reader interested in how news is produced.

What does a stockbroker in Istanbul navigating the rush of incoming trading figures have in common with a mother in Stockholm trying to organize a growing pile of baby clothes? They are both coping with excess or overflow. This book explores the ways in which institutions, corporations and individuals define and manage situations of 'too much' - too much information, too many choices, too many commodities or too many tasks. By analyzing a wide range of settings - from corporate firms and public administration to everyday domestic routines - the book offers an in-depth understanding of the complexities of overflow phenomena. It questions when, where and why overflow emerges and for whom this is a problem or a blessing. This broad introduction to a striking contemporary phenomenon will prove an enlightening read for a wide-ranging audience including academics and researchers in the disciplines of business and management, political science, economic history and sociology. Contributors: H. Brembeck, F. Cochoy, H. Corvellec, B. Czarniawska, M. Czubaj, P. Donatella, K.M. Ekstroem, S. Fellman, O. Loefgren, L. Noren, M. Pantzar, A. Popp, E. Raviola, R. Solli, E. Tarim, J. Wentzer, R. Willim

Management of big cities is a relatively unresearched area, as compared to city planning and city governance. A study of Warsaw city management reveals the transformation process typically found in European countries in political and economic transition. In A City Reframed, Czarniawska conceptualises city management as an "action-net" under transformation, where three types of action are in focus: "muddling through," or coping with daily problems; "reframing," or changing the frame of interpretation of the world in order to take successful action; and "anchoring," the testing of new ideas on potentially involved parties in order to secure cooperation or minimize resistance. "Muddling through" is central to management in Warsaw, as it no doubt has always been: it is this "muddling through" that makes cities function. The specificity of the Warsaw picture is its demand for "reframing" and numerous and varied attempts have been made to achieve a "change of frame." They were sometimes successful, sometimes not, the skill of anchoring only slowly emerging from the most recent past, with the sediments of the old regimes an obvious obstacle. The study pinpoints the phenomena central to the construction of the action-net of city management, and traces its further connections (or lack of such), both temporally and spatially.

Management Education and Humanities argues that management teachers and researchers seem to be increasingly dissatisfied with the way managers are usually educated in western countries. It claims that educational practices and methods would greatly benefit from reflection on the implicit assumptions and paradigms behind those practices, and debates the role that humanism and humanities might play in the formation of new managerial elites. The book examines three themes that have emerged as central to the contemporary debate on management education: the profession of management; humanism as a philosophy and worldview; and the humanities as an academic field where management schools could find new inspirations for curricula. All three themes are scrutinized in a frame of reference extended between two different points of view: the traditional view, with its tendency to idealize (and even sometimes romanticize) humanism, the humanities and management as a social function; and the 'past-modern' view, which is inclined to skepticism and to the deconstruction of social and cultural phenomena. Providing a lively account of this ongoing debate and exploring new trends and experiences in management education, this book will be invaluable reading for teachers, students and researchers of management, management strategy, and organizational behaviour.

"It is simply too much" is a common complaint of the modern age. This book looks at how people and institutions deal with overflow - of information, consumption or choices. The essays explore the ways in which notions of overflow - framed in terms of excess and abundance or their implicit opposites, scarcity and dearth - crop up in a number of contexts such as sociological and economic theory, management consulting, consumer studies, and the politics of everyday life. Chapters range from studies of overload at home, at work or in the world of cyber information; strategies of coping with overflow in institutions such as news agencies; and historical comparisons. When, where, how and for whom is overflow a problem or a blessing?

Barbara Czarniawska is a distinguished scholar and author in the field of organization. Drawing on her extensive knowledge she has gathered together other leading experts to apply organization theory to yet another relevant field of practice - risk management.There are no prescriptions for organizing in the face of risk and threat, but the accumulating experience shows that a well-rehearsed improvisation brings much better results than planning and construction of formal organizations. This timely book contains cases of risk and threat where the former strategy succeeds and the latter fails. The wealth of cases presented includes the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola, bird flu, health insurance after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and the Tjorn bridge catastrophe in Sweden. Graduate and postgraduate students in business and management schools, as well as academics teaching courses in risk management across disciplines should not be without this book. Risk management specialists will also find this book invaluable.

Management Education and Humanities argues that management teachers and researchers seem to be increasingly dissatisfied with the way managers are usually educated in western countries. It claims that educational practices and methods would greatly benefit from reflection on the implicit assumptions and paradigms behind those practices, and debates the role that humanism and humanities might play in the formation of new managerial elites. The book examines three themes that have emerged as central to the contemporary debate on management education: the profession of management; humanism as a philosophy and worldview; and the humanities as an academic field where management schools could find new inspirations for curricula. All three themes are scrutinized in a frame of reference extended between two different points of view: the traditional view, with its tendency to idealize (and even sometimes romanticize) humanism, the humanities and management as a social function; and the 'past-modern' view, which is inclined to skepticism and to the deconstruction of social and cultural phenomena. Providing a lively account of this ongoing debate and exploring new trends and experiences in management education, this book will be invaluable reading for teachers, students and researchers of management, management strategy, and organizational behaviour.

What does a stockbroker in Istanbul navigating the rush of incoming trading figures have in common with a mother in Stockholm trying to organize a growing pile of baby clothes? They are both coping with excess or overflow. This book explores the ways in which institutions, corporations and individuals define and manage situations of 'too much' - too much information, too many choices, too many commodities or too many tasks. By analyzing a wide range of settings - from corporate firms and public administration to everyday domestic routines - the book offers an in-depth understanding of the complexities of overflow phenomena. It questions when, where and why overflow emerges and for whom this is a problem or a blessing. This broad introduction to a striking contemporary phenomenon will prove an enlightening read for a wide-ranging audience including academics and researchers in the disciplines of business and management, political science, economic history and sociology. Contributors: H. Brembeck, F. Cochoy, H. Corvellec, B. Czarniawska, M. Czubaj, P. Donatella, K.M. Ekstroem, S. Fellman, O. Loefgren, L. Noren, M. Pantzar, A. Popp, E. Raviola, R. Solli, E. Tarim, J. Wentzer, R. Willim

This comprehensive collection presents organization theory in its historical context. It includes an authoritative selection of seminal articles published since the 1960s, which exercise continuing influence on contemporary thinking about organizations. Volume one addresses classical themes, which predate and inform modern organization theory. The second volume examines current trends, and concludes with reflections on method and on theory writing. An excellent resource for those wishing to deepen their knowledge of organization theory. This collection will have particular appeal to people working in the fields of management studies, psychology, sociology, economics and political science.

Investigating the intricacy of the organization, this work argues that it is necessary to gather local information about organizational life and subject it to abstract and metaphorical interpretation. Using a narrative approach, the author employs literary devices to uncover the workings of organizations. She applys cultural metaphors to public administration in Sweden to demonstrate, for example, how the dynamics of a screenplay can illuminate the budget disputes of an organization. She shows how the interpretive description of organizational worlds works as a distinct genre of social analysis, and her study discloses the paradoxical nature of organizational life: we follow routine in order to change, and decentralize in order to control.

This clear, straightforward textbook embraces the practical reality of actually doing fieldwork. It tackles the common problems faced by new researchers head on, offering sensible advice and instructive case studies from the author's own experience.

Barbara Czarniawska takes us on a master class through the research process, encouraging us to revisit the various facets of the fieldwork research and helping us to reframe our own experiences. Combining a conversational style of writing with an impressive range of empirical examples she takes the reader from planning and designing research to collecting and analyzing data all the way to writing up and disseminating findings.

This is a sophisticated introduction to a broad range of research methods and methodologies; it will be of great interest to anyone keen to revisit social research in the company of an expert guide.

This transdisciplinary volume investigates the ways in which people and organisations deal with the overflow of information, goods or choices. It explores two main themes: the emergence of overflows and the management of overflows, in the sense of either controlling or coping with them. Individual chapters show the management of overflows taking place in various social settings, periods and political contexts. This includes attempts by states to manage future consumption overflow in post-war Easter European, contemporary economies of sharing, managing overflow in health care administration, overflow problems in mass travel and migration, overflow in digital services and the overflow that scholars face in dealing with an abundance of publications. An electronic version of this book is available under a creative commons licence: manchesteropenhive.com/view/9789198469813/9789198469813.xml -- .

This collection of field studies offers novel insights into the issues of migration and integration of immigrants. The focus of the chapters is on actions, processes, and complexity of organising practices, in contrast to more policy-oriented works. The contributors address vital questions: How is the labour market integration of refugees and other immigrants being organised in practice? What ideas of integration give rise to, and are promoted by contemporary integration initiatives? And what are the effects of these integration initiatives – on immigrants’ lives, and on their labour market integration in terms of diversity, gender, and power relations?  With contributions highlighting the importance of coordination and collaboration for the successful organising of integration, this book should be of interest to researchers and advanced students from the fields of management and organisation studies, public administration and management, migration and integration studies, sociology, cultural studies and science and technology studies. It should also interest professionals and policymakers working with integration who face the challenges described here in their daily work.