How is practical change work carried out in modern organizations? And what kind of challenges, tasks and other difficulties are normally encountered as a part of it? In a turbulent and changing world, organizational culture is often seen as central for sustained competitiveness. Organizations are faced with increased demands for change but these are often so challenging that they meet heavy resistance and fizzle out. Changing Organizational Culture encourages the development of a reflexive approach to organizational change, providing insights as to why it may be difficult to maintain momentum in change processes. Based around an illuminating case study of a cultural change programme, the book provides 15 lessons on the entire change journey; from analysis and design, to implementation and how organizational members should approach change projects. This enhanced edition considers the most recent studies on organizational change practice, with new examples from businesses and the public sector, and includes one empirical study which uses the authors' own framework, enriching their practical recommendations. It also draws on the latest theoretical developments, including ideas of power and storytelling. Accompanying the text is an online pedagogic and research ideas guide available for course instructors and lecturers at Routledge.com. Changing Organizational Culture will be vital reading for students, researchers and practitioners working in organizational studies, change management and HRM.

This book argues that we are currently witnessing not merely a decline in the quality of social science research, but the proliferation of meaningless research, of no value to society, and modest value to its authors - apart from securing employment and promotion. The explosion of published outputs, at least in social science, creates a noisy, cluttered environment which makes meaningful research difficult, as different voices compete to capture the limelight even briefly. Older, more significant contributions are easily neglected, as the premium is to write and publish, not read and learn. The result is a widespread cynicism among academics on the value of academic research, sometimes including their own. Publishing comes to be seen as a game of hits and misses, devoid of intrinsic meaning and value, and of no wider social uses whatsoever. Academics do research in order to get published, not to say something socially meaningful. This is what we view as the rise of nonsense in academic research, which represents a serious social problem. It undermines the very point of social science. This problem is far from 'academic'. It affects many areas of social and political life entailing extensive waste of resources and inflated student fees as well as costs to tax-payers. Part two of the book offers a range of proposals aimed at restoring meaning at the heart of social research and drawing social science back address the major problems and issues that face our societies.

This authoritative title presents seminal papers from leading academics on the evolving field of management studies. It encompasses sections on organization theory, organizational culture and behaviour as well as management specialisms. Professor Alvesson has selected key papers to reflect the scholarly debates and pivotal arguments surrounding the development of this field of study.

We live in a leadership-obsessed society. The result is that we assume nearly any social or economic ill can be mended through better leadership. Sometimes, this commitment to leadership is followed by hero worshipping, wishful thinking and misplaced hope.

Seeking to understand the faith we place in leadership, the authors draw on a number of in-depth studies of managers trying to "do" leadership. It presents six metaphors for the leader: as gardener, cosy-crafter, saint, cyborg, commander and bully. Some of these offer unexpected insights into how leadership does and does not work. The book sheds light on a varied - often contradictory and sometimes darker - side of leadership.

Cutting through the management-speak drenched current literature on leadership, Metaphors We Lead By presents an enlightening and refreshing understanding of an important topic. It will be useful reading for students and researchers, as well as the thinking manager.

We live in a leadership-obsessed society. The result is that we assume nearly any social or economic ill can be mended through better leadership. Sometimes, this commitment to leadership is followed by hero worshipping, wishful thinking and misplaced hope.

Seeking to understand the faith we place in leadership, the authors draw on a number of in-depth studies of managers trying to "do" leadership. It presents six metaphors for the leader: as gardener, cosy-crafter, saint, cyborg, commander and bully. Some of these offer unexpected insights into how leadership does and does not work. The book sheds light on a varied - often contradictory and sometimes darker - side of leadership.

Cutting through the management-speak drenched current literature on leadership, Metaphors We Lead By presents an enlightening and refreshing understanding of an important topic. It will be useful reading for students and researchers, as well as the thinking manager.

The book addresses the concept of knowledge in a work and organizational context, professional or knowledge work, and knowledge-intensive firms. It provides a critical, moderate social constructivist understanding of these themes and the current interest in knowledge management, organization and the "knowledge economy". Professional service as well as science and high-tech work and firms are treated, reporting case studies of IT and management consultancy firms, advertising agencies and life science based companies. The concepts of knowledge and knowledge management are discussed and dominant functionalist thinking debunked. The ambiguity of knowledge in the input, process and output of professional work is emphasized. It is suggested that we should be careful in assuming too much about the nature, role and effects of "knowledge" in business life and instead take the constructed nature of knowledge seriously and scrutinize knowledge claims. Knowledge talk and claims may frequently be key elements in marketing and identity work as much as they inform us about key activities of professionals and knowledge-intensive firms. The book covers a fairly broad set of management, organization and working life aspects are addressed, including HRM themes and different forms of control including client control and regulation of identity. From a perspective emphasizing the ambiguity of social and business life, rhetoric, symbolism, image, politics of knowledge claims, identity and identity work are viewed as crucial for the understanding and management of professional/knowledge work and organizations. The book is provocative and challenges key assumptions in dominant knowledge and organization thinking, suggesting a novel theoretical approach. The book is intended for third year level undergraduates upwards, and aims to say things also of relevance for scholars. It mixes textbook and research ambitions. As a (moderately) constructivist text with a relatively broad focus, the book may have some potential as a text complementing more conventional textbooks also in general organization and management courses.

This book offers a unique solution to the shortage of more imaginative and engaging research by re-imagining the core elements of the research process. In contrast to existing methods, which mainly focus on standard ingredients in the research process, the metaphorical approach taken here offers a more varied and comprehensive platform for producing novel, influential and relevant research. The set of guiding principles suggested in the book provides researchers with the resources to break away from existing conventions and templates for conducting and writing research. Re-imagining the Research Process: Conventional and Alternative Metaphors is suitable for upper-undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers interested in challenging traditional views of the research process. Mats Alvesson holds a chair in the Business Administration department at Lund University in Sweden and is also a part-time professor at University of Queensland Business School, Australia and at Cass Business School, UK. Jorgen Sandberg is Professor at UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Australia, and Distinguished Research Environment Professor in Organization Studies at the Warwick Business School, UK.

Through the use of eight original metaphors for understanding what may happen in interviews and what may guide the interviewee (more than telling the truth or revealing experiences), the reader is encouraged to do interviews in clever ways. This text enables you to question the interpretive nature and theoretical underpinnings of the interview method, and of the knowledge which is conveyed through it. The updated second edition includes new content on: • How to avoid traps in interviews  • How to use interviewees with experience and insight  • How to work creatively with generative material • The value of repeat interviewing over time  • The importance of supplementing interviews with other methods • Possibilities of interview-based research accompanied by examples This text is essential reading for upper undergraduate and postgraduate students of qualitative methods, and researchers looking to more clearly conceptualize their interviewing practice and explore its theoretical basis. Mats Alvesson is professor at University of Bath and is also affiliated with Lund University, Stockholm School of Economics and Bayes Business School.

Functional stupidity can be catastrophic. It can cause organisational collapse, financial meltdown and technical disaster. And there are countless, more everyday examples of organisations accepting the dubious, the absurd and the downright idiotic, from unsustainable management fads to the cult of leadership or an over-reliance on brand and image. And yet a dose of stupidity can be useful and produce good, short-term results: it can nurture harmony, encourage people to get on with the job and drive success. This is the stupidity paradox. The Stupidity Paradox tackles head-on the pros and cons of functional stupidity. You'll discover what makes a workplace mindless, why being stupid might be a good thing in the short term but a disaster in the longer term, and how to make your workplace a little less stupid by challenging thoughtless conformity. It shows how harmony and action in the workplace can be balanced with a culture of questioning and challenge. The book is a wake-up call for smart organisations and smarter people. It encourages us to use our intelligence fully for the sake of personal satisfaction, organisational success and the flourishing of society as a whole.

Organizations are often complex and unwieldy, and many managers have difficulty in combining ideals and positive identities with the complexities and imperfections of life. They are expected to be strategic and competent, while at the same time human and empathetic. This engaging book takes a fresh look at managerial work as experienced and understood by managers. It examines the central tenets of managerial life, such as the work expectations that managers have, the significance they assign to different activities, and the difficulties that they face. It also takes a wider view of working life by looking at subordination in the managerial context. The theoretical material is supported by in-depth interviews with thirteen managers from different organizations. This book will appeal to those with an interest in management, and in leadership and identity questions in modern working life.

How is practical change work carried out in modern organizations? And what kind of challenges, tasks and other difficulties are normally encountered as a part of it? In a turbulent and changing world, organizational culture is often seen as central for sustained competitiveness. Organizations are faced with increased demands for change but these are often so challenging that they meet heavy resistance and fizzle out. Changing Organizational Culture encourages the development of a reflexive approach to organizational change, providing insights as to why it may be difficult to maintain momentum in change processes. Based around an illuminating case study of a cultural change programme, the book provides 15 lessons on the entire change journey; from analysis and design, to implementation and how organizational members should approach change projects. This enhanced edition considers the most recent studies on organizational change practice, with new examples from businesses and the public sector, and includes one empirical study which uses the authors' own framework, enriching their practical recommendations. It also draws on the latest theoretical developments, including ideas of power and storytelling. Accompanying the text is an online pedagogic and research ideas guide available for course instructors and lecturers at Routledge.com. Changing Organizational Culture will be vital reading for students, researchers and practitioners working in organizational studies, change management and HRM.

Through the use of eight original metaphors for understanding what may happen in interviews and what may guide the interviewee (more than telling the truth or revealing experiences), the reader is encouraged to do interviews in clever ways. This text enables you to question the interpretive nature and theoretical underpinnings of the interview method, and of the knowledge which is conveyed through it. The updated second edition includes new content on: • How to avoid traps in interviews  • How to use interviewees with experience and insight  • How to work creatively with generative material • The value of repeat interviewing over time  • The importance of supplementing interviews with other methods • Possibilities of interview-based research accompanied by examples This text is essential reading for upper undergraduate and postgraduate students of qualitative methods, and researchers looking to more clearly conceptualize their interviewing practice and explore its theoretical basis. Mats Alvesson is professor at University of Bath and is also affiliated with Lund University, Stockholm School of Economics and Bayes Business School.

This title builds on the success of Doing Critical Management Research which has proven to be a seminal text in the 20 years since publication. In 2020, Alvesson and Deetz have broadened their focus and updated the original book to offer relevance to critical research across all of the social sciences. In reflecting contemporary theoretical and methodological turns over the past few decades, it includes coverage of key contemporary topics such as race, gender, postmodernism and intersectionality. With examples throughout, the authors provide an authoritative and insightful framework for navigating critical theories and methods and sets out a new agenda for critical research undertaken today.

This title builds on the success of Doing Critical Management Research which has proven to be a seminal text in the 20 years since publication. In 2020, Alvesson and Deetz have broadened their focus and updated the original book to offer relevance to critical research across all of the social sciences. In reflecting contemporary theoretical and methodological turns over the past few decades, it includes coverage of key contemporary topics such as race, gender, postmodernism and intersectionality. With examples throughout, the authors provide an authoritative and insightful framework for navigating critical theories and methods and sets out a new agenda for critical research undertaken today.

This book offers a unique solution to the shortage of more imaginative and engaging research by re-imagining the core elements of the research process. In contrast to existing methods, which mainly focus on standard ingredients in the research process, the metaphorical approach taken here offers a more varied and comprehensive platform for producing novel, influential and relevant research. The set of guiding principles suggested in the book provides researchers with the resources to break away from existing conventions and templates for conducting and writing research. Re-imagining the Research Process: Conventional and Alternative Metaphors is suitable for upper-undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers interested in challenging traditional views of the research process. Mats Alvesson holds a chair in the Business Administration department at Lund University in Sweden and is also a part-time professor at University of Queensland Business School, Australia and at Cass Business School, UK. Jorgen Sandberg is Professor at UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Australia, and Distinguished Research Environment Professor in Organization Studies at the Warwick Business School, UK.

In today's world, considerable time and effort is devoted to appearance, both for individuals and organizations; the right look, an impressive title, a favourable connection. The focus is on the surface, with considerations of substance often overlooked. In this book, Mats Alvesson demystifies some popular and upbeat claims about a range of phenomena, including the knowledge society, consumption, branding, higher education, organizational change, professionalization, and leadership. He contends that a culture of 'grandiosity' is leading to numerous inflated claims. We no longer talk about plans but 'strategies'. Supervisors have been replaced by 'managers', and managers are referred to as 'executives'. Management itself is about 'leadership'. Giving advice is 'coaching'. Companies become 'knowledge-intensive firms'. This book views the contemporary economy as an economy of persuasion, where firms and other institutions increasingly assign talent, energy, and resources to rhetoric, image, branding, reputation, and visibility. This second edition uses a wide range of empirical examples to illuminate the realms of consumption, higher education, organization, and leadership in the 21st century. Exploring new areas such as strategic management in higher education, title inflation, and the increasing imbalance between knowledge, manual, and care work, this provocative and engaging book challenges established assumptions and contributes to a critical understanding of society as a whole.

With his usual engaging and inimitable style, Mats Alvesson takes the reader on a riveting journey through the diverse ways in which culture itself can be understood and how these powerfully inform organizational life.' - Blake E. Ashforth, Arizona State University 'Understanding Organizational Culture comunicates complex ideas in a manner that will illuminate for those who are less familiar with the concepts discussed, as well as providing a depth and critique of interest to those familiar with the topics.' - Claire Valentin, The University of Edinburgh Unlike prescriptive books about organizations, Understanding Organizational Culture challenges and provokes the reader to think critically. It provides an insight into organizational culture, aided by numerous empirical illustrations from ethnographic studies that develop and illustrate how cultural thinking can be used in managerial and non-managerial organizational theory and practice. Mats Alvesson answers questions of definition, explores alternative perspectives and exands on substantive issues, before discussing key issues of research and developing his framework. Further more, the advances in the field of organizational culture are synthesized for the reader by drawing upon the range of relevant literature within organization studies. Understanding Organizational Culture provides great breadth within a textbook approach - covering a wide spectrum of management and organization while at the same time developing a new theoretical approach to organizational culture. The new edition contains improved pedagogy and expanded coverage of topics such as identity and organizational change. It is essential reading for students taking undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Organizational Behaviour and Organizational Theory on Management and Organization Studies programmes, including MBA.

In this book, Mats Alvesson aims to demystify some popular and upbeat claims about a range of phenomena, including the knowledge society, consumption, branding, higher education, organizational change, professionalization, and leadership. He contends that a culture of grandiosity is leading to numerous inflated claims. We no longer talk about plans but strategies. Supervisors have been replaced by managers. Goods have become brands. Wealthy countries try to show that they are knowledge societies through mass higher education but with limited effect on real qualifications or qualified job opportunities for graduates. The book views the contemporary economy as an economy of persuasion, where firms and other institutions increasingly assign talent, energy, and resources to rhetoric, image, branding, reputation, and visibility. Using a wide range of empirical examples to illuminate the realms of consumption, higher education, organization, and leadership, this provocative and engaging book challenges established assumptions and contributes to a critical understanding of society as a whole.

Empirical data is one of the cornerstones of knowledge in the social sciences. And yet, the researcher often takes it for granted, reserving his or her imaginative faculties for finding a theory that fits the data. This revealing account of the theory-data relationship calls this faith in data into question and establishes a reflexive framework and vocabulary to explore the creative, political and philosophical elements of data production.

Rather than thinking about the theory-data 'fit', Alvesson and Karreman will encourage you to consider the research process as one of theory-data interplay, asking if creative empirical material can challenge established theory and inspire new lines of development, and if breakdowns and mysteries encountered in research can be a constructive rather than destructive process.

They will encourage you to think critically about empirical data in terms of construction rather than verification, and most importantly they will encourage you to develop theory that is interesting and novel, rather than naive or irrelevant, making this title essential reading for those who often find the traditional vocabulary and frameworks of social science research obvious or simplistic.

Critical Management Studies (CMS) has emerged as a movement that questions the authority and relevance of mainstream thinking and practice. Critical of established social practices and institutional arrangements, it challenges prevailing systems of domination and promotes the development of alternatives to them.
CMS draws upon diverse critical traditions. Of particular importance for its initial articulation was the thinking of members of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. From these foundations, CMS has grown into a pluralistic and inclusive movement incorporating a diverse range of perspectives--ranging from labour process theory to radical feminism. In recent times, a set of ideas broadly labelled "poststructuralist" have been developed to complement and challenge the insights of Critical Theory, giving new impetus for scholars seeking to challenge the status quo and articulate a more inclusive and humane future for management practice.
The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies provides an overview of theoretical approaches, key topics, issues, and subject specialisms in management studies, as well as a set of reflections on the progress and prospects of CMS. Contributors are all specialists in the respective fields and share a concern to interrogate and challenge received wisdom about management theory and practice. Given the rapid growth of the CMS movement, its ever increasing theoretical and geographical diversity and its outreach into the public sphere, The Oxford Handbook of Critical Management Studies is a timely publication. In addition to UK contributors, where CMS has developed most rapidly, there is strong representation from North American contributors as well as from areas where CMS has taken hold more recently, such as Australasia.
About the Series
Oxford Handbooks in Business & Management bring together the world's leading scholars on the subject to discuss current research and the latest thinking in a range of interrelated topics including Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Public Management, International Business, and many others. Containing completely new essays with extensive referencing to further reading and key ideas, the volumes, in hardback or paperback, serve as both a thorough introduction to a topic and a useful desk reference for scholars and advanced students alike.