Bringing Morality Back in

This article sets out to explore the extent to which the moral dimension is an essential component in organizational life. From a theoretical viewpoint, it argues that institutional theory lacks a positive account of the role of morality at the organizational level. We propose that this can be addressed by integrating the work of the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre with institutional theory’s notions of logics, contradictions, and legitimacy. Empirically, we look to a group of Christian churches in the northeast of England to provide insights into practitioners’ concerns with the telos of their organizations and the core practices of their faith, and hence of an essential concern for the morality of organizational life. We conclude that any understanding of practice-based organizations that ignores or underplays the moral dimension will give, at best, a diminished account of organizational life, and hence that institutional theory needs to rethink its neglect of morality.

Voiced inner dialogue as relational reflection-on-action: The case of middle managers in health care

We look to the experiences of middle managers in a health-care setting to empirically develop and explore the concept of voiced inner dialogue. Voiced inner dialogue is conceptualised as a form of reflection-on-action whereby fragments of narrative self-reflection reveal an organisation’s unspoken backdrop conversation or interpersonal mush. The normalised intensity that characterises many health-care settings, an artefact of increased governmentality and responsibilisation, leaves middle managers experiencing increased work and personal pressures. The interpersonal mush in this context is centred upon individuals’ felt disconnect between espoused and enacted organisational values. Voiced inner dialogue was triggered in dialogic conversation with the researchers, a type of participant-focused reflexivity. From our qualitative analysis, we present three themes to illuminate how organisational context can inform the creation and maintenance of interpersonal mush, impeding managers’ reflection. Voiced inner dialogue offers an opportunity for managers stuck in the silence of interpersonal mush to engage in reflection-on-action. We conclude with the implications for reflection, reflexivity and management learning.

What we can learn from de-valued and marginalised work/research

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how QROM has become an outlet that gives voice to de-valued and marginalised work/research and those who undertake it. The authors present an overview of the research published in the journal over the past ten years that has provided rich accounts of hidden and marginalised groups and experiences. The authors also summarise the unique contributions of the research covered in the special issue the authors co-edited on doing dirty research using qualitative methodologies: lesson from stigmatized occupations (volume 9, issue 3).

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors adopt a literature review approach identifying key pieces covered in QROM that surface various forms of qualitative methods employed to illuminate the everyday practices of “Other” occupations, individuals and groups; experiences situated outside of the mainstream and often hidden, devalued and stigmatised as a result.

Findings

– The authors conclude that the articles published in QROM have demonstrated that in-context understandings are critically important. Such studies offer insights that are both unique and transferable to other settings. A number of invisible or hidden issues come to light in studying marginalised work/ers such as: the hidden texts, ambiguities and ambivalence which mark the experiences of those marginalised; that stigmatised work/research is embodied, emotional and reflexive; and, that expectations of reciprocity and insider-outsider complexities make the research experience rich, but sometimes uncomfortable.

Originality/value

– The authors review the research published in QROM over the past ten years that contributes to understandings of work, research and experiences of those who are often de-valued, silenced and marginalised in mainstream business and management studies.

Value co-creation and stakeholder complexity: what strategy can learn from churches

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to extend understandings of the demand-side view of strategy and how organizations co-create value with stakeholders. Through an iterative process of theory development, data collection, data analysis and writing, the authors propose a value co-creation perspective that more fully takes into account stakeholder complexity.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical data derives from a wider exploratory study on value creation and competitive advantage in Christian churches in Canada. Here the authors explore one case study from that wider study and analyze interviews with church members and leaders.

Findings

– The authors discuss two mutually constitutive processes of value co-creation, building a culture of community and enacting relational and shared leadership.

Research limitations/implications

– The authors propose a stakeholder-complex understanding of value creation where stakeholders can enact multiple roles, often simultaneously, in co-creation and where products/services are consumed for their symbolic, rather than material value. Further, co-creation may involve ongoing interactions and value creation can occur in non-monetary transactions.

Originality/value

– The authors offer, through an empirical exploration of a religious organization, an illustrative account of how value co-creation might be tied to stakeholder complexity. This study stretches the boundaries of mainstream strategy research by challenging two fundamental assumptions: that stakeholder roles must be distinct and that “value” must be clearly defined and explicitly linked to exchange value.

Occupational image, organizational image and identity in dirty work: Intersections of organizational efforts and media accounts

This article proposes that media representations of an occupational category may intersect with organizations’ efforts to construct a positive organizational identity and image. We fuse three streams of literature namely, organizational identity and image, media and the social construction of reality, and dirty work to extend extant literature on organizational identity and image. Attention is drawn to occupational image as the position of an occupational category in society. We contend that occupational image is likely to influence the decisions and actions taken by organizations and its members, in particular when the occupation is central to the organization’s mission. Occupational image is partly informed by the media. We analyse one year of media coverage of a dirty work occupation, specifically exotic dancing, and identify various ways in which the media portrays the exotic dancing occupation and the organizations providing these services. We focus upon two of these categories, namely Public (dis) Order and Art and Entertainment. We also draw upon a variety of data from one organization, For Your Eyes Only, to explore how organizational efforts to construct a positive organizational identity (based upon professionalism and legitimacy) and image (based upon fantasy, exclusivity and high quality service) intersect these media representations.

Mobilizing change in a business school using appreciative inquiry

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how appreciative inquiry (AI) as a pedagogical tool can be generative in nature creating opportunities for development and change in a business school context.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative approach this research involved data collection and analysis in three stages of AI with a group of undergraduate students enrolled in strategic management and organizational change courses. Initial data collection occurred over a three‐hour period with a larger group of students, followed by two sessions with a smaller group of organizational change students.

Findings

The experiential nature of the AI process was a success in promoting inquiry and dialogue, encouraging collaboration and team building, and empowering individuals toward a collection vision. Through an iterative process, four possibility statements were developed including: meaningful relationships with professors and peers; leadership opportunities; experiential learning; and creativity and flexibility in program design. These statements serve as a starting point for future planning to the business school under study.

Practical implications

The process offered a number of insights for both faculty and students regarding the symbiotic relationships between learning and change as fundamental to moving a business school from a place of learning to a learning organization. The inquiry process of AI opens the system up to learning about itself as a prelude to change. By intentionally ignoring the traditional deficit approach to change, AI encourages the system to seek its point of light, its achievements, and in so doing, inhibits the dissipative nature of problem‐centred methodologies.

Originality/value

The use of AI in this context demonstrates the potential for AI as a pedagogical tool, as well as the usefulness of AI as a bridge to creating partnerships with multiple stakeholders in developing business schools into learning organizations.