Andrew H. Van de Ven and Harry Sminia
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640997
- eISBN:
- 9780191738388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640997.003.0012
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This essay describes different kinds of research questions, process perspectives, and types of explanations to argue pragmatically that the quality and coherence of process research will be enhanced ...
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This essay describes different kinds of research questions, process perspectives, and types of explanations to argue pragmatically that the quality and coherence of process research will be enhanced when these ingredients of process research are aligned. A distinction is made between questions about process past (what has happened?), process present (what is going on?), process future (where are we going?), and process action (what should we do?); which are then associated respectively with the historical reconstruction, becoming/emergent, unfolding, and developing/control process perspectives. Each of these research questions requires a specific and distinct type of explanation, in terms of a unique sequence of events, a key event, a generalizable pattern of events, or a social mechanism. A hierarchy of logical relationships between questions and explanations is discussed, leading to implications for management research as well as management practice.Less
This essay describes different kinds of research questions, process perspectives, and types of explanations to argue pragmatically that the quality and coherence of process research will be enhanced when these ingredients of process research are aligned. A distinction is made between questions about process past (what has happened?), process present (what is going on?), process future (where are we going?), and process action (what should we do?); which are then associated respectively with the historical reconstruction, becoming/emergent, unfolding, and developing/control process perspectives. Each of these research questions requires a specific and distinct type of explanation, in terms of a unique sequence of events, a key event, a generalizable pattern of events, or a social mechanism. A hierarchy of logical relationships between questions and explanations is discussed, leading to implications for management research as well as management practice.
Terry McNulty and Ewan Ferlie
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199269075
- eISBN:
- 9780191699351
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269075.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Public Management, Organization Studies
Organizations are being urged to experiment with new structures and processes. A ‘process perspective’ on organizing is emerging as a major challenge to ‘functional’ principles of organizing ...
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Organizations are being urged to experiment with new structures and processes. A ‘process perspective’ on organizing is emerging as a major challenge to ‘functional’ principles of organizing established during the last century. Business process reengineering is one exemple of process thinking that has received great attention amongst organizational theorists and practitioners. This in-depth account of business process reengineering within a major NHS hospital is an important contribution to the very limited stock of empirical knowledge about new organizational forms, especially in the public sector. The book combines empirical data gathered through an intensive, comparative case study method with strategic choice and neo-institutional theories to analyse the changing context of public organizations, the importation of models of organizing from private to public organizations, and the dynamics of public sector transformation. The outcomes of the change programme add to our more general organizational knowledge about the impact of corporate change programmes, particularly in professionalized and public sector settings, impediments and enablers of lateral organizing structures and processes, and contradictions within the New Public Management between functional and process principles for organizing.Less
Organizations are being urged to experiment with new structures and processes. A ‘process perspective’ on organizing is emerging as a major challenge to ‘functional’ principles of organizing established during the last century. Business process reengineering is one exemple of process thinking that has received great attention amongst organizational theorists and practitioners. This in-depth account of business process reengineering within a major NHS hospital is an important contribution to the very limited stock of empirical knowledge about new organizational forms, especially in the public sector. The book combines empirical data gathered through an intensive, comparative case study method with strategic choice and neo-institutional theories to analyse the changing context of public organizations, the importation of models of organizing from private to public organizations, and the dynamics of public sector transformation. The outcomes of the change programme add to our more general organizational knowledge about the impact of corporate change programmes, particularly in professionalized and public sector settings, impediments and enablers of lateral organizing structures and processes, and contradictions within the New Public Management between functional and process principles for organizing.
Wolfgang Streeck
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199573981
- eISBN:
- 9780191702136
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573981.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, International Business
In the context of institutions, individual and collective action supposedly brought about intended or unintended change in institutions. Understanding such change then requires a thorough ...
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In the context of institutions, individual and collective action supposedly brought about intended or unintended change in institutions. Understanding such change then requires a thorough investigation of the relationship between social rules and social action, looking specifically into how human action becomes rule-making, rule-taking, and rule-breaking, or simply the implications of following a rule and how this affects the rule itself. However, the way that actors would respond to such social rules remain unpredictable, allowing for unanticipated consequences and other possible effects. This chapter attempts to explain the implications of social rules through the five sectors while showing how studying gradual change is essential in understanding the importance of time for social structures and how this may suggest a move from a system perspective to a process perspective.Less
In the context of institutions, individual and collective action supposedly brought about intended or unintended change in institutions. Understanding such change then requires a thorough investigation of the relationship between social rules and social action, looking specifically into how human action becomes rule-making, rule-taking, and rule-breaking, or simply the implications of following a rule and how this affects the rule itself. However, the way that actors would respond to such social rules remain unpredictable, allowing for unanticipated consequences and other possible effects. This chapter attempts to explain the implications of social rules through the five sectors while showing how studying gradual change is essential in understanding the importance of time for social structures and how this may suggest a move from a system perspective to a process perspective.
Mark T. Keane, Barry Smyth, and Joseph OʼSullivan
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198506287
- eISBN:
- 9780191686962
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198506287.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter aims to illustrate by example a perspective on similarity that has not received sufficient attention in the literature. For want of a better name, and one certainly exists somewhere, ...
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This chapter aims to illustrate by example a perspective on similarity that has not received sufficient attention in the literature. For want of a better name, and one certainly exists somewhere, this is called the dynamic similarity perspective. Traditionally, the computation of similarity has been treated as a process acting over parts of static representations; this view is as fundamental to traditional models as it is to more recent alignment models of similarity. In contrast, the dynamic similarity view proposes that the whole processing context — whether that context is a past, present, or prospective one — can contribute to the conceived similarity of things. To put it another way, it stresses a class of ‘processing-oriented’ respects for similarity that have not been given due recognition in the literature.Less
This chapter aims to illustrate by example a perspective on similarity that has not received sufficient attention in the literature. For want of a better name, and one certainly exists somewhere, this is called the dynamic similarity perspective. Traditionally, the computation of similarity has been treated as a process acting over parts of static representations; this view is as fundamental to traditional models as it is to more recent alignment models of similarity. In contrast, the dynamic similarity view proposes that the whole processing context — whether that context is a past, present, or prospective one — can contribute to the conceived similarity of things. To put it another way, it stresses a class of ‘processing-oriented’ respects for similarity that have not been given due recognition in the literature.
Jörgen Sandberg, Bernadette Loacker, and Mats Alvesson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198728313
- eISBN:
- 9780191795275
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728313.003.0012
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
Despite the increased use of process perspectives in management and organization studies, what “process” stands for remains highly ambiguous. This chapter develops a typology of the different ...
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Despite the increased use of process perspectives in management and organization studies, what “process” stands for remains highly ambiguous. This chapter develops a typology of the different meanings of the term process using the area of identity studies as the empirical context. In contrast to the “weak” and “strong” views of process within management and organization studies, the typology shows that there exists a continuum of process perspectives in between the “weak”/“strong” views, namely from process as (1) a transition state, (2) sliding, (3) narrative co-production, and (4) an ongoing accomplishment, to regarding process as (5) all-there-is. Several constitutive features of process that have not been previously illuminated are identified, including: ontology, time, space, and agency. Finally, the chapter discusses how the identified process views and their constitutive features can advance not only process research within the area of identity studies but also within management and organization studies more broadly.Less
Despite the increased use of process perspectives in management and organization studies, what “process” stands for remains highly ambiguous. This chapter develops a typology of the different meanings of the term process using the area of identity studies as the empirical context. In contrast to the “weak” and “strong” views of process within management and organization studies, the typology shows that there exists a continuum of process perspectives in between the “weak”/“strong” views, namely from process as (1) a transition state, (2) sliding, (3) narrative co-production, and (4) an ongoing accomplishment, to regarding process as (5) all-there-is. Several constitutive features of process that have not been previously illuminated are identified, including: ontology, time, space, and agency. Finally, the chapter discusses how the identified process views and their constitutive features can advance not only process research within the area of identity studies but also within management and organization studies more broadly.
Trish Reay, Tammar B. Zilber, Ann Langley, and Haridimos Tsoukas (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198843818
- eISBN:
- 9780191879517
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198843818.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
Institutions—the structures, practices, and meanings that define what people and organizations think, do, and aspire to—are created through process. They are “work in progress” that involves ...
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Institutions—the structures, practices, and meanings that define what people and organizations think, do, and aspire to—are created through process. They are “work in progress” that involves continual efforts to maintain, modify, or disturb them. Institutional logics are also in motion, holding varying degrees of dominance that change over time. This volume brings together two streams of thought within organization theory—institutional theory and process perspective—to advocate for stronger process ontology that highlights institutions as emergent, generative, political, and social. A stronger process view allows us to challenge our understanding of central concepts within institutional theory, such as “loose coupling,” “institutional work,” the work of institutional logics on the ground, and institutionalization between diffusion and translation. Enriched with an emphasis on practice and widened by taking a broad view of institutions, this volume draws on the Ninth International Symposium on Process Organization Studies to offer key insights that will inform our thinking of institutions as processes.Less
Institutions—the structures, practices, and meanings that define what people and organizations think, do, and aspire to—are created through process. They are “work in progress” that involves continual efforts to maintain, modify, or disturb them. Institutional logics are also in motion, holding varying degrees of dominance that change over time. This volume brings together two streams of thought within organization theory—institutional theory and process perspective—to advocate for stronger process ontology that highlights institutions as emergent, generative, political, and social. A stronger process view allows us to challenge our understanding of central concepts within institutional theory, such as “loose coupling,” “institutional work,” the work of institutional logics on the ground, and institutionalization between diffusion and translation. Enriched with an emphasis on practice and widened by taking a broad view of institutions, this volume draws on the Ninth International Symposium on Process Organization Studies to offer key insights that will inform our thinking of institutions as processes.
Philippe Lorino
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198753216
- eISBN:
- 9780191814860
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198753216.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
Mainstream organization studies have long conceptualized organizations as structures imposing order on individual and collective practices. Many organization scholars see organizing as an ongoing ...
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Mainstream organization studies have long conceptualized organizations as structures imposing order on individual and collective practices. Many organization scholars see organizing as an ongoing process, given the ceaseless adaptative experience of organizations. After an account of the “process turn” in organization studies, this chapter identifies six key questions about the characteristics of organizing processes and analyzes the process orientation of pragmatism and the specific contribution of the main pragmatist thinkers to process thought. It clarifies the pragmatist responses to the six key issues: (1) Organizing is an intrinsic dimension of ordinary activity rather than a specific process reflexively examining activity; (2) organizing is a relational/trans-actional rather than (inter-)subjective process; (3) organizing is a teleological rather than self-contained and autopoietic process; (4) organizing operates segmentation and unification, spatializing and temporalizing at the same time; (5) organizing is both experience-based and creative, it entangles cognition and intuition; (6) organizing is ediated by signs.Less
Mainstream organization studies have long conceptualized organizations as structures imposing order on individual and collective practices. Many organization scholars see organizing as an ongoing process, given the ceaseless adaptative experience of organizations. After an account of the “process turn” in organization studies, this chapter identifies six key questions about the characteristics of organizing processes and analyzes the process orientation of pragmatism and the specific contribution of the main pragmatist thinkers to process thought. It clarifies the pragmatist responses to the six key issues: (1) Organizing is an intrinsic dimension of ordinary activity rather than a specific process reflexively examining activity; (2) organizing is a relational/trans-actional rather than (inter-)subjective process; (3) organizing is a teleological rather than self-contained and autopoietic process; (4) organizing operates segmentation and unification, spatializing and temporalizing at the same time; (5) organizing is both experience-based and creative, it entangles cognition and intuition; (6) organizing is ediated by signs.
Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Claus Rerup, Ann Langley, and Haridimos Tsoukas
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198759485
- eISBN:
- 9780191818882
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198759485.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
Over the past fifteen years, organizational routines increasingly have been investigated from a process perspective to challenge the idea that routines are stable entities that are mindlessly ...
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Over the past fifteen years, organizational routines increasingly have been investigated from a process perspective to challenge the idea that routines are stable entities that are mindlessly enacted. This chapter summarizes what constitutes a process perspective on organizational routines, and document some of the major areas of recent inquiry, including change in routines, the role of artifacts in routine performances, and emergence of routines. Three other themes emerge from the various chapters that constitute this volume: (1) zooming out to understand routines in larger contexts; (2) zooming in to reveal actor dispositions and skill; and (3) innovation, creativity, and routines in ambiguous contexts. The chapters also inspire future research that can extend a process perspective on routines by further zooming out and in, and by potentially using this metaphor to connect distinct findings by scholars studying routines from different perspectives.Less
Over the past fifteen years, organizational routines increasingly have been investigated from a process perspective to challenge the idea that routines are stable entities that are mindlessly enacted. This chapter summarizes what constitutes a process perspective on organizational routines, and document some of the major areas of recent inquiry, including change in routines, the role of artifacts in routine performances, and emergence of routines. Three other themes emerge from the various chapters that constitute this volume: (1) zooming out to understand routines in larger contexts; (2) zooming in to reveal actor dispositions and skill; and (3) innovation, creativity, and routines in ambiguous contexts. The chapters also inspire future research that can extend a process perspective on routines by further zooming out and in, and by potentially using this metaphor to connect distinct findings by scholars studying routines from different perspectives.
Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Claus Rerup, Ann Langly, and Haridimos Tsoukas (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198759485
- eISBN:
- 9780191818882
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198759485.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
Over the past fifteen years, organizational routines increasingly have been investigated from a process perspective to challenge the idea that routines are stable entities that are mindlessly ...
More
Over the past fifteen years, organizational routines increasingly have been investigated from a process perspective to challenge the idea that routines are stable entities that are mindlessly enacted. We summarize in this chapter what constitutes a process perspective on organizational routines, and document some of the major areas of recent inquiry, including change in routines, the role of artifacts in routine performances, and emergence of routines. Three other themes emerge from the various chapters that constitute this volume: (1) Zooming out to understand routines in larger contexts; (2) Zooming in to reveal actor dispositions and skill; and (3) Innovation, creativity, and routines in ambiguous contexts. The chapters also inspire future research that can extend a process perspective on routines by further zooming out and in, and by potentially using this metaphor to connect distinct findings by scholars studying routines from different perspectives.Less
Over the past fifteen years, organizational routines increasingly have been investigated from a process perspective to challenge the idea that routines are stable entities that are mindlessly enacted. We summarize in this chapter what constitutes a process perspective on organizational routines, and document some of the major areas of recent inquiry, including change in routines, the role of artifacts in routine performances, and emergence of routines. Three other themes emerge from the various chapters that constitute this volume: (1) Zooming out to understand routines in larger contexts; (2) Zooming in to reveal actor dispositions and skill; and (3) Innovation, creativity, and routines in ambiguous contexts. The chapters also inspire future research that can extend a process perspective on routines by further zooming out and in, and by potentially using this metaphor to connect distinct findings by scholars studying routines from different perspectives.
Philippe Lorino
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198753216
- eISBN:
- 9780191814860
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198753216.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
The development of pragmatist thought (Peirce, James, Dewey, and Mead) in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States deeply impacted political science, semiotics, philosophy, ...
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The development of pragmatist thought (Peirce, James, Dewey, and Mead) in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States deeply impacted political science, semiotics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, education, law. Later intellectual trends (analytical philosophy, structuralism, cognitivism) focusing on rational representations or archetypical models somehow sidelined Pragmatism for three decades. In the world of organizations, they often conveyed the Cartesian dream of rational control, which became the mainstream view in management and organization research. In response to the growing uncertainty and complexity of situations, social sciences have experienced a “pragmatist turn.” Many streams of organization research have criticized the view of organizations as information-processing structures, controlled through rational representations. They share some key theoretical principles: the processual view of organizing as “becoming”; the emphasis on the key role of action; the agential power of objects; the exploratory and inquiring nature of organizing. These are precisely the key theses of pragmatists, who formulated a radical critique of the dualisms which hinder organization studies (thought/action, decision/execution, reality/representation, individual/collective, micro/macro) and developed key concepts applicable to organization studies (inquiry, semiotic mediation, habit, abduction, trans-action, valuation). This book aims to make the pragmatist intellectual framework more accessible to organization and management scholars. It presents some fundamental pragmatist concepts, and their potential application to the study of organizations, drawing conclusions concerning managerial practices, in particular the critique of the Taylorian tradition and the promotion of continuous improvement. To enhance accessibility, each theme is illustrated by real cases experienced by the author.Less
The development of pragmatist thought (Peirce, James, Dewey, and Mead) in the first half of the twentieth century in the United States deeply impacted political science, semiotics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, education, law. Later intellectual trends (analytical philosophy, structuralism, cognitivism) focusing on rational representations or archetypical models somehow sidelined Pragmatism for three decades. In the world of organizations, they often conveyed the Cartesian dream of rational control, which became the mainstream view in management and organization research. In response to the growing uncertainty and complexity of situations, social sciences have experienced a “pragmatist turn.” Many streams of organization research have criticized the view of organizations as information-processing structures, controlled through rational representations. They share some key theoretical principles: the processual view of organizing as “becoming”; the emphasis on the key role of action; the agential power of objects; the exploratory and inquiring nature of organizing. These are precisely the key theses of pragmatists, who formulated a radical critique of the dualisms which hinder organization studies (thought/action, decision/execution, reality/representation, individual/collective, micro/macro) and developed key concepts applicable to organization studies (inquiry, semiotic mediation, habit, abduction, trans-action, valuation). This book aims to make the pragmatist intellectual framework more accessible to organization and management scholars. It presents some fundamental pragmatist concepts, and their potential application to the study of organizations, drawing conclusions concerning managerial practices, in particular the critique of the Taylorian tradition and the promotion of continuous improvement. To enhance accessibility, each theme is illustrated by real cases experienced by the author.
Raghu Garud, Barbara Simpson, Ann Langley, and Haridimos Tsoukas (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198728313
- eISBN:
- 9780191795275
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198728313.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing ...
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With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing increasing attention on the constitutive role of language and communication in organizational processes. This view conceptualizes language and communication as bringing organization into being, and is therefore inherently sympathetic to a process perspective. However, our understanding of the role of language in organizational processes and organizational action is still limited, partly due to the tendency in discourse analysis to focus on language alone, without explicit linkages to organizational practices, activities, and actions. Moreover, analyses elucidating the agency and power of discourses in specific organizational contexts have been scarce. Thus, there is a paucity of knowledge of the ways in which language and communication operate in organizational activity. This fourth volume focuses on language and communication at work, and examine language and communication as an inherent part of ongoing organizational processes. The chapters explore the question of language and communication as constitutive of work; analyze how language and communication work in the context of organizing and managing; and examine the role of language and communication as part of strategic and institutional work in and around organizational phenomena. More generally, the chapters concentrate on one or several aspects of organizing by showing how communication, discourse, and narrativity are constitutive of what is taking place. These analyses focus on micro-level instances of communication or discourse, or more macro-level processes of organizing or change.Less
With the growing influence of discursive perspectives and of research on organizational discourse, business discourse, and narrative perspectives on organizing, organizational scholars are focusing increasing attention on the constitutive role of language and communication in organizational processes. This view conceptualizes language and communication as bringing organization into being, and is therefore inherently sympathetic to a process perspective. However, our understanding of the role of language in organizational processes and organizational action is still limited, partly due to the tendency in discourse analysis to focus on language alone, without explicit linkages to organizational practices, activities, and actions. Moreover, analyses elucidating the agency and power of discourses in specific organizational contexts have been scarce. Thus, there is a paucity of knowledge of the ways in which language and communication operate in organizational activity. This fourth volume focuses on language and communication at work, and examine language and communication as an inherent part of ongoing organizational processes. The chapters explore the question of language and communication as constitutive of work; analyze how language and communication work in the context of organizing and managing; and examine the role of language and communication as part of strategic and institutional work in and around organizational phenomena. More generally, the chapters concentrate on one or several aspects of organizing by showing how communication, discourse, and narrativity are constitutive of what is taking place. These analyses focus on micro-level instances of communication or discourse, or more macro-level processes of organizing or change.
