Bullying as Unacknowledged Organizational Evil: A Researcher's Story

The role of the sociopathic bully is considered in terms of his/her responsibility for acts of evil in organizations. First, the literature on bullying is considered with the suggestion made that the term bully may be something of a euphemism, contributing to the problem of bullying not being taken sufficiently seriously. Bullying is then considered as a means of torture in organizations. The case study is introduced, where the author—an academic—is daring to share her story. Several of Biderman's constructs of coercion (Amnesty International, 1975. Report on Torture. London: Gerald Duckworth.) are used to showcase the case material shared which, when taken together, depict the relentless and deliberate nature of the bullying that took place. The paper concludes with an evil outcome of the bullying but, also, the success of the target in surviving. Some practical considerations as to what to do if bullying takes place are considered.     

Strategy implementation as fantasising – becoming the leading bank

In this empirical case study we explore the fantasy nature of strategy work and propose fantasising as a framework contributing to the nascent literature dealing with the previously overlooked fantasy nature of strategy. More specifically, our interest is on examining how the meaning of official strategy gets constructed as it is being implemented, as well as and how and why the perceptions may evolve during implementation. Our data consists of official strategy documents and interviews from Finland's largest financial services group and its largest unit. The interviews cover all organisational levels, enabling us to reveal the variations of perceptions of strategy as it is being implemented. The data analysis is carried out by means of qualitative interpretation. According to our findings, the main goal of becoming the leading bank, as outlined in the official strategy, had been adopted throughout the organisation hierarchically. However, conceptions of what would constitute ‘a leading bank’ varied, especially horizontally. The plausibility of the official strategy is constructed through rational techniques (e.g. numerical ‘objective’ accounting information) intertwined with storytelling. As a result we propose that strategy implementation may best be understood as fantasising involving two forms: functional (explicit, short-term-oriented) and symbolic (metaphorical, long-term-oriented). We offer fantasising in these two forms as an addition to fantasy-oriented strategy literature for further exploration to better understand the nature of strategy work.     

Narratives,identity and community in esports

ABSTRACT

The commercial and social ascendance of esports has become a source of considerable organisational, industrial, experiential and identity-based concern for those inside and outside the digital gaming field. Indeed, one major concern for self-identifying ‘gamers’ around the world is the extent to which the logics of professionalisation, spectacularisation and rationalisation that pervade contemporary esports will unsettle existing identities within the gaming community. In this study, we draw upon the theories of Paul Ricoeur to provide a narratological analysis of the stories gamers tell themselves about themselves on the social media platform Reddit—and in so doing explicate the politics of inclusion and exclusion imbedded in these stories. We investigate how story-narrative is utilised to mark boundaries in rhythm with, or in opposition to, the commercial, cultural and identity politics which gamers perceive are infiltrating the online gaming field. Based on our analysis, it becomes clear that Reddit users actively use the medium to promote a dominant politics of gender- and investment-based inclusion/exclusion. We conclude with a discussion on the complexities of digital community identity and the challenges seemingly democratic media technologies such as Reddit present for those seeking to promote egalitarian and inclusive spaces of digital play.     

Restorying a Culture of Ethical and Spiritual Values: A Role for Leader Storytelling

In this paper, we outline some of the connections between the literatures of organizational storytelling, spirituality in the workplace, organizational culture, and authentic leadership. We suggest that leader storytelling that integrates a moral and spiritual component can transform an organizational culture so members of the organization begin to feel connected to a larger community and a higher purpose. We specifically discuss how leader role modeling in authentic storytelling is essential in developing an ethically and spiritually based organizational culture. However, we also acknowledge a potential dark side to leader storytelling. Implications for authentic storytelling research and practice are discussed. An early draft of this paper was presented at the 2004 Academy of Management Conference in New Orleans. Cathy Driscoll received her Ph.D. in organizational behavior and marketing from Queen's University in 1994. Currently, she is an associate professor in the Department of Management in the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary's University. Prior to coming to SMU, she worked as a project manager and policy advisor with the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy in Ottawa. She has published articles in The Journal of Business Ethics and Business and Society. Margaret McKee is in her fourth year of doctoral studies at the Sobey School of Business. She was recently awarded a two year Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to conduct her dissertation research. She has taught a variety of management and communications courses at Mount Saint Vincent, Sobey School of Business, and Dalhousie University. Her research interests are leadership and values based organizational cultures.     

从“王派《水浒》”看扬州评话的艺术形态特征

扬州评话的艺术形态由说书人“全面表白”的口头文学叙事、书场音韵效果和书台表演的形象塑造互动构成.口头文学叙事以其细腻周到与书面叙述的繁简详略方式有别,口头语言以其声音、节奏中包含更为丰富的情感容涵与书面语言的意义繁复不同,书台表演融通口、手、身、步、神诸艺术因素完成说、做、念、打的动作塑性,更有戏曲舞台表演不及处.王少堂所代表的“王派《水浒》”正是扬州评话艺术形态的典范.     

Using Stories to Teach Business Ethics – Developing Character through Examples of Admirable Actions

People have long recognized thatknowing and doing are vastly different. Aperson might be skilled in abstract moralreasoning and do it brilliantly in a classroomsetting but act despicably in everyday matters. Instructing students in ethical principles andmoral reasoning skills is one thing. Increasing their desires to act ethically andto behave in admirable ways is something else. This paper advocates an ancient method of moraleducation that contemporary methods overshadow: the telling of stories. Examples of peopleacting ethically, behaving heroically in a seaof temptations, show young minds what idealslook like in practice and encourage theselearners to act admirably themselves. Anecdotes of moral truths in action appeal tothe mind and the heart, instructing theintellect and increasing the desire to emulatewhat civilization has come to honor as rightand good.     

How to prove,how to interpret and what to do? Uncertainty experiences of street-level tax officials

This study examines the kind of uncertainties frontline tax officials working with a trust-based inspection approach experience in interacting with citizen-clients. The classical literature on bureaucracy and the street-level bureaucracy literature suggest frontline officials face two kinds of uncertainties: information and interpretation problems. Analysing stories of Dutch frontline tax officials collected through in-depth interviews, this article shows that these two kinds of uncertainty only explain a part of the uncertainties experienced. Respondents also face action problems requiring improvisational judgements. The study furthermore finds that different sources underlie these uncertainties, pointing to possible explanations.     

San Francisco Through Bogotá’s Eyes: Leveraging Urban Policy Change through the Circulation of Media Objects

This article connects two emerging debates in urban studies—the need to pay more attention to the role of nonhuman actors in urban planning and the ways in which media objects affect urban politics and planning—by examining how a video on Bogotá’s car‐free Ciclovía program facilitated the adoption and implementation of a similar program in San Francisco. The analysis shows that media objects have the capacity to act as fulcrums in processes of leveraging urban policy change owing to their potential to alter urban governance structures. The article analyzes the digital storytelling and ‘eye‐opening’ practices through which the video enabled policy changes to be implemented in San Francisco, while also tracing the local and transnational actors, networks and agendas that were involved in the production and circulation of the video through digital archival research and multi‐sited fieldwork. In doing so, it shows the active role that media objects play in shaping urban policymaking processes and provides an example of a relational methodology for studying the digital materialities through which urban policy ideas increasingly circulate.     

Claiming a family brand identity: The role of website storytelling

This study focuses on the creation of a family identity as a central communication objective in business storytelling. We contribute to the field of business website marketing by identifying, through textual analysis of US winery website narratives, how businesses communicate family brand identities. Results show that three claims that are critical for family brand identities—character, temporal continuity, and distinctiveness—do appear in the website texts. Our study provides beginning evidence that family identity does not require family ownership alone but can be built upon complementary narrative elements and tactics, including kinship references and heritage storytelling. Both content and linguistic style of narratives are useful in conveying a family brand identity to an external public for website design. Implications are discussed.     

Knowing stories that matter: learning for effective safety decision-making

Ongoing safe operation of hazardous industries such as hydrocarbon production and transportation, air traffic control and nuclear power generation depends on effective decision-making by those in key positions. Safety studies often focus on the extent to which actions of operational personnel in particular are dictated by procedures or rules and hence reinforce the need for compliance to ensure the best outcomes. This article directs attention to a different area – the judgements made by experts in the cases that are not covered by rules and, in particular, the key role of stories and storytelling. This ethnographic research draws on literature related to high-reliability theory, organisational learning and naturalistic decision-making to examine how experts working in diverse critical contexts use stories to share and make sense of their experiences. It argues that such stories are vital to effective decision-making as a result of both the general and specific lessons that they embody. Our analysis shows that experts use stories as parables to nurture their ability to imagine possible outcomes and maintain a safety imagination. Stories are also embedded in work practices to support decision-making in the moment. Finally, stories are strongly linked to organisational learning for experts as a group and in mentoring less-experienced colleagues. We argue that the increased focus on incident reporting systems in hazardous industries, which is driven at least in part by a consideration of organisational learning, is failing in this regard because such systems do not facilitate story-based learning. We appeal to organisations to support story-based learning with as much vigour as formal systems for professional development and reporting.