IMAGES IN PRACTICE: VISTAS, TIME AND CAUSALITY IN ORGANIZATIONS

The article reports on a study of the way people conceive the organizations in which they work, what characterizes their conceptions, or images, and how they evolve. Images of organization from a single work organization are described and analyzed in terms of space, time and causality. Managers’ images are compared to those of other employees. The study shows that the work role influences the way in which an organization is perceived. The time orientation of the images develops by way of action, which also has an impact on the way causalities are conceived. Actions are directed towards the structure of the work organization. People’s images evolve as a result of structural changes and/or of changes in an individual’s position within the structure. As a possible starting point for further research, a typology of six different types of image and their relation to action theories is developed.