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Metaphor and Organizations
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Metaphor and Organizations

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October 1996 | 272 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
Metaphors are, according to Gareth Morgan `a way of thinking and a way of seeing'.

The use of metaphor underpins the expectations, behaviour and strategies governing all aspects of organizational life. Written by a team of internationally renowned scholars, this collection of critical essays analyzes the role of metaphor in the theory of organizations.

The book extends existing debates concerning metaphor and the study of organizations, and also generates new concepts and theories in the field. The introduction shows how metaphors work and familiarizes the reader with key areas of debate concerning their use. Part One considers the role of metaphor in creating new theories of organization and in reinterpreting existing theories. Parts Two and Three go beyond the theoretical context, to examine the use of metaphor in our organizational experience. Part Two explores metaphor in organizational discourse and language, showing how the construction of different metaphors can provide powerful tools with which to manage organizations. Part Three investigates the relevance of metaphors in real organizational situations and how they influence attitudes and behaviour. Finally, Part Four offers an agenda for the function of metaphors in organizational research and suggests new directions that this research might take.

David Grant and Cliff Oswick
Introduction
Getting the Measure of Metaphors

 
 
PART ONE: METAPHORS OF ORGANIZATION: SCOPE AND APPLICATION
Iain L Mangham
Some Consequences of Taking Gareth Morgan Seriously
Geoffrey MacKechnie and Gemma Donnelly-Cox
Metaphor in the Development of Organization Theory
Gerrit Broekstra
The Triune-Brain Metaphor
The Evolution of the Living Organization

 
Stewart R Clegg and John T Gray
Metaphors in Organizational Research
Of Embedded Embryos, Paradigms and Powerful People

 
 
PART TWO: METAPHORS OF ORGANIZING: LANGUAGE AND DISCOURSE
Richard Dunford and Ian Palmer
Metaphors in Popular Management Discourse
The Case of Corporate Restructuring

 
Dawn E Inns and Philip J Jones
Metaphor in Organization Theory
Following in the Footsteps of the Poet?

 
Robert Chia
Metaphors and Metaphorization in Organizational Analysis
Thinking beyond the Thinkable

 
 
PART THREE: METAPHORS IN ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS: IMPACT AND OUTCOMES
Robert J Marshak
Metaphors, Metaphoric Fields and Organizational Change
Timothy Clark and Graeme Salaman
Telling Tales
Management Consultancy as the Art of Story Telling

 
Erik D[o with a line thru]oving
In the Image of Man
Organizational Action, Competence and Learning

 
Heather H[um]opfl and Julie Maddrell
Can You Resist a Dream? Evangelical Metaphors and the Appropriation of Emotion
 
PART FOUR: METAPHOR AND ORGANIZATIONS: ISSUES AND DIRECTIONS
Cliff Oswick and David Grant
The Organization of Metaphors and the Metaphors of Organization
Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here?

 
Gareth Morgan
An Afterword
Is There Anything More to Be Said about Metaphor?

 

`This anthology presents some current ideas and controversies on the uses of metaphors in organizational studies and offers a valuable overview of the field. It is composed of eleven papers, framed by a lucid introduction and a concluding summary and suggestions for future research by the editors' - Work, Employment and Society