Conflicting uses of metaphors: Reconceptualizing their use in the field of organizational change

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Palmer, I; Dunford, R
• 署名单位: Victoria University Wellington
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0363-7425
• DOI: 10.2307/258999
• 发表日期: 1996
• 页码: 691-717
• 关键词: ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE; PERSPECTIVE; systems; INCOMMENSURABILITY; REFLEXIVITY; management; discourse; Mediation; KNOWLEDGE; PARADIGMS

摘要

Diverse and often unacknowledged assumptions underlie the use of metaphors in the organizational change literature. This diversity is symptomatic of broader ontological and epistemological conflicts within organization theory. To gain a critical awareness of the assumptions underlying their use of metaphors. organizational analysts can use a reflexive approach. This approach entails addressing four issues: representation. enunciation. separation. and routinization. The organizational change literature is used to illustrate the implications of this approach for future research.