Abstract
Stories people tell of going through change incorporate and react to others around them. Positions can be taken in stories that tend towards the monological, having a singular perspective and being somewhat sealed off from others. Alternatively, stories can tend towards the dialogical, a multiple, less certain and more interactive mode. We explore multiple stories of an organizational change and analyse a paradoxical situation that emerges. We argue that although the stories may have the appearance of being dialogical, they can be seen as co-existing but self-sealing, or anti-dialogic. We introduce an interruption to the story and discuss a possibility for challenging anti-dialogic positioning in change stories.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 335-352 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Organization Studies (OS) |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2009 |
Keywords
- Dialogue
- Fantasy
- Insulating identity work
- Self-sealing stories
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Business,Management and Accounting
- Strategy and Management
- Management of Technology and Innovation