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 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2009 |
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Keywords
- Dialogue
- Fantasy
- Insulating identity work
- Self-sealing stories
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Anti-dialogic positioning in change stories : Bank robbers, saviours and peons. / Beech, Nic; MacPhail, Stacy A.; Coupland, Christine.
In: Organization Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3, 05.2009, p. 335-352.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Anti-dialogic positioning in change stories
T2 - Bank robbers, saviours and peons
AU - Beech, Nic
AU - MacPhail, Stacy A.
AU - Coupland, Christine
PY - 2009/5
Y1 - 2009/5
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Dialogue
KW - Fantasy
KW - Insulating identity work
KW - Self-sealing stories
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=65249179706&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1350508409102299
DO - 10.1177/1350508409102299
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:65249179706
VL - 16
SP - 335
EP - 352
JO - Organization Studies
JF - Organization Studies
SN - 0170-8406
IS - 3
ER -