Jaco Lok

Identities and Identifications in Organizations: Dynamics of Antipathy, Deadlock, and Alliance

We examine the dynamics of identity formation in organizations, with a particular focus on the development of antipathies and deadlocks, by engaging a well-regarded study of identity in organizations. By revisiting this study through the lens of a social theory of hegemony (STH), we show how this theory can bring fresh insights to studies of identity, resistance, and deadlock in organizations. We argue that the “othering” and scapegoating involved in organizational deadlocks can be driven by fantasmatic identifications that dim the prospects for discerning and exploring areas of common cause. A condition of possibility of breaking such deadlocks is, conversely, a traversing of the fantasies that cement the impasse.

Myths to work by: Redemptive self-narratives and generative agency for organizational change

Abstract In this article we consider how cultural resources rooted in religion help to constitute and animate people working in industrialized societies across both religious and nonreligious domains. We argue that redemptive self-narratives figure prominently in the symbolic constructions people attach to their experiences across the many domains of human experience; such redemptive narratives not only can shape their identities and sense of life purpose, they inform their practices and choices and animate their capacity for action. To consider how redemptive self-narratives can provide a basis for agency in organizations, we analyze and compare the career narratives of a retired Episcopal Bishop and a celebrated CEO.

Stability and change

This special feature section of Journal of Management & Organization (Volume 17/1 - March 2011) sets out to widen understanding of the processes of stability and change in todays organizations, with a particular emphasis on the contribution of institutional approaches to organizational studies. Institutional perspectives on organization theory assume that rational, economic calculations, such as the maximization of profits or the optimization of resource allocation, are not sufficient to understand the behavior of organizations and their strategic choices. Institutionalists acknowledge the great uncertainty associated with the conduct of organizations and suggest that taken-for-granted values, beliefs and meanings within and outside organizations also play an important role in the determination of legitimate action.

Prologue: Stability and change

This special feature section of Journal of Management & Organization (Volume 17/1 - March 2011) sets out to widen understanding of the processes of stability and change in todays organizations, with a particular emphasis on the contribution of institutional approaches to organizational studies. Institutional perspectives on organization theory assume that rational, economic calculations, such as the maximization of profits or the optimization of resource allocation, are not sufficient to understand the behavior of organizations and their strategic choices. Institutionalists acknowledge the great uncertainty associated with the conduct of organizations and suggest that taken-for-granted values, beliefs and meanings within and outside organizations also play an important role in the determination of legitimate action.