Louise Grisoni

Scholarship That Matters: Academic–Practitioner Engagement in Business and Management

Our research explores academic–practitioner engagement by undertaking interviews with academics, practitioners, and other experts with relevant engagement experience. The findings highlight the problem of thinking narrowly about the different ways in which engagement takes place, as well as defining narrowly what is a worthwhile activity for management academics. We develop a framework that encompasses the main ways in which engagement takes place, and that relates these to different attitude groups among both academics and practitioners. This could provide a starting point for business schools and individual academics to develop plans and put in place the processes for better engagement. ........................................................................................................................................................................

Verse, voice and va va voom!: Illuminating management processes through poetry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the power of using poetry as a process of critical reflection and organisational analysis in the management process. It intends to bring to life Armstrongs concepts of “organisation‐in‐the‐mind” and use critical role analysis in the interactions between manager and member of staff.Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative, interpretive study using first and second person inquiry. Poems are created from the experiences of two organisational members in dialogue in relation to their roles and focus on specific decision‐making critical incidents within the life of the organisation. The creation of poetry is used as a form of communication and provides a focus for thematic analysis of key organisational themes and issues.Findings – The creative use of poetry to illuminate unconscious processes and organisational issues has enabled revitalised working relationships and a new perspective on the organisational dynamic. The critical incidents and surroun...

Dreaming fairness and re-imagining equality and diversity through participative aesthetic inquiry

This article presents the findings of a participative action research project into how arts-based inquiry can revitalise equality and diversity organisational practices. We demonstrate that the arts-based methodologies introduced enabled participants to explore the meanings they brought to equality and diversity work, by creating a liminal space for learning. We illustrate our findings through an exploration of how participants engaged with the inquiry, the learning about equality and diversity that took place in the workshops and the challenges and opportunities of translating this into change practice in the workplace. The article’s originality lies in its analysis of poetic writings, dreams and visual artefacts created in the context of participative inquiry. Engaging with tacit knowledge extended understanding of the contribution that arts-based, aesthetic inquiry can bring to organisational practice, and more specifically towards restoring the transformative potential of organisational practices to promote equality and diversity.

Consulting to a “hurt” or “upset” organisation

This paper explores the emotional experience of working with an organisation which was “hurt” or “upset” by a major reorganisation. It is argued that the emotional aspects of being a consultant are under‐discussed, and that an acknowledgement of the emotional effects of clients’ and organisational members’ projections is necessary in order to understand better the role, contribution and values of consultancy. The analysis is based on a recent intervention in a UK public agency. The context for the consultancy is discussed with reference to public sector change, including the growth of managerialism. The objectives of the consultancy, and the methodologies used, are outlined. The resultant data collected by the consultancy team are presented. The data are then analysed, and the emotional and relational aspects of the intervention are explored prior to a discussion of the implications of the team’s learning for the practice of consutancy.

Sense making through poem houses: an arts-based approach to understanding leadership

This article introduces an arts-based approach to leadership inquiry using ‘Poem houses’ – an art form developed by Brigid Collins. Poem houses are three dimensional artefacts combining visual interpretation with poetic text and which hold special significance for the maker. The bringing together of poetry and assemblage in the artworks made by Collins is a conscious attempt to create the conditions in which an ‘uncovering’ may happen, by means of a process of layered collage and juxtaposed words and images – in what amounts to ‘intermediality’. This artistic form has inspired the methods and tools used in the workshops led, with Grisoni and described in this paper. The focus for this inquiry is leadership development and, in particular, sense making processes arising from the creation of and reflections on poem houses made by workshop participants. The poem houses provide an innovative visual narrative of individual and organisational experiences of leadership. Examples are drawn from a workshop for public sector managers where we show how new insights of what it means to be a leader and collective reflections on the creative process were generated. These findings create individual and organisational narratives that contribute to our understandings of the current context of public sector leadership.

Marketing as an applied science: lessons from other business disciplines

Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate what the marketing field can learn, with regard to the academic/practitioner divide, from other management disciplines that have a range of different relationships with their respective practitioners.Design/methodology/approach – The authors carried out 68 interviews of academics, practitioners and experts/consultants involved in academic/practitioner engagement from the marketing, accountancy, strategic management and organisation studies disciplines.Findings – The most interesting aspects relate to two areas: exclusive engagement (as exemplified in accountancy) versus inclusive engagement (as exemplified in strategic management), and the practices associated with participative research (as exemplified in organisation studies). The appropriate approach to engagement will depend on the nature of the relationship between the academic field and its particular community of practitioners.Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to academics, practit...

Two to the power of three: An exploration of metaphor for sense making in (women's) collaborative inquiry

This paper explores how working with metaphors provides a way to explore under the surface dynamics embedded in the practice and processes of collaborative inquiry. We argue that metaphors are a form of presentational knowing and provide a bridge between experiential knowing and propositional knowing. We have surfaced an exploration of horizontal (sibling) and vertical relations using retrospective inquiry. This paper demonstrates the reality, messiness and politics of collaborative research inquiry processes, which tend to be understudied and under-theorized. We are concerned to affirm the value of collaborative inquiry, and at the same time, break some taboos and myths concerning the practice of this form of inquiry, in particular, between and among women. We hope that our work will provide an impetus to further research in this territory.

The Modern Family Business

Family business research is dominated by a small number of scholars from a relatively small number of academic institutions (Debecki et at. 2009). This concentration of scholars is focused in the US and Canada with 17 of the 25 top schools being located in these countries (Debecki et al. 2009). Five years ago in the UK, Family Business was relatively unheard of in management studies circles. While academics in the US have been investigating and studying the phenomenon for years, interest in the subject has only just begun to filter into the UK management academic’s psyche and vernacular. UK academics have begun to recognise the unique qualities and managerial challenges that family businesses face and are beginning to give more time to investigating these challenges and characteristics. While the US has taught family business courses for many years, and it has an active network of family business advisors and a national recognition that family business is important to the US economy, the UK and Europe have lagged behind. This book is a response to this situation and also hopefully a contribution to the discussions about management issues facing the modern family business.

Visual imagination, reflexivity and the power of poetry: inquiring into work-life balance

This article explores the use of visual imagination and reflexivity in the creation of poetry as a form of action inquiry. The power of poetry to help inquire into and illuminate new understandings is demonstrated in the creative and imaginative use of imagery, similes and metaphors contained within the choice of words and the connections made to them. Through my work with managers and staff in organisations, using poetry I have come to understand that the poetic words used not only hold the possibility of explaining and describing experiences, they validate the range of associated emotions and can also influence actions when new meanings and understandings are reached. I have found that the process of action inquiry encourages and facilitates reflexivity. For the purpose of this article I have chosen to focus on work-life balance – an issue that many find challenging at different stages in their working lives.

Brothers in Arms: The Story of Thorntons – A Study into the Relationships between Brothers Working in Senior Management in a Large UK Chocolate Manufacturer

The case study chosen for this chapter is a well-known UK family business – Thorntons Plc., a chocolate manufacturer and retailer founded in 1921. Thorntons is the largest independent chocolate and confectionery company in the UK and operates in a challenging retail environment selling a ‘luxury good’. This means it is very vulnerable to economic circumstances and the ‘feel good’ factor among customers. An analysis of the financial foundations on which the company is built shows sound business practice (David, 2010). Behind this business success is a story of three generations of male family members who established and grew the family business from 1911 to 1987. The aim of this chapter is to explore male sibling relationships between brothers and cousins by drawing on a systemic analysis of this family business. We build on existing literature that examines how family relationships have impacted on the success of a family business (Yarborough and Lowe, 2007; Ainsworth and Wolfram-Cox, 2003; Gersick, Davis, Hampton and Lansburg, 1997).