Paul Hibbert

Reflexivity: recursion and relationality in organizational research processes

Purpose – The paper seeks to support a better understanding of the types (or processes) of reflexivity which may be involved in the practice of organizational research, and the implications of reflexive practice for organizational researchers.Design/methodology/approach – A characterization of reflexivity as a process is developed from extant research, in four steps. First, the principal dimensions of reflexivity – reflection and recursion – are identified and delineated. Second, recursion is shown to have two modes, active and passive. Third, reflection is shown to have both closed, self‐guided and open, relational modes. Fourth, through integrating the detailed characterizations of each of the dimensions, different types of reflexivity are identified and defined.Findings – The paper shows how different types of reflexivity may be experienced sequentially, as a progressive process, by organizational researchers. Implications for research practice are derived from a consideration of this process.Originali...

Relationally Reflexive Practice A Generative Approach to Theory Development in Qualitative Research

In this article we explain how the development of new organization theory faces several mutually reinforcing problems, which collectively suppress generative debate and the creation of new and alternative theories. We argue that to overcome these problems, researchers should adopt relationally reflexive practices. This does not lead to an alternative method but instead informs how methods are applied. Specifically, we advocate a stance toward the application of qualitative methods that legitimizes insights from the situated life-with-others of the researcher. We argue that this stance can improve our abilities for generative theorizing in the field of management and organization studies.

Approaching Reflexivity Through Reflection: Issues for Critical Management Education

This conceptual article seeks to develop insights for teaching reflexivity in undergraduate management classes through developing processes of critical reflection. Theoretical inferences to support this aim are developed and organized in relation to four principles. They are as follows: first, preparing and making space for reflection in the particular class context; second, stimulating and enabling critical thinking through dialogue, in particular in relation to diversity and power issues; third, unsettling comfortable viewpoints through the critical reappraisal of established concepts and texts; and fourth, supporting the development of different, critical perspectives through ideological explorations and engagement with sociological imagination. The article provides an elaboration of these principles and the issues associated with them as resources for critical management educators seeking to help their students develop their reflexive abilities. In addition, the article develops theoretically informed lines of inquiry for empirical research to investigate the proposed approach, which could help to further develop and refine theory and educational practice.

The Past in Play: Tradition in the Structures of Collaboration

Inter-organizational collaboration has been argued to present as many complex challenges as it tries to solve. In this paper, we explore the role of tradition in these challenging and problematic contexts. In particular, we are concerned with the ways in which traditions emerge, endure or change in relationship with (and in the context of) collaborative structures. Our research in three collaborative situations indicates that traditions can be found at work in collaboration at a range of temporal depths amongst overlapping groups, networks and societal structures. Through the characterization of the different temporal depths of traditions and their relationship to collaborative structures, this paper develops a theory of the role of tradition in collaboration. In particular, through drawing out the effects of the different forms of tradition in collaborative network structures, this study also yields insights for the theory and practice of interorganizational collaboration.

Identity-in-the-work and musicians’ struggles : the production of self-questioning identity work

Identity work is widely regarded as a process through which people strive to establish, maintain or restore a coherent and consistent sense of self. In the face of potential disruptions of, or threats to, their identities, people seek to salvage their sense of self by resolving tensions and restoring consistency. In contrast to the current identity work literature, this research indicates that identity work is not always about seeking resolution and moving on, but sometimes about continuing struggles which do not achieve a secure sense of self. This article seeks to elaborate the understanding of unresolved identity work by exploring three contexts of the everyday practice of indie musicians. An analysis of how they struggle to construct acceptable versions of their selves as songwriter, bandleader and front(wo)man allows us to develop the conceptualization of self-questioning (as opposed to self-affirmative, resolution-oriented) identity work.

Barriers to process learning: Authority and anomie in regional clusters

In this article we consider the nature and implications of barriers to collaborative process learning that may occur in regional clusters. Our approach is rooted in research in interorganizational collaboration and focuses on interview-based research in photonics clusters in: Scotland and the West Midlands in the United Kingdom; Berlin-Brandenburg in Germany; and Arizona in the United States of America. From this research we develop characterizations of the barriers to collaborative process learning in clusters at three levels of analysis—the macro, micro and meso levels. We also develop an integrated conceptualization of these barriers, which reveals a difficult tension between ‘authority’ and ‘anomie’. This tension has implications for the management of process learning, but also connects with recent debate about whether learning is most helpfully understood as an individual or collective process.

Use Matters … and Matters of Use

Abstract This article presents the Interpretive Clustering Approach to theory building from Research Oriented Action Research data as a means of creating theory to support the reflective practice of public managers. Tenets about the nature of theory suitable for supporting reflective practice are developed and discussed; these relate to recognizability, generalizability, creativity and integrity. The characteristics required of the approach to allow it to satisfy the tenets are explored. In the process of this exploration several methodological concepts are introduced including notions of faithfulness, possibilities, tentative relevance, cautious certainty, forcing the rhetoric, inclusion of examples and attractive conceptual tags.

Evidence‐Based Management in Practice: Opening Up the Decision Process, Decision‐Maker and Context

Evidence‐based management (EBM) has been subject to a number of persuasive critiques in recent years. Concerns have been raised that: EBM over‐privileges rationality as a basis for decision‐making; ‘scientific’ evidence is insufficient and incomplete as a basis for management practice; understanding of how EBM actually plays out in practice is limited; and, although ideas were originally taken from evidence‐based medicine, individual‐situated expertise has been forgotten in the transfer. To address these concerns, the authors adopted an approach of ‘opening up’ the decision process, the decision‐maker and the context (Langley et al. ([Langley, A., 1995]). ‘Opening up decision making: the view from the black stool’, Organization Science, 6, pp. 260–279). The empirical investigation focuses on an EBM decision process involving an operations management problem in a hospital emergency department in Australia. Based on interview and archival research, it describes how an EBM decision process was enacted by a physician manager. It identifies the role of ‘fit’ between the decision‐maker and the organizational context in enabling an evidence‐based process and develops insights for EBM theory and practice.

Faculty development in teaching and learning: the UK framework and current debates

Following the publication of a recent report, commissioned by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and conducted by Staff and Educational Developers Association, this short paper considers the HEA UK Professional Standards Framework in the UK Higher Education Sector, in the context of recent and continuing debates about how best to support faculty professional development in teaching (and supporting learning). The need for a framework is briefly articulated, followed by a description of its main elements and a summary of recent evidence on its impact. A discussion of issues and (international) debates about the role of formal qualifications in delivering the kind of faculty development envisaged in the framework and aligned programmes is then presented. The paper concludes with some suggestions for research that arise from this review.

Threshold concepts in theory and practice

This special issue on “Threshold Concepts in Management Education” invites readers to engage with a distinctive category of concepts that, when learned, result in students “seeing things in a new way” and thereby making transformative leaps in understanding (Meyer & Land, 2003, p. 1). Threshold concepts have garnered much attention and enthusiasm in the broader education literature over the past decade (e.g., Meyer & Land, 2005; Meyer, Land, & Baillie, 2010: Timmerman, Feldon, Maher, Strickland, & Gilmore, 2013; Wimshurst, 2011) but have been underdeveloped in the management education literature. Thus, our initial premise in proposing this special issue was that applying threshold concepts to the pedagogy and practice of management education was important and had the potential to open up valuable advances for students, educators, and managers. In their seminal development of threshold concepts, Meyer and Land (2003, 2005, 2006) identified five characteristics. First, threshold concepts mark the boundaries of particular disciplines (Meyer & Land, 2006). That is, they signify particular understandings that are distinctive to a particular disciplinary discourse. Second, threshold concepts involve forms of “troublesome knowledge” or notions that appear illogical, unfamiliar, or alien (Cousins, 2006; McCormick, 2008; Perkins, 1999). For some threshold concepts, troublesomeness arises because of the way core concepts are bound together in “an underlying game” to create a “disciplinary way of knowing” that may be imperceptible to novice students (Perkins, 2006, p. 42). Third, threshold concepts are integrative. Crossing the threshold brings new connections and