Tor Hernes

A Temporal Perspective on Organizational Identity

We offer as our main theoretical contribution a conceptual framework for how the past is evoked in present identity reconstruction and the ways in which the past influences the articulation of claims for future identity. We introduce the notion of textual, material, and oral memory forms as the means by which organizational actors evoke the past. The conceptual framework is applied in a study of two occasions of identity reconstruction in the LEGO Group, which revealed differences in ways that the past was evoked and influenced claims for future identity. Our study suggests that 1 a longer time perspective in the use of memory enabled a longer time perspective in formulating claims for future identity, 2 a broader scope of articulated identity claims for the future was related to the combination of a broader range of memory forms, and 3 the depth of claims for future identity was related to the way in which memory forms were combined. At a more general level, our paper illustrates how viewing identity construction from the perspective of an ongoing present adds a new dimension to understanding the temporal dynamics of organizational identity.

Constructing buildings and design ambitions

Project goals are conceptualized in the construction management literature as either stable and exogenously given or as emerging endogenously during the construction process. Disparate as these perspectives may be, they both overlook the role that material objects used in construction processes can play in transforming knowledge and thereby shaping project goals. Actor‐network theory is used to explore the connection between objects and knowledge with the purpose of developing an adaptive and pragmatic approach to goals in construction. Based on a case study of the construction of a skyscraper, emphasis is given to how design ambitions emerge in a process of goal translation, and to how, once these ambitions are materialized, tensions between aesthetic and functional concerns emerge and are resolved. These tensions are resolved through trials of strength as the object—the building—is elaborated and circulates across sites in various forms, e.g. artistic sketches, drawings and models. Given that initial goal accuracy is often seen as a key success factor, these insights have theoretical and practical implications for the management and evaluation of the construction project.

Managing Boundaries in Organizations

Drawing together an international group of scholars, this book provides fresh and provocative perspectives on boundaries in organizations. The emergence, management and transformation of organizational boundaries is intrinsic to modern organization and poses one of the most persistent and potentially rewarding challenges to researchers and managers alike. The book offers the latest insights into the nature of boundaries, how they may be interpreted and studied, as well as implications for managing. The chapters include theoretical perspectives and cases from Europe, Canada, the USA, Australia, the Middle East and Africa.

Enabling and Constraining Properties of Organizational Boundaries

In mainstream organization theory the idea of the organization as essentially a boundary maintaining system is widely entertained. The idea stems largely from Parsonian influence in sociology and has influenced many works in various branches of organization studies. Implicit in the idea lies another idea; that of organizations as essentially systems that function in an exchange relationship with the environment, but where the environment is the acting factor and the organization the responding one (Burrell and Morgan 1979, 64). On the whole, the picture is drawn of organizations as relatively passive entities that are shaped in terms of form and activities by expectations in the environment. In this exchange relationship the boundary essentially becomes a device of internal ordering and external protection. Students of organization have in this way provided a somewhat inward looking view of organizations, and the idea of the organizational boundary as an ordering entity of human actions and interactions is what directs our view inwards. The contrary view that organizations act outwards is a perspective rarely taken in social science (although taken frequently in economics). We know relatively little, for example, of the characteristics of organizations that make them more apt at influencing processes in the external environment.

Keeping things mindfully on track: Organizational learning under continuity

We take a critical look at the widespread assumption that organizational learning is associated with a mismatch between expectations and outcomes. While mismatch is central to studying organizational learning, we argue that continuity is equally important. Learning under continuity requires an investment of effort, mindfulness and preparedness for change, even if no perceptible change occurs. Although the organizational literature has to some extent dealt with learning under continuity, putting it more firmly on the organizational learning agenda is necessary. A central element of a more explicit focus on learning under continuity, we argue, is to take a temporal view of organizational learning that includes agency at organizational level. We discuss how, from a temporal view, learning under continuity entails the (1) assessment of present courses of action; (2) exploration of future courses of action; and (3) re-interpretation of past courses of action.

Introduction: Boundaries and organization

The citation, taken from an anthology edited by Deborah Pellow, reflects a growing interest in boundary issues and corresponding systematic research efforts to study boundaries as phenomena in their own right. Epstein (1997) notes in particular that the interest in boundaries has attracted renewed interest in the social sciences. Several explanations are offered as to why this phenomenon is particularly present over the last decade. The technological explanation is widespread and focuses on the impact of increasingly accessible and high-powered communication technologies. Another common explanation is the globalization of world markets with the corresponding demands on firms to be competitive in markets beyond their regional or national boundaries. A third explanation is the transition from mass production to individualized production, which requires seamless manufacturing systems that transcend organizational borders. This trend cannot be explained simply as a result of organizational obligations and opportunities alone. The “blurring” of boundaries can also be identified in global trends that are taking place in arts, fashion, and politics. There are things to be said in favor of this evolution. In the public domain, the diminishing of boundaries allows for more active citizen participation. In private industry, goods and services can be provided that correspond better to the needs of individual customers as industries develop “seamless” processes.

Ethical Dilemmas in Management

1. Introduction: Dilemmas of Ethical Organizing (Christina Garsten and Tor Hernes) 2. Risk, Responsibility and Conscience (Tore Bakken) 3. White as Snow or Milk? (Tor Hernes, Gerhard E. Schjelderup and Anne Live Vaagaasar) 4. Does Rule-Based Moral Management Work?: A Case Study in Sexual Harassment (Steve McKenna) 5. Challenges to Leader Integrity (Steven L. Grover and Robert Moorman) 6. Transparency Tricks (Christina Garsten and Monica Lindh de Montoya) 7. The Power of Activism (Debora L. Spar and Lane T. La Mure) 8. Thoughts and Second Thoughts About Enron Ethics (Ronald R. Sims and Johannes Brinkmann) 9. No Smoke Without Fire? (Todd Bridgman) 10. Overmanagement and the Problem of Moral Consciousness (Herve Laroche) 11. Tying Some Ends Together (Christina Garsten and Tor Hernes)

Towards a Theory of Organizational Becoming

Organization studies appear at present to be maneuvering itself into situation where arguments revolve around a mutually interlocking dichotomy between stability on the one and change on the other hand. This dichotomy is closely linked to, and stabilised by, the dichotomy of individual-organization as individuals are viewed as “change agents”, while organizations, in the classical picture, provide the structural context for the action. Both dichotomies have served - and serve - the community well. However, when it comes to understanding organization as processes of becoming, they are not useful. We suggest that the notion of process should be disentangled from the stability-change/individualorganization debate, and that this may be done through a closer reading of Whitehead’s process philosophy. In conceptualizing organization as process of becoming, we rely on two pairs of concepts that are central to Whitehead’s work, which we refer to in this paper as dimensions for a theory of organizational becoming. First, the dimension of actuality and potentiality, which Whitehead defined as an ontological principle governing all processes. The basic tenet is that nothing can just exist somewhere in timespace without also harbouring potentiality elsewhere in timespace. This dimension is fundamental to Whitehead’s conceptualization of processes in general. A second dimension that we build on is what we define as concrete experience versus abstraction, which is a “sense-making” dimension that we find highly relevant to organization studies.

Epilogue: A Reflection and Future Directions

An epilogue should be short. It is not our intention here to identify all of the salient issues raised by the contributors to this volume. As you read the contributions, it will be obvious that each chapter stands in its own right as a challenging piece of work that creatively addresses boundary issues in organizations. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate for us to reflect on the theoretical and practical issues that have been raised, and to identify a number of potentially fruitful research directions derived from the work presented.