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Metaphor in action in an academic battlefield
Author(s) -
Basten Florence M. R. C.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/sres.1079
Subject(s) - metaphor , narrative , action (physics) , battlefield , sociology , epistemology , collective action , ideal (ethics) , psychology , political science , linguistics , history , law , philosophy , ancient history , physics , quantum mechanics , politics
How to explain an academic community that theorises about knowledge intensive organizations whilst creating practical knowledge about living in this community that negates these theories? I constructed a learning history of an academic business school and found some answers. Confronting the collective narrative of the organization about itself with analyses and recommendations written for others, I found little correspondence between the two. To find out why, I deconstructed the organizational narrative and searched for dominant metaphors that guided everyday practice. I found that a battlefield metaphor was used to make sense of what happened since the start of the organization, which as a sense‐making device evolved from collective to individual survival. I will present the metaphor, demonstrate its evolution and outline what it meant for staff to be writing about ideal organizations while not being able to produce one themselves. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.