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ORGANIZATIONS AS RHETORIC: KNOWLEDGE‐INTENSIVE FIRMS AND THE STRUGGLE WITH AMBIGUITY
Author(s) -
Alvesson Mats
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.1993.tb00476.x
Subject(s) - rationality , ambiguity , rhetoric , bureaucracy , dimension (graph theory) , rhetorical question , perspective (graphical) , epistemology , sociology , mythology , work (physics) , political science , computer science , law , philosophy , engineering , mechanical engineering , linguistics , mathematics , theology , artificial intelligence , politics , pure mathematics , programming language
This article discusses the concepts of knowledge‐intensive workers and firms. the functional view is questioned and a perspective on knowledge as institutionalized myth and rationality‐surrogate is proposed. the ambiguity of knowledge work is emphasized and it is argued that a crucial dimension of a knowledge‐intensive organization concerns the struggle with this ambiguity, which leads to efforts to refine various rhetorical strategies. Besides those stressing knowledge, science and rationality, the article points to rhetoric describing employees in knowledge‐intensive firms as possessing other personal qualities and orientations than personnel employed in bureaucracies.