Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Politics and strategy practice
T2 - ethnomethodologically-informed discourse analysis perspective
AU - Mueller , Frank
AU - Whittle, Andrea
AU - Gilchrist, Alan
AU - Lenney, Peter
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - In this article we aim to contribute to the ‘strategy as practice’ (SAP) field by studying organizational politics from an ethnomethodological perspective. We argue that it is important to study not only the ‘politics of sensemaking’, but also the ‘sensemaking of politics’. Existing research has examined how power and politics plays a role in the sensemaking processes involved in strategic action, yet we have little understanding to date about how power and politics are made sense of in accounts and used by members to conduct their practical affairs. Drawing on an in-depth qualitative study of a multi-national branded apparel company, we show how politics constitutes a key interpretative method through which organizational reality is constructed and strategic decisions are made. We address two key research questions: How can we study politics as an interpretative procedure rather than a pre-existing entity? What practical actions are achieved through such interpretative procedures? The study reveals how a cross-functional team of senior managers used discourse to collectively co-author a version of the political landscape of the firm during team meeting interactions, with practical implications for how the group sought to undertake strategic change. As such, the paper furthers our understanding of the social construction of politics and strategy at the micro level.
AB - In this article we aim to contribute to the ‘strategy as practice’ (SAP) field by studying organizational politics from an ethnomethodological perspective. We argue that it is important to study not only the ‘politics of sensemaking’, but also the ‘sensemaking of politics’. Existing research has examined how power and politics plays a role in the sensemaking processes involved in strategic action, yet we have little understanding to date about how power and politics are made sense of in accounts and used by members to conduct their practical affairs. Drawing on an in-depth qualitative study of a multi-national branded apparel company, we show how politics constitutes a key interpretative method through which organizational reality is constructed and strategic decisions are made. We address two key research questions: How can we study politics as an interpretative procedure rather than a pre-existing entity? What practical actions are achieved through such interpretative procedures? The study reveals how a cross-functional team of senior managers used discourse to collectively co-author a version of the political landscape of the firm during team meeting interactions, with practical implications for how the group sought to undertake strategic change. As such, the paper furthers our understanding of the social construction of politics and strategy at the micro level.
KW - discourse
KW - ethnomethodology
KW - politics
KW - power
KW - sensemaking
KW - strategy
KW - strategy as practice
U2 - 10.1080/00076791.2013.838037
DO - 10.1080/00076791.2013.838037
M3 - Journal article
VL - 55
SP - 1168
EP - 1199
JO - Business History
JF - Business History
SN - 0007-6791
IS - 7
ER -