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This paper looks at small spaces. In particular, it aims to focus on small gestures of resistance and the objects which accompany them. It takes its inspiration from Goffman's “secondary adjustments”, in other words, from reactions to organizational socialization, but draws most of its theoretical support from the literature of exile and architectural concepts of structure.

The paper is located in the interpretative paradigm and draws on Goffman's observations, photographic approaches, and artistic and literary works on exile. It does not work with psycho‐analytic approaches to object‐relations and has merely an affinity with science and technology studies.

The primary findings concern the relationship between work and its other. At a time when work has extended to define all areas of life, the paper considers the relationship between exile and homeland, between memories and aides memoires. The paper examines the intimate relationship between the prevailing conditions of exile and the miniscule gestures which might help to give consolation, offer compensation and serve as resistance to the relentless demands of work.

The paper outlines some of the conceptual concerns. An empirically based study will follow. Its practical relevance lies in its questioning the blurring of boundaries between home and work and raises issues about the importance of personal belongings in the workspace.

The paper's originality lies in the emphasis it gives to the small spaces of resistance which it characterises.

The title of this paper comes from Arthur Miller's play “Death of a Salesman” and from a comment made to me by a colleague at a management development event for a major UK company, “Oh God Heather, not another snake oil salesman”: a reference to the patent medicine for cultural transformation which was being offered. (“Snake‐oil salesman” is an America term for a peddler of medicinal remedies with no therapeutic value other than the psychosomatic).

Examines gender differences in relation to organizational commitment. It considers the ways in which corporate culture attempts to seduce employees into commitment via the construction of appearances and values. The satisfactions which men derive from work appear to make them more susceptible to the construction of particular frames of organizational behaviour and, in this sense, commitment can be viewed as a consensual interpretation of appropriate organizational action. Women, however, have more ambiguous and conflictual encultured imagery which is not easily reconciled with male reality definitions. Hence, women introduce ambivalence into the workplace. This inevitably constitutes a threat to male consensus and framing of appropriate action. Women′s action lacks propriety within male frames because women embody ambivalence. Therefore, by virtue of their mere presence, women threaten the deconstruction of commitment.

This paper is concerned with some speculations and observations on the position of women in relationship to leadership roles in organizations.

The paper is a theoretical piece. It attempts to analyse some of the reasons why women find it difficult to attain leadership roles and reflects on the costs to them when they do.

It considers why women are considered a threat to organizations and why organizations seek to subject women to the therapeutic imperative of rationality as the price of membership and of “success”. Put simply, it considers how women have to demonstrate male characteristics in order to “succeed” as leaders and must set aside feminine qualities: to live hyper‐abstractly “in order thus to earn divine grace and homologation with the symbolic order”. This results in an irresolvable lack in terms of what the organization desires for its completion.

Leadership is defined by the phallus and women's leadership by its absence. The woman vanishes.

Addresses the notion of “phoria” in organizational change. Uses the device of the myth of the Erl König to explore the appropriation of emotion in organizations and considers the role of rhetoric, liturgy and ritual in the preparation for changes. Argues that organizations trivialize the significance of change via a range of techniques which attempt to alleviate the experience of the burden of change. Argues for greater discernment between enlightenment and levity.

Provides an account of the changes which have taken place in British Airways Safety Services since 1990 and comments on the ways in which a commitment to safety was conceived and interpreted and how changes in the development and promotion of the safety philosophy and style of operation of the Safety Services Unit have brought about significant change. Considers management commitment to safety and the way this has been illustrated in the development of a decision support system, BASIS, for the aggregation and analysis of incidents and accidents. Safety Services in British Airways is committed to: an appreciation of the wider organizational context and its influence on safety; finding ways of identifying those aspects of safety systems which are aspects of emergent processes; promoting a safety‐aware culture through education; and extending the understanding of safety awareness beyond data collection systems. Examines the theory and philosophy of the approach in the context of the day‐to‐day practicalities of its application.

Based on empirical work from two major UK organizations. British Airways and BT (formerly British Telecom), both of whom have, after privatization, engaged in large‐scale culture change programmes. Both organizations have made substantial job cuts and (at the time of writing in May 1991) both organizations have announced the need for further redundancies. Considers the objectives of culture change programmes and evaluates the extent to which they have been achieved in the organizations concerned, i.e. what values are cultivated and to what extent are they shared by organizational members? Considers the conflicting messages offered by the redundancy programmes and attempts to assess the implications for individuals and for self‐perception of job losses in the context of culture change.