The purpose of this paper is to propose a typology of enchantment approaches that are related to storytelling practices in organizations: enchantment by design and enchantment by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a typology of enchantment approaches that are related to storytelling practices in organizations: enchantment by design and enchantment by emergence.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors explore this enchantment framework in a storytelling drawing on examples of living storied spaces and narratives from hospital studies.
Findings
This essay asserts three aspects about enchantment: that mainstream organizational narrative, rooted in classical structuralism and modernity, seems intent on disenchanting life within them. Second, despite such narratives, organizations, such as hospitals the authors studied, were never disenchanted because enchantment resides in many living storied spaces. Finally, many forms of “enchantment” and “disenchantment” are taking place in organization action and its storytelling.
Practical implications
The paper equips managers with a deeper understanding of how storytelling in organizations can encourage enchantment or disenchantment within the organization and in its relations with their environments (community, nature, humanity).
Originality/value
The value of the paper lies in its theoretical contributions, integrating enchantment‐disenchantment perspectives with a theory of storytelling.
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Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the emerging, post‐Newtonian twenty‐first century worldview, integrating elements of holistic Chinese philosophy and individualistic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the emerging, post‐Newtonian twenty‐first century worldview, integrating elements of holistic Chinese philosophy and individualistic Western Newtonianism, is also driving a new model of organization, the articulation of which Chinese managers and thinkers must take a leadership position.
Design/methodology/approach
The author focuses, first, on the similarities between the worldviews of Chinese philosophy and post‐Newtonianism; second, on how those changes in worldview support the emerging model of organization, whose management style one writer refers to as “unmanaging”; and, third, on the benefits available for Chinese business people who apply their acculturated understanding of principles that still seem foreign to Western business people.
Findings
This essay asserts that the worldview emerging from twentieth century science – primarily quantum mechanics and complexity theory – will reinforce many of the basic assumptions basic to Chinese culture and philosophy. As a result, Chinese managers and thinkers have the opportunity to make critical contributions to an emerging model of organization, which Western management thinkers have been predicting for nearly half a century.
Practical implications
The paper offers a series of theoretical tools, taken from fields of study ranging from the philosophy of science to organizational dynamics, with which Chinese managers and thinkers can develop a leadership position in the discussion that has begun about what the author calls the post‐Newtonian organizational model.
Originality/value
The value of the essay lies in its integration of twentieth century science, Chinese philosophy and the study of organizations to indicate how Chinese managers and thinkers can help shape a new, trans‐cultural way of understanding organizations, markets and finally, the world.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how the generally accepted notion of Chinese “lawlessness” distorts the Chinese behavior by trying to understand it through the Western…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how the generally accepted notion of Chinese “lawlessness” distorts the Chinese behavior by trying to understand it through the Western concept of the “rule of law” and to examine how the concept of “storied space” offers a more contextual understanding of the Chinese style of maintaining social order.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a theoretical approach.
Findings
Recent developments in fields ranging from neurobiology to complexity thinking and storytelling are coming together in a way of thinking about human social systems that has been called “storied space.” Applying this way of thinking suggests that current efforts, among both Chinese and Westerners, to apply the Western “rule of law” may actually distort the understanding of a series of behaviors often called “Chinese lawlessness”. A storied space approach suggests a different understanding and the need for a different way of addressing these concerns.
Practical implications
At a time when economic and political cooperation between Chinese and Westerners is becoming more important, this approach offers what may be a more efficacious way of understanding each other and, therefore, addressing the very real differences.
Originality/value
This paper would be the first published attempt to apply the idea of storied space to the legal issues that arise from the different ways in which Chinese and Western culture maintain social order.
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To explore how selected principles of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory can be synthesized into a model for human and organizational behavior that is more accurate and…
Abstract
Purpose
To explore how selected principles of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory can be synthesized into a model for human and organizational behavior that is more accurate and appropriate to global markets than either traditional eastern or western models.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a model of human and organizational behavior based on similarities between elements of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory.
Findings
Several of the respective principles of Chinese philosophy and complexity theory – the Chinese transformational cycle and complexity's cycle of attractors, for instance – are strikingly similar, suggesting that their commonalities are universals of human experience resting underneath their surface differences. By playing those similar principles off against each other, one can develop a model of human and organizational behavior that transcends both east and west, a model highly valuable to business people operating in global markets.
Practical implications
This model provides a new way for both eastern and western business people to think about their organizations and markets that seems highly accurate to current conditions.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to explore a possible synthesis of strikingly similar principles from Chinese philosophy and complexity theory and how such a synthesis could be applied as a model of human and organizational behavior.
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Pressure for committees to buy only texts that met their demands for acceptable language and topics has resulted in a degree of censorship. This process took on a life of its own…
Abstract
Pressure for committees to buy only texts that met their demands for acceptable language and topics has resulted in a degree of censorship. This process took on a life of its own, and the initial noble purpose became transformed into an exercise in exerting the power to enforce one's point of view. According to the author of this book, topics now deemed unacceptable are abortion, death or disease, disrespectful behavior, evolution, expensive consumer goods, social problems such as addiction or racial prejudice. It is noted that no educational research supports such prohibitions, but because the topics upset some adults, it is assumed they will upset children in the same way. Most people would agree that the purpose of teaching literature should be to let children explore the best literature in the hope they will develop a life‐long, life‐enriching love of it
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– Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Old habits sometimes die hard. But being locked in the past often proves restrictive or even damaging. Any refusal to embrace new and different ways of thinking is a formidable barrier to success in most contexts. Given today's increasingly global marketplace, such sentiments have never been more applicable to business organizations. For long enough, the view prevailed of a world made up of separate entities each on its own predestined journey. Any reaction between these entities was entirely due to cause-and-effect occurring in a linear fashion. This long-held perspective was inspired by the works of distinguished philosophers like Descartes and Newton. One of the most persistent effects of this approach is the belief that various cultures exist in isolation from each other. Ignorance thus ensures that difference is met with suspicion or even disdain. It also bears much responsibility for the assumed political and cultural supremacy which has long prevailed in western civilization.
Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to digest format.