Daniel Geiger and Georg Schreyögg
This paper aims at extending research on narrative knowledge sharing in organizations. Current literature often assumes that narratives can provide orientation and guidance in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at extending research on narrative knowledge sharing in organizations. Current literature often assumes that narratives can provide orientation and guidance in complex task environments by conveying embedded actionable problem‐solving knowledge or practices. In this paper an empirical example of narrative‐based knowledge sharing is used as a starting point to explore knowledge sharing via narratives in more detail. It turns out to be a much more ambiguous and problematic exercise than previous studies assume.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a conceptual paper but uses a case vignette from Shell to exemplify the problem of narrative‐based knowledge sharing discussed in the paper.
Findings
A possible model shall be outlined showing how inconsistent and questionable narratives could be handled in order to provide orientation. It concludes with stressing the importance of reflecting on narratives and suggests a generative interplay between narrative and argumentative modes of communication in knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
The paper is actually the first which deals systematically with the shortcomings of a narrative mode of knowledge sharing. It explores the potential problems and outlines some suggestions of how these problems could be addressed theoretically and practically.
Details
Keywords
VINCENT PORTER and MARTIN GABRIEL
As the Council of Europe and the European Community (EC) both failed to introduce a standard right of reply for transfrontier television broadcasts, national systems prevail. They…
Abstract
As the Council of Europe and the European Community (EC) both failed to introduce a standard right of reply for transfrontier television broadcasts, national systems prevail. They present no underlying theme common to all jurisdictions. Many EC states offer a complainant the right to have his or her own corrective answer broadcast. A uniform provision for this could have been agreed or failing that, a protocol for a simpler right of correction. The UK Government's unwillingness to accommodate any such rights blocked progress towards standardising procedures. As a result, there is now confusion over the meaning of a right of reply for transfrontier broadcasts and how it should be exercised.
Dr. Gabriel Eweje is a senior lecturer in Management and Director, Sustainability & CSR Research Group, at the School of Management, College of Business, Massey University, Albany…
Abstract
Dr. Gabriel Eweje is a senior lecturer in Management and Director, Sustainability & CSR Research Group, at the School of Management, College of Business, Massey University, Albany Campus, New Zealand. His background is mostly in teaching, research and consultancy in international business, corporate social responsibility and sustainability-related disciplines. Previously, he worked as a research fellow at the United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS), Tokyo, Japan, and taught for several years at Royal Holloway, University of London, England. His Ph.D. from University of London focused on Corporate Social Responsibility and Activities of Multinational Oil and Mining companies in Developing Countries. He also worked as a research fellow with International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London on a project on how mining and minerals can contribute to sustainable development (MMSD). His research interest lies around the issues of business ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability-related disciplines. He has also published his work in international academic journals and presented his research findings at international conferences. He has experience working with international management consulting firms on corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues.
Gabriel Eweje and Martin Perry
This book aims to assist readers in navigating the conceptual maze surrounding discussions of business and sustainability by offering critical reflection on the state of business…
Abstract
This book aims to assist readers in navigating the conceptual maze surrounding discussions of business and sustainability by offering critical reflection on the state of business action for environmental sustainability and providing evidence about what is actually taking place in real localities and businesses. The chapters in this volume are relevant in sustainability research, focusing on issues that are critical, topical and needed at this stage of the discussion. This volume makes three main contributions. First, it offers a critical review of business engagement with sustainability from four perspectives: sustainability as a political project; sustainability as a response to environmental crisis, sustainability as business opportunity and sustainability as stakeholder management. The chapters for example, link business case for sustainability to the larger debate about ‘ecological modernisation’: this perspective believes that the way out of the ecological crisis is to go further into the process of industrialisation. A complication to this claim is that business must be given the right market signals to identify and profit from their environment impacts, in other words that ‘ecology must be economised’. As the chapters will show, the notion of a business case is misleading if it is intended to imply some freely arrived at evaluation without reference to the context in which decisions are made.