The Relevance of the Postmodern Turn in Organizational Analysis - Essay Example

Discuss the relevance of the postmodern turn in organizational analysis. What implications does a concern with organization as a verb have for the study of organizational behaviour? Draw on specific examples to illustrate your argument. (Student Name) Course name Faculty Name Date Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Postmodernism III. Postmodern Turn and Organisational Analysis IV. Implications of Organisation on Organisation Behaviour V. Conclusion I. Introduction The organisation development processes is a long process and have experienced various changes from the past (Burrell, 1993). From the capitalist environment which was focused on the productivity to the humanistic approach which is focused on the human element of the society, social structure, relationships, culture and different other aspects of the organisation got changed (Bowditch and Buono, 1997). This paper aims at understanding the organisation and organisational processes with respect to the postmodern turn. II. Postmodernism During 1960’s the term postmodernism was used by the social scientists. The term got more acceptances in 1980s among various researchers and academicians (Boje et al, 1997, Boje 2007). This is characterised by the critical study of various art forms and describes a condition or aspects that can change the conditions of organisation. The term is related to the cultural and intellectuality. However the critics argue that the postmodernism is extremely complex and lacks interconnectedness. The contributors of the postmodernism thoughts are philosophers like Watkins, Marx, Derrida, Thompson and many others. III. Postmodern Turn and Organisational Analysis There have been various efforts to link the postmodern turn with the organisational development. Human society and thought are the ever changing aspects. The development of the postmodernism approach for organisational analysis is always debatable. "Debates in organization studies which do not address this fundamental ontological distinction between modernism and postmodernism miss out on the potential contributions of a postmodern approach to organizational analysis." (Chia, 1995, p.118) There has been argument over the development of the mainstream thought of the social studies and in the organisational context. These developments have impact on the processes of the organisation, knowledge and sharing of information (Greden, 1992; Hassard, 1993, Thompson 1993). The postmodern studies give emphasis on various types of issues of an organisational culture like language, values, norms, sharing of information and others. These issues have impact on the organisational development and the thought process of the individuals within an organisation. According to Chia (1995), “Organizations conveniently excluding a deliberate analysis of the very organizational contexts within which they themselves are constrained to operate" (p.7) Postmodernism is often linked with the intellectual discussion without any clue of the final results of the discussion (Chia, 1995, p.20). The postmodernism helps to provide information deconstructive knowledge. The problematic issues and processes are studied without the influence of any authoritative body that claims to have the organisational information accumulated to them. Postmodernism implies the radical consequences of the organisational studies (Boje, 2007). This allows understanding the micro practices that have impact on the important components of the organisation that is individual, organisations and society. As cited by Chia, "... Implies radical consequences for the study of organisation Instead of the traditional emphases on the analysis of organizational structures, cultures, gender, ethics, etc., in organizations, the postmodern emphasizes the myriad of heterogeneous yet interlocking organisational micro-practices which collectively generate relatively stabilized effects such as individuals, organizations and society" (Chia, 1995, pp.117-118) The postmodernism tries to understand the objective facts of the outcome of the organisational processes. This approach allows making big picture out of things and events of the world (Chia, 1995 p 13). This have also helped in the social entities like individuals and organisations are considered rather that the accomplishments. The accurate words and their meanings help in developing the understanding of the organisation and organisational processes (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). However, there have been various arguments against postmodernism. Gidden (1987) has argued that the postmodern studies have reduced the research into textual analysis. The nature of knowledge and postmodern critique had been the ideology of representation in the postmodernism (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). IV. Implications of Organisation on Organisation Behaviour The academic work of the postmodern studies emphasised on the human aspects of the organisation. This use of language within the organisation was prevalent in various forms of interactions. The settings of the organisation and the social conventions were studied. The culture has been studied and various forms of communication. The postmodern thought process has changed the thinking and analysis of the organisation, its processes and behaviour. There are various assumptions in the postmodern thought process. These assumptions do not consider the bodies of claims and rely on the unacknowledged assumptions and provides an analysis of the claims beyond these assumptions (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). Chia has argued that "postmodern style of thought", might offer an adequate response to the theoretical dilemma of the postmodern study. These either rely on unacknowledged assumptions based on "bodies of knowledge claims" or provide an analysis that claims to be beyond such assumptions. Chia emphasise that this is "way out of this theoretical quagmire" (p.65). The contributors of the "postmodern style of thought" like Derrida, Foucault, and Latour have contributed to these studies in various ways. The implications of postmodernism style of thought for the concept of organization are known as organizational analysis (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). The perception of the postmodern style of the thought requires the fundamental rethinking for the organisation and organisational processes. The reality is the basic conceptual requirement for the study. This is contrast to what can be discovered and represented as a real entity (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). The real styles of thinking in the postmodern process are different. This is based on the "emergent relational interactions and patterning that are recursively intimated in the fluxing and transforming of our life-worlds." (p.117) Postmodern theories are focused more on what would be the results of the processes rather than what actually are the processes. The interactions and processes are the basic of the social life in the postmodern studies (Chia, p 58) "Debates in organization studies which do not address this fundamental ontological distinction between modernism and postmodernism miss out on the potential contributions of a postmodern approach to organizational analysis." (p.118) The postmodern processes are based on the live experience and the ability to express it through the codes and messages. These codes are interchanged with the help of language. The representation of the fundamental thinking process of the status and significance of the practices and processes are important aspects of the postmodernism (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). This is identified as an effort of mirroring the external reality in less successful manner. The language is considered as constitutive entity than the representative of reality. According to Chai (1995, pg 192) specifically the practice of writing that constitutes the postmodern problematic is due to the role of language plays in the postmodernism. The use of language in the organisation depends on various factors like the context, sender and receiver, environment, noise, type of message, choices of words and many others. Language is the medium of sharing thought and information. It enables communication and interaction among the members of the organisation. This is an irreversible process. Postmodernism has been criticised for its complexity, ambiguity and many others. Some professionals considered it as “unintellectual” process. However this has been the initial efforts to look at the processes from different perspectives. This goes beyond the existing and stored information and knowledge confined to the authoritative body of the organisation (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). Postmodernism allowed looking at organisation, its processes, components and various other factors beyond the traditional factors like culture, goals, environment, strategies, lifecycles and other aspects. The postmodernism emphasise on the no hierarchy or flat structure of the organisation, the change process of the organisation, increased level of operations and opening of the global market will make it disperse. There are multiple interpretations available for the organisation and behaviour in the organisation (Weiskopf and Willmott, 1996). V. Conclusion The postmodernism studies are different approach which initiated many debates, discussions and arguments. In the intellectual world, these debates led to the contribution to different theories and thought process. In the organisational behaviour context these allowed integrating different aspects of the organisation and the relational interaction within the organisation. The organisations today are changing and increased level of information exchange and technological platforms intensified the unpredictable nature of the business and organisation. Postmodernism turn makes it complex to get the meanings for the organisation and its relationships. This increases the complexity as the interpretation of information will be different and varied. Postmodernism covers the complex issues of the organisation where comprehension of the real world is not possible. Reference: Boje, D.M., Gephart Jr, R.P., Thatchenkery, T.J., 1996. Postmodern Management and Organization Theory, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Boje, David M (2007) Postmodernism: To appear in Yiannis Gabriel’s Thesaurus, London: Oxford University Press, retrieved on 1 December 2009 from http://peaceaware.com/vita/paper_pdfs/Postmodernism%20defined%20-%20Boje%20final%20after%20edits%20Sept%205%202007.pdf Burrell, G 1993. “Modernism, postmodernism and organizational analysis: An introduction”, Organization Studies, Vol 9 No 1: 91 112 Bowditch, J and Buono, A. F.: 1997. A Primer on Organisational Behavior, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc Chia, R. (1995) From modern to postmodern organizational analysis. Organization Studies, 16(4): 579-604. Gergen, K.J. 1992. “Organization Theory in the Postmodern Era”, (pp.207-26) in Reed, M. & Hughes, M. (eds.), Rethinking Organization, London: Sage. Giddens, A. (1987) Social Theory and Modern Sociology Cambridge: Polity Press. Hassard, J. 1993. “Postmodernism and organizational analysis”, in J. Hassard and M. Parker (Eds.) Postmodernism and Organizations, London: Sage Publications Thompson, P. 1993. “Postmodernism: Fatal distraction” in J. Hassard and M. Parker (Eds.) Postmodernism and Organizations London: Sage Publications [Cited 3 December 2009] Weiskopf, R and Willmott, H (1996) Turning the Given into a Question : A Critical Discussion of Chias Organizational Analysis as Deconstructive Practice retrieved on 1 December 2009 from http://merlin.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/ejrot/Vol3_2/weiskopf.pdf Read More