Organizational Epics and Sagas: Tales of Organizations

212 Pages·2008·0.748 MB·English

by  Monika Kostera (eds.)

OrganizationalEpicsandSagas
Othertitlesinthetrilogy
ORGANIZATIONALOLYMPIANS:HeroesandHeroinesof
OrganizationalMyths
MYTHICALINSPIRATIONSFORORGANIZATIONALREALITIES
AlsobyMonikaKostera
CRITICALMANAGEMENTRESEARCHINEASTERNEUROPE:Managing
theTransition(editedwithMihaelaKelemen)
Organizational Epics
and Sagas
Tales of Organizations
Editedby
MonikaKostera
Selectionandeditorialmatter©MonikaKostera2008
Individualchapters©contributors2008
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-51557-2
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Organizationalepicsandsagas:talesoforganizations/editedby
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1. Organizationalsociology. 2. Organizationalbehavior. I.
Kostera,Monika,1963
HM786.O75 2008
302.3’5 dc22 2008011121
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
Contents
ListofTables ix
ListofFigures x
Acknowledgements xi
NotesontheContributors xiii
IntroductiontotheTrilogy:Mythologiesof
OrganizationalEverydayLife 1
MonikaKostera
Mythsandhumanbeings 2
Organizationalmythmaking 5
IntroductiontoOrganizationalEpicsandSagas:
TheMythologizationofOrganization 9
MonikaKostera
Organizationasmyth 9
Structureofthebook 10
1 TheMythofEntrepreneurship 14
MariaAggestam
Myth-makingandlivingmyth 15
Entrepreneursintheeducationindustry 18
Entrepreneursinthemediaindustry 21
Performativenatureofentrepreneuring:
mythicalframe 22
Concludingremarks 24
2 LivingwiththeMythofUnattainableTechnology 26
UllaEriksson-Zetterquist
Mythsandtechnology 27
Method 29
Buildingthemyth 29
Awaitingthenewtechnologytobeimplemented 32
v
vi Contents
Anunattainablevision 34
Livingwithmythsofe-business 37
3 Goddess:AStoryofMythandPower 40
MonicaLee
Thepattern 40
Mobility 41
Self-justificatorystories 42
Workloads 42
Vindictivenessandpunishment 45
Arationale? 46
Thepowerofmythicalallusion 47
4 OedipusintheLandofOrganizationalDarkness 51
YiannisGabriel
Oedipusandmiasma 53
Miasmaandorganizations 55
Mourning,depressionandscapegoating 60
5 TheMythofCorporateSizeinPublicService
Companies:TheCaseofToscanaEnergiaSPA 65
GiuseppeGrossi
Introduction 65
Themythof‘corporatesize’andneedsof
organizationalaggregation 66
AggregationstrategiesofItalianpublicservice
companies 68
TheItaliangassector:peculiaritiesand
advantagesofgrowthinsize 69
ThecaseofToscanaEnergia 71
Potentialbenefitsandrisksofaggregation
strategiesinlightofthetaleofToscanaEnergia 75
Finalthoughts 78
6 BureaucratsandHeretics:GenderingMythology 80
DanielEricssonandPernillaNilsson
Introduction 80
Goodlife:accordingtothebureauprinciples 82
Contents vii
Evillife:accordingtotheheretics 86
Genderedaspectsofthebureaucracymyth 88
Extro 91
7 TheMythoftheVirtualOrganization 93
KymThorne
Introduction 93
Virtualorganizations 94
Themythicarchetypeswithinvirtual
organizationdiscourse 97
Conclusion 103
8 HeroicVillains:TheBadlandsofEconomyand
Organization 105
MartinParker
Introduction 105
TheMafia,andothers 107
Mythtoday 111
Fantasyeconomicsandsocialchange 115
9 MergingtheMyths:AStudyoftheEffectof
OrganizationalMythmakinginanOrganizational
Merger 118
DavidSims
Fromstorytomyth 120
Talesfromamerger 121
Mythsincurrency 123
Interactionsandagendas 127
Commentary 127
Storytellinginanewenvironment 127
10 TheMythofManagementasArtandtheManagement
ofArtasMyth 131
KatjaLindqvist
Mythsinmanagement 131
Themythofleadershipasart 135
Artandmyth 136
Managementofartasmyth 137
Metaphorsandmythsformanagement 140
viii Contents
11 TheCosmogonicDuel 142
JerzyKociatkiewicz
Introduction 142
Socialactors 143
Myths 146
Theduel 148
PhaseI:Thehero’sdefeat 149
PhaseII:Help 151
PhaseIII:Victory 153
Furtherconsiderations 154
12 ThePanAmericanDreamandtheMythofthePioneer 156
GabrielleDurepos,JeanHelmsMillsandAlbertJ.Mills
IdeologiesofAmericanismandtheformative
contextofthemythofthepioneer 158
Themythofthepioneerassituatedlocallyinthe
activitiesofearlyPAA 160
PanAmericanAirways:thepioneeringorganization 163
Conclusions 167
Bibliography 169
Index 187
List of Tables
I.1 StructureofVolume2 11
ix