Conversion stories as shifting narratives of organizational change

This paper is concerned with how employees talk about their experiences of organizational change and focuses specifically on the construction of conversion stories. These are particularly positive narratives that consider change as a turning point in which individuals depart from an old way of life pre-change to embrace a post-change organization. In this study, employees seek conversion into management groups and report the values and philosophies of management in their narratives, thus highlighting the benefits of change while suppressing any negative aspects. This paper draws attention to the dramatic nature of the conversion story and explores the sharp distinction between the reporting of experiences prior to and after change. We also investigate the relationship between constructing conversion stories and gaining personal and career advancement at work and suggest that beneath the positive exterior of the conversion narratives lies a theme of silence, which may be related to career advancement. Our findings suggest that such stories of silence complicate the conversion story as an example of positive organizational change and discuss implications for both the theory and practice of narrative change research.

The telling of violence : organizational change and atrocity tales

This paper explores the retrospective construction of atrocity narratives of organizational change in primary industries of the Latrobe Valley, located in southeast Australia. Within their narratives, participants discuss various forms of workplace violence aimed at employees by management and, in some cases, other employees. In addition, shifting narratives from violence to resignation are explored. As all participants are no longer employed in the organizations described in the narratives, causal associations between workplace violence and resignation choices are of particular interest. In this context, atrocity narratives are presented in a deliberate effort to extend the theorizing of organizational change into domains that are neither attractive nor progressive.

Emotions in organizational behavior

"Emotions in Organizational Behavior is an edited volume and the first of its kind to incorporate organizational behavior and bounded emotionality. The volume looks at the range of research on emotions within an organizational behavior framework, organized in terms of the individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. This research was presented at the bi-annual International Conference on Emotions and Organizational Life held in London, England. Particular emphasis has been placed on obtaining the leading research in the international sphere. This book is intended to be useful to the student of organizational behavior, as well as the managers of organizations."

The effect of affect in organizational settings

The study of emotion and affect on organizational settings has been steadily gaining momentum for much of the last decade. Important catalysts in this process have been the Emonet e-mail discussion group and the biannual International Conferences on Emotions and Organizational Life. The articles in this volume represent a selection of the best papers presented at the fourth Conference (which was conducted in London, England, in June, 2004), together with invited papers by some of the leading scholars in the field.
The theme of the book, "the effect of affect in organizations," was chosen to capture the centrality of emotion and affect in everyday organizational life. The opening chapter, co-authored by Howard Weiss, one of the inventors of "Affective Events Theory" (AET), sets the scene. At the heart of AET is the idea that organizational members experience daily hassles and uplifts that are reflected in their attitudes and behaviours. Following chapters flesh out the way that AET can be applied, covering a variety of constructs that relate to organizational life, including emotional intelligence, motivation, employee monitoring of web access, and emotional regulation. Other chapters deal with other aspects of emotion in organizations, such as loneliness, leader-member relationships in teams, organizational justice, negative behaviour, creativity, and organizational reactions to crisis situations. In the final chapter, Rob Briner and his colleagues round out the theme in a critical account of emotion in organizations.

Developing a framework for understanding the emotional dimension of organizational culture

Why is it that in some organizations we are able to find and develop our positive selves and in others we are not? Responding to the call from positive organizational scholarship to better understand how to build contexts for human flourishing, in this paper we are concerned how an organization's culture contributes to our thriving, or failing to thrive, at work. We introduce the organizational culture construct and its summary dimensions, noting the absence of an emotional dimension. We show that it is through our interactions with others that organizational culture is developed and maintained, and through which we learn how to manage and interpret the emotions we experience. That is, relationships are central to both culture and emotions. Integrating Josselson's model of our relational needs with Schein's typology of organizational culture, we present a relationally-based framework for an emotional dimension of organizational culture. The paper concludes with a report on a study designed to refine the framework presented and suggests that individuals will thrive in organizations where the cultural norms and values for relating enable a "good enough" fulfillment of our relational needs.

The development of a new construct : the emotional dimension of organizational culture

Qualitative organisational culture studies reveal the emotional side of organisational life. Yet, in a recent review of the quantitative organisational culture survey measures available, 10 summary dimensions were identified intended to be representative of the major dimensional categories in the organisational culture literature, and an emotional dimension was notably absent. The PhD aims to address this gap in the literature by (a) developing a theoretical definition of the newly proposed dimension; and (b) developing and validating an instrument for its measurement. The talk presents the findings of the studies conducted to date and discusses the inherent challenges of bringing the rigours of psychometric development to areas more commonly associated with qualitative research. The theoretical bases for adopting a multidimensional, relational approach that draws on theories within the psychoanalytically oriented and feminist traditions is provided. A strength of this approach is that the research can potentially contribute to explaining the nature of the ties between organisational members that is currently lacking in organisational research.

Development of a diversity openness climate organizational measure

Although research on the diversity climate of organizations is said to be imperative for researchers and practitioners, parsimonious attempt has been made to develop its measurement items. This paper describes the development of diversity openness climate organizational measures (DOCOM). The development process involved multi-faceted input of 104 diversity stakeholders across 3 Australian states, across five industries including both private and public sectors. Final results of the Q-sort methodology produced a stable two-factor structure comprised of 21 items. Factor 1 reflected the "diversity open situation of the organization" and Factor 2 reflected "on-going recognition and support for minority members". Construct validity study included data from 15 multinational organizations. Overall, results suggest that the diversity openness climate of organizational measures (DOCOM) is a valid measure that should prove useful in the field of workforce diversity.

Do organizational service recovery actions impact on hotel guests future intentions and does speed of recovery matter?

This paper investigates hotel guests’ responses to organizational actions dealing with service failure. Eight service failure scenarios were used to identify guests’ intentions towards future visits. Guests’ intentions to switch hotels, revisit the property and remain loyal to the chain were found to vary based on the recovery efforts undertaken. This research found that empowering employees contribute to positive consumer intentions toward the service provider. Compensation was also found effective if offered through empowered employees. Speed of response to service failure was also identified as important action to improve consumer future intentions. Based on these findings, implications for future research are highlighted. Recommendations to the practitioners of hospitality and tourism sector were made for the management of failed service encounter.

Building a corporate socially responsible brand : an investigation of organizational complexity

Past research has suggested that developing CSR linked brands is a complex activity that needs to consider the social issues being addressed as well as multiple facets of organisational activities. This paper proposes that organisational activities need to be considered at four different levels – corporate brand, product/line brands, location/functional activities and supply chain issues. The four activities are discussed and implications for developing CSR-leveraged brands are explored.

Role of organizational service recovery actions on sustomer switching intentions in a process based service failure : does speed of recovery matters?

The study examines how organizational activities of compensation and empowerment impact on consumers switching intentions and also whether these differ based on the speed of service recovery. Data is collected using hypothetical scenarios in a situation of process failure. It is found that there is no direct effect of either compensation or empowerment on switching intent, although the interaction effect is significant when recovery occurs quickly.