Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Introduction: What is Strategy as Practice?
- PART I ONTOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTIONS
- PART II THEORETICAL DIRECTIONS
- PART III METHODOLOGICAL TRACKS
- 13 Broader methods to support new insights into strategizing
- 14 Critical discourse analysis as methodology in Strategy as Practice research
- 15 Researching everyday practice: the ethnomethodological contribution
- 16 Researching strategists and their identity in practice: building ‘close-with’ relationships
- 17 Studying strategizing through narratives of practice
- PART IV APPLICATION VARIATIONS
- Author Index
- Index
- References
14 - Critical discourse analysis as methodology in Strategy as Practice research
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2012
By
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Introduction: What is Strategy as Practice?
- PART I ONTOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTIONS
- PART II THEORETICAL DIRECTIONS
- PART III METHODOLOGICAL TRACKS
- 13 Broader methods to support new insights into strategizing
- 14 Critical discourse analysis as methodology in Strategy as Practice research
- 15 Researching everyday practice: the ethnomethodological contribution
- 16 Researching strategists and their identity in practice: building ‘close-with’ relationships
- 17 Studying strategizing through narratives of practice
- PART IV APPLICATION VARIATIONS
- Author Index
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
In recent years, scholars have started to pay attention to the discursive aspects of strategizing (Knights and Morgan 1991; Hendry 2000; Samra-Fredericks 2005; Seidl 2007). These studies have highlighted the underlying assumptions of strategy as body of knowledge (Knights and Morgan 1991), the central role of narratives and other discourse forms in organizations (Barry and Elmes 1997), the importance of rhetorical skills in strategizing (Samra-Fredericks 2003, 2005) and the implications that specific conceptions of strategy have on identity and power (Mantere and Vaara 2008). This stream of research can be understood as part of the more general interest in the social and organization practices around strategy, although some scholars have argued that the Strategy as Practice movement has not been able to incorporate or develop original critical discursive perspectives on strategy (Clegg et al. 2004; Carter et al. 2008). I will in the following take a broad perspective and focus on the issue of how we can better understand the discursive aspects of strategy and strategizing from a critical angle. My intention is to try to refrain from constructing barriers between Strategy as Practice studies and critical discursive analyses, as such barriers would do a disservice both to the development of Strategy as Practice and to the promotion of critical analysis of strategy as discourse and practice.
The purpose of this chapter is to explain how critical discourse analysis (CDA) can serve to further our understanding of strategy and strategizing.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice , pp. 217 - 229Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
and (1997), ‘Strategy retold: Toward a narrative view of strategic discourse’. Academy of Management Review, 22/2: 429–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2008), ‘So!apbox: Editorial essays: Strategy as practice’. Strategic Organization, 6/1: 83–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2003), ‘Reconciling the two principal meanings of the notion of ideology: The example of the concept of Spirit of Capitalism’. European Journal of Social Theory, 6/2: 155–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2004), ‘Get up, I feel like being a strategy machine’. European Management Review, 1/1: 21–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2005), ‘Discourse analysis in organization studies: The case for critical realism’. Organization Studies, 26/6: 915–939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2004), ‘The discourse of globalization and the globalization of discourse’. In , , and (eds.), The SAGE handbook of organizational discourse. London: Sage, 379–396.Google Scholar
and (1997), ‘Critical discourse analysis’. In (ed.), Discourse as social interaction: 258–284. London: Sage.Google Scholar
(1973), The order of things: The archaelogy of human sciences. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
(1980), Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings 1972–1977, (ed.).Brighton Harvester Press.Google Scholar
and (2004), ‘Strategy as simulacra? A radical reflexive look at the discipline and practice of strategy’. Journal of Management Studies, 41/7: 1153–1170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2000), ‘Discourse as a strategic resource’. Human Relations, 53: 1227–1248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2000), ‘Strategic decision making, discourse, and strategy as social practice’. Journal of Management Studies, 37/7: 955–977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2006), ‘Mexico Inc.? Discourse analysis and the triumph of managerialism’. Organization, 13/4: 529–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (1991), ‘Corporate strategy, organizations, and subjectivity: A critique’. Organisation Studies, 12/2: 251–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2007), ‘Struggling over subjectivity: A discursive analysis of strategic development in an engineering group’. Human Relations, 60/1: 29–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2003), ‘Critical approaches to strategic management’. In and (eds.), Studying management critically. London: Sage, 92–109.Google Scholar
(2001), ‘The language of strategy’. In and (eds.), The language of organization. London: Sage, 66–88.Google Scholar
, and (2008), ‘Making doubt generative: Rethinking the role of doubt in the research process’. Organization Science, 19/6: 907–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2008), ‘On the problem of participation in strategy: A critical discursive perspective’. Organization Science, 19/2: 341–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2004), ‘Discourse, power and ideology: Unpacking the critical approach’. In , , and (eds.), The SAGE handbook of organizational discourse. London: Sage, 237–258.Google Scholar
and (2002), Discourse analysis: Investigating processes of social construction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2004), ‘Discourse and power.’ In , , and (eds.), The SAGE handbook of organizational discourse. London: Sage, 299–316.Google Scholar
, and (2008), ‘Applying critical discourse analysis in strategic management research’. Organizational Research Methods, 11/4: 770–789.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2003), ‘Strategizing as lived experience and strategists’ everyday efforts to shape strategic direction'. Journal of Management Studies, 40/1: 141–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2004a), ‘Understanding the production of “strategy” and “organization” through talk amongst managerial elites’. Culture and Organization, 10/2: 125–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2004b), ‘Managerial elites making rhetorical and linguistic “moves” for a moving (emotional) display’. Human Relations, 57/9: 1103–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2005), ‘Strategic practice, “discourse” and the everyday interactional constitution of “power effects”’. Organization, 12/6: 803–841.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2007), ‘General strategy concepts and the ecology of strategy discourses: A systemic-discursive perspective’. Organization Studies, 28/2: 197–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1986), ‘Is strategic management ideological?’ Journal of Management, 12/3: 363–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2004), 'Strategies as discursive constructions: The case of airline alliances', Journal of Management Studies, 41/1: 1–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (forthcoming), ‘On the force potential of strategy texts: A critical discourse analysis of a strategic plan and its power effects in a city organization’, Organization.
and (2004), ‘Critical discourse analysis as a methodology for international business studies’. In and (eds.), Handbook of qualitative research methods for international business. Cheltenham: Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 342–359.Google Scholar
and (2008), ‘A discursive perspective on legitimation strategies in MNCs’. Academy of Management Review, 33/4: 985–993.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (1999), ‘Legitimizing immigration control: A discourse-historical perspective’. Discourse Studies, 1/1: 83–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2006), ‘Completing the practice turn in strategy research’. Organization Studies, 27/5: 613–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2004. ‘Critical discourse analysis’. In , and (eds.), Qualitative research practice. London: Sage, 197–213.Google Scholar
, , , and (1999), The discursive construction of national identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
- 13
- Cited by