Talking About Organizations Podcast

The podcast discusses the social and psychological consequences of a technological change in the coal-mining industry. It explores the importance of recognizing the social impacts of transformational change in organizations and highlights the significance of social cohesion and connection among workers. The dangers of isolation and impersonal control in work environments are discussed, as well as the challenges faced by managers in bureaucratization. The episode draws parallels with historical mining communities and the gig economy.

Tune in to this Summary of Episode 33 for an overview of Roethlisberger's "The Foreman" and for a summary of our discusssion!

Please join us for Part 2 of this fascinating discussion of Roethlisberger's classic 1945 work on the challenges and environment faced by the foreman in the organization. In this part we go through the rest of the article and discuss the four 'visions' proposed by the author!

Please join us as we open Season 4 with a discussion about Fritz J. Roethlisberger’s classic Harvard Business Review article “The FOREMAN: Master and Victim of Double Talk.” Written in 1945, the article details the challenges that industry foremen faced under intense pressures to perform despite significant technological and social changes that whittled away at their autonomy. The result? Increasing dissatisfaction, insecurity, and a reliance on ‘double talk’ – talking out of both sides of the mouth to keep supervisors appeased while paying less attention to the employees circumstances. An article that is relevant to this day!

Join Ralph as he sits down with Professors Mats Alvesson (also guest on E28) and Bjorn Erik Mork during the OLKC 2017 Conference in Valladolid, Spain to discuss Mats's keynote speech (and book!) on organizational stupidity. As always is the case with episodes such as these, expect more than a few anecdotes, insightful comments, and interesting stories! Thank you OLKC organising committee and Mats and Bjorn for making this episode possible.

Don't miss this conversation that Dmitrijs and Ella had with Professors Hari Tsoukas and Ann Langley at the wonderful PROS 2017 Conference! In the second special from this symposium, we talk about process view in general and PROS, as an academic congregation, in particular. At the end of the episode, Hari and Ann say a few words about the next conference, its theme and the motivation behind it.

Please join us for the first of two fascinating special episodes recorded from the International Process Symposium 2017. In the first instalment, Dmitrijs and Ella sit down to talk to Professors Trish Reay (University of Alberta) and Tammar Zilber (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) about institutional theory.

Please join us for the final instalment of Episode 30 and Season 3 where we discuss the relationship between George Orwell's classic 1984 and Corporate Culturalism as discussed by Hugh Willmott and Peter Fleming in their JMS Classics. Specifically, we talk about such things as newspeak and technology, as well as the inherent paradox of independence/autonomy critiqued in the articles!

Please join us for this (much delayed) conversation about Hugh Willmott's extraordinarily interesting critique of corporate culturalism - a movement within management thought that sees organizational culture and normative control as the primary means of organizing a workforce! In the first part of the episode we work on developing a common footing and a deeper understanding of what corporate culturalism is, as well as provide some examples (like Uber) and offer reflections on how this concept plays out in 'real life'.

oin Tom for a summary of our conversation with the wonderful Denise Rousseau about Herbert Simon's JMS Classic on Business Schools! Make sure to listen to this one if you don't have the time to get through the main episode just yet as the discussion about management education and the many underlying factors that we have had with Denise is really key!