Talking About Organizations Podcast

We conclude our episode on Robert K. Merton by examining contemporary challenges of conducting field work and the implications for the continued pursuit of rigorous science. How has field work changed or what new barriers have emerged? How must the academic community adapt to the present challenges of being able to conduct quality research?

Robert K. Merton was a sociologist who founded the study of the sociology of science, how acts of research influence and are influenced by the contexts being studied. Two of his early essays exemplify this body of work whereby he and his research teams reflect on the challenges and difficulties of performing field work. In this episode, we examine two speeches delivered in 1947 – “The Machine, the Worker, and the Engineer” and “Selected Problems of Field Work in the Planned Community” – that exemplifies the effort to better understand how to study social change in organizations due to technology change.

We will explore two of the early works of renowned sociologist Robert K. Merton whose interests included studying the processes of field work in order to improve the quality and rigor of field studies. What are the challenges and difficulties of doing research in environments rife with conflict and tension?

In Episode 114, we re-examine one of our earlier episodes that covered Trist & Bamforth’s study on the longwall method of coal-getting (Episode 34) is the most referenced of any episode we have released. In this introductory segment, Pedro & Tom take a retrospective look at the episode, why it was included in the program back in 2017, and why it continued to come up in conversation over and over again in the seven years since.

In this bonus release, Tom talks about using Trist & Bamforth's study as a way of teaching professionals (student-practitioners) about managing organizational change. By telling the story in a way that does not require mastery of the coal-getting terminology, Tom shows how to bring the case study to life for a contemporary audience and help them see what the sociotechnical systems framework can do to help them understand the implications of introducing new methods or technologies without consideration of the social consequences.

This is the continuation of our review of socio-technical systems through a re-release of Episode 34 from 2017, slightly edited for clarity. Part 2 of the episode is titled "Social-Technical Systems and Organizational Theory."

With over 110 episodes in our catalogue, we decided it was time to take a step back and revisit one of our earlier episodes that continues to come up time and again. Episode 34, covering Trist & Bamforth’s study on the longwall method of coal-getting, was referenced in sixteen (16) episodes since its release. That is more than any other episode! This re-release includes a new supplement further the conversation to contemporary issues and a sidecast on the use of this study as a cautionary tale for professional education.

Coming soon! We will re-examine one of our earlier episodes which deserves another look. Trist & Bamforth’s study on the longwall method of coal-getting (Episode 34) is the most referenced of any episode we have released. Here we go back and look at the study with fresh eyes, bringing the conversation forward to the present day.

We conclude our discussion about the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own” by peeling back the fictionalized aspects of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) and talk about what happened with the league following World War II. What allowed it to continue for nine more years, and why did it cease? We bring the story to contemporary times where women’s team sports is a growth industry and professional leagues in basketball, soccer, and ice hockey are gaining ground in sports business in the USA.

The rapid growth of women’s professional team sports has a far-reaching history, and many contemporary women’s athletes have honored the legacy of pioneers as their inspiration. Included in this legacy is the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that existed from 1943 through 1954 in the U.S. and popularized through the 1992 film “A League of Their Own,” directed by Penny Marshall and starring a large ensemble cast including Geena Davis and Tom Hanks. In addition to describing the lived experiences of the league’s first players, it captures how deeply embedded and institutionalized baseball was in the US such that fears of losing it due to World War II and the drafting of players into military service caused baseball owners to create a women’s league. The movie touches on various important organizational themes such as gender and organization, innovation, change, professions, morality clauses, and media engagement.