Presents a professional development workshop we hosted at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. It sheds light on the foundational texts of female scholars for the field of organization and management theory but whose work is often overlooked. Part 1 includes presentations by Emmanuelle Vaast on Jean Lave, Marta Calás on Edith Penrose, and Martha Feldman on Susan Leigh Star.

Talking About Organizations Podcast

82: Women of Organizational Scholarship -- Classics AoM PDW LIVE (Part 1)

The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on societies and the workspace have demonstrated the importance of open conversations on matters of diversity and inclusion. The theme for the 37th Colloquium of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), hosted virtually in July 2021 by the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam, was “Organizing for an inclusive society: Meanings, motivations, and mechanisms.” In this special episode, we offer the keynote address of that colloquium by Mirjam van Praag, “The Value (Drivers) of Diversity: A Perspective from Research and Management Practice.” She provides insights from her research on the added value and imperative of sustaining diversity in the workplace.

81: Diversity and Inclusion -- EGOS 2021 Special LIVE

We conclude our discussion of Sumantra Ghoshal’s article, “Bad Management Theories are Destroying Good Management Practices,” with a further exploration of the purposes of business schools and the question of what exactly is a “good” management practice? If we are to break the feedback loop that Ghoshal is critiquing, where do we begin and what is required?

80: Management Theory & Practice – Sumantra Ghoshal (Part 2)

We discuss a critique of business education -- Sumantra Ghoshal’s article from the Academy of Management Learning and Education, “Bad Management Theories are Destroying Good Management Practices.” He describes a feedback loop between schools and practitioners that has led to theories based on a “pretense of knowledge” that assumes causality and predictability of the business environment and a “gloomy vision” that assumes the worst of human nature. In effect, theories are built around ideas that managers cannot be trusted and matters of complexity can be managed through mathematical models, setting ethics and morals aside. A great think piece for considering the roles of business schools and professional education!

80: Management Theory & Practice – Sumantra Ghoshal (Part 1)

We continue our discussion of Jane Addams’ "A Modern Lear" and asked ourselves the same questions she asked. How can one approach a difficult, complex, or dynamic situation and avoid the conflagrations that engulfed the Pullman situation? To what extent can pragmatism contribute to a suitable approach for contemporary labor relations challenges?

79: Labor Relations - Jane Addams (Part 2)

We discuss a famous speech by Jane Addams, titled "A Modern Lear," her reflections on the events leading to and during the infamous Pullman Railway Strike of 1894. Using ideas drawn from the emergence of classic pragmatism and Shakespeare’s King Lear as an analogy, Addams took both the ownership and workers to task for the violence and provides a way to avoid a recurrence of such a tragedy. In Part 1, we discuss the reasons for the strike and how Addams’ reactions to it contributed to the speech’s content.

79: Labor Relations - Jane Addams (Part 1)

We continue our discussion of a classic 1954 book by Alvin Gouldner titled, 'Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy.' We asked ourselves to what extent do the patterns that Gouldner and his research team uncovered still apply today, and how much do certain patterns seem to emerge more readily than others.

78: Patterns of Bureaucracy - Alvin Gouldner (Part 2)

We discuss a classic 1954 book by Alvin Gouldner titled 'Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy.' This describes the results of an ethnographic study conducted at a gypsum processing plant that included both a mine and a production line for construction materials. Gouldner and his team uncovered three distinct patterns of bureaucratic rules based on the acceptance and compliance of bureaucratic rules by workers and management.

78: Patterns of Bureaucracy - Alvin Gouldner (Part 1)

We continue our discussion of the 1975 article by J. Richard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham in the Journal of Applied Psychology titled, “Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey.” We asked ourselves to what extent does the JDS apply today, by looking at a range of contexts and industries that present tough challenges for today’s job designers.

77: Job Design - Hackman & Oldham (Part 2)

We discuss a 1975 article by J. Richard Hackman and Greg R. Oldham in the Journal of Applied Psychology titled, “Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey.” The purpose of the instrument was to help managers increase the motivational potential of jobs. They developed the JDS through the studies of existing jobs to determine what makes a job motivating and also how to improve the motivating potential of jobs from how they are defined and described. It remains a seminal reading in job design today. With Special Guest Lisa Cohen from McGill University.

77: Job Design - Hackman & Oldham (Part 1)

We continue our discussion of the 1967 article from Charles Perrow, “A Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Organizations.” We ask ourselves to what extent does the framework apply to any organization, and can it allow us to analyze organizations within the same industry that are otherwise incomparable – such as mass production firms or small-scale craft shops producing similar widgets.

76: Comparative Analysis of Organizations – Charles Perrow (Part 2)

We discuss a 1967 article from Charles Perrow, “A Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Organizations.” Perrow proposed a framework for comparing organizations, largely around “technology” which in contemporary times would be taken to mean the work to be performed. The framework allows analysis of the character of the work being done, nature of the raw material (e.g., tangible objects or intangible symbols), and associated task and social structures.

76: Comparative Analysis of Organizations – Charles Perrow (Part 1)

In Part 2 of our episode on Selznick’s TVA and the Grass Roots, we discuss its implications on contemporary organizational studies. In many ways, the story of TVA mirrors those of many other grass-roots style operations that have taken place since. The “cooptative mechanism” Selznick identified, whereby power or the burdens of power are shared and co-evolve, showed the relevance of political relations in the legitimacy that organizations—particularly public ones—strive for in order to operate.

75: Institutionalization - Philip Selznick (Part 2)

Philip Selnick's classic 1949 book, TVA and the Grass Roots: A Study in the Sociology of Formal Organization contributed to his theory of organization. The TVA -- the Tennessee Valley Authority -- was formed to foster recovery from the Great Depression. But its very existence was controversial as it sat uncomfortably between public and private sectors, and between the federal and state levels of government. What were the challenges the TVA faced and how did this story contribute to Selznick’s theory?

75: Institutionalization - Philip Selznick (Part 1)

We discussed how 1977, the publication date for "The Visible Hand" marked a watershed moment for middle management as it began to decline soon thereafter. Chastised as bureaucratic and a target for downsizing, middle management has been under continuous scrutiny and pressure to the present day. What might Chandler have said about this?

74: Emergence of Middle Management - Alfred Chandler (Part 2)

Talking About Organizations is a conversational podcast where we talk about one book, journal article or idea per episode and try to understand it, its purpose and its impact. By joining us as we collectively tackle managerial and organizational problems, you get the full benefit of active and organic thinking as opposed to passive receiving that normally accompanies a monologue or a lecture. Subscribe to our feed and begin Talking About Organizations as we take on great management thinkers of past and present!

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Talking About Organizations Podcast

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