Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a qualitative study of employees' sensemaking as a social, communicative process during a major organizational transformation. Design/methodology/approach – This case study describes a major transition in work mode, from...

Proposes that there are parallels between the roles of shamans in their communities and the roles which organizational change and development consultants can play in guiding organizational transformations. Presents fundamental assumptions underlying the shamanic perspective on transformational...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the persistent ambiguity of socialization practices in US and Swedish organizations, which promote a mature work identity while infantilizing their employees. Design/methodology/approach – Application of the insights from modernist...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to existing critiques of workplace spirituality and organizational culture. The paper links the two by problematising definitions of workplace spirituality that employ a “culture approach” to change, in which the construct is limited to...

Purpose – Although decision makers and their superiors are obliged to be open to bad news, dissent, warnings, and problem signs, employees are often afraid to speak up. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for the study of organizational dissent strategy used during the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the integrative influence of content, context, process, and individual differences on organizational change efforts. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from employees involved in a recent de‐merger. Using structural...

Purpose – This paper seeks to explore the notion of desire in relation to subjectivity at work by drawing on the work of Jacques Lacan. It aims particularly to consider the possible ways in which desire is evoked and channeled in managerial practices that are aimed at managing the self....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for predicting the role and effects of perceived organizational identity (POI) on organizational members' perceptions and behaviors during crisis and change situations, and the scope of the resulting POI changes that may occur....

Purpose – Building on social identity theory, the purpose of this paper is to present a study on the socio‐cultural integration process in a merger of two European pharmaceutical subsidiaries in Mexico. The paper investigates antecedents of perceived threat to pre‐merger identities in an...