A Critical Plot Twist: Changing Characters and Foreshadowing the Future of Organizational Storytelling

Beigi, M.; Callahan, J.L.; Michaelson, C.

Abstract

This review explores the evolution of scholarly research about organizational storytelling over the past 40 years in a sample of 165 papers published between 1975 and 2015. The authors contend that organizational storytelling has established a conventional foothold beside the dominant, scientific narrative of organization studies. Meanwhile, the voice of critical storytelling in organizations has emerged, confirming (and extending) five organizational storytelling themes identified by Rhodes and Brown: sensemaking (and subverting); communicating (and manipulating); change, learning (and challenge); power (and dissent); and identity and identification (and alienation). This review reveals the growing influence of critical management studies, emphasizing the role stories play in disrupting conventional narratives, enriching understanding of present and future storytelling in organizations, and of organizations in general.

Citation

Beigi, M., Callahan, J., & Michaelson, C. (2019). A Critical Plot Twist: Changing Characters and Foreshadowing the Future of Organizational Storytelling. International Journal of Management Reviews, 21(4), 447-465. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12203

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 28, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 11, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019-10
• Deposit Date: Oct 19, 2021
• Journal: International Journal of Management Reviews
• Print ISSN: 1460-8545
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 447-465
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12203
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1234550