Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Positioning, conflict, and dialogue in management teams

Positioning, conflict, and dialogue in management teams The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics of social positioning and interpersonal conflicts in management teams. This paper utilizes positioning theory to analyze team conflicts by combining microlevel interaction analysis and explicit, meso-level team research in the context of managerial work.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on an analysis of 34 conflict episodes that occurred during management board meetings conducted by two Finnish public research institutions. By analyzing naturally occurring interactions and video material, this paper presents a discursive analysis of conflict from the perspective of positioning theory, focusing on local moral orders, social positions and the construction of dialogue.FindingsThis study’s findings illuminate how team conflicts may be understood in terms of positioning theory, as well as how positioning is connected to managing conflicts and constructing either degenerative or generative dialogue in teams. The present study indicates possibilities for applying positioning theory as a methodological tool when studying team interactions and dialogue.Practical implicationsThe study offers practical implications regarding team conflict management. By developing an understanding of the positioning dynamics of managers and other team members, one can help create constructive and generative dialogue in teams.Originality/valueFrom a methodological perspective, this paper presents a novel approach to the study of team conflicts and outlines several suggestions regarding the theoretical approach in the analysis of team interaction and dynamics. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal Emerald Publishing

Positioning, conflict, and dialogue in management teams

Download PDF
21 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/positioning-conflict-and-dialogue-in-management-teams-ooV7QPFF5V
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1746-5648
DOI
10.1108/qrom-05-2018-1637
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics of social positioning and interpersonal conflicts in management teams. This paper utilizes positioning theory to analyze team conflicts by combining microlevel interaction analysis and explicit, meso-level team research in the context of managerial work.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on an analysis of 34 conflict episodes that occurred during management board meetings conducted by two Finnish public research institutions. By analyzing naturally occurring interactions and video material, this paper presents a discursive analysis of conflict from the perspective of positioning theory, focusing on local moral orders, social positions and the construction of dialogue.FindingsThis study’s findings illuminate how team conflicts may be understood in terms of positioning theory, as well as how positioning is connected to managing conflicts and constructing either degenerative or generative dialogue in teams. The present study indicates possibilities for applying positioning theory as a methodological tool when studying team interactions and dialogue.Practical implicationsThe study offers practical implications regarding team conflict management. By developing an understanding of the positioning dynamics of managers and other team members, one can help create constructive and generative dialogue in teams.Originality/valueFrom a methodological perspective, this paper presents a novel approach to the study of team conflicts and outlines several suggestions regarding the theoretical approach in the analysis of team interaction and dynamics.

Journal

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal – Emerald Publishing

Published: Nov 21, 2019

Keywords: Positioning; Teams; Conflict; Dialogue; Positioning theory; Managerial work

References

  • Applying positioning theory to the analysis of classroom interactions: mediating micro-identities, macro-kinds, and ideologies of knowing
    Anderson, K.T.
  • Performance management in the public sector: the ultimate challenge
    Arnaboldi, M.; Lapsley, I.; Steccolini, I.
  • Meeting talk: an introduction
    Asmuß, B.; Svennevig, J.
  • Positioning analysis of Filipino family narratives in the context of prisoner reintegration
    Bertulfo, D.J.; Canoy, N.; Celeste, M.A.
  • Discursive positioning and planned change in organizations
    Bisel, R.S.; Barge, J.K.
  • Language and organization: the doing of discourse
    Boje, D.; Oswick, C.; Ford, J.
  • Using thematic analysis in psychology
    Braun, V.; Clarke, V.
  • Small stories, positioning, and discursive construction of leader identity in business meetings
    Clifton, J.
  • Positioning: the discursive production of selves
    Davies, B.; Harré, R.
  • Group culture and the interaction order: local sociology on the meso-level
    Fine, G.
  • Group cultures and the everyday life of organizations: Interaction orders and meso-analysis
    Fine, G.; Hallett, T.
  • Intersubjectivity: towards a dialogical analysis
    Gillespie, A.; Cornish, L.
  • Methodological practicalities in analytical generalization
    Halkier, B.
  • The person as the nexus of patterns of discursive practices
    Harré, R.
  • Disputes as complex social events: on the uses of positioning theory
    Harré, R.; Slocum, N.
  • Positioning in an inter-professional team meeting: examining positioning theory as methodological tool for micro-cultural group studies
    Hirvonen, P.
  • Positioning theory and small-group interaction
    Hirvonen, P.
  • Leadership and managing conflict in meetings
    Holmes, J.; Marra, M.
  • Situating a new voice in public relations: the application of positioning theory to research and practice
    James, M.
  • Positioning in the analysis of discourse and interaction
    Jones, R.H.; Chapelle, C.A.
  • In search of ‘managerial work’: past, present and future of an analytical category
    Korica, M.; Nicolini, D.; Johnson, B.
  • Strategy discussions and dialogicality: multi-voicedness and the we-mode of action in management board meetings
    Kuusela, P.; Hirvonen, P.
  • Intergroup positioning in the political sphere: contesting the social meaning of a peace agreement
    Montiel, C.J.; De Guzman, J.
  • The new public governance?
    Osborne, S.P.
  • Toward a theory of managing organizational conflict
    Rahim, M.A.
  • The positioning diamond: a trans-disciplinary framework for discourse analysis
    Slocum-Bradley, N.
  • Managing managerial identities: organizational fragmentation, discourse and identity struggle
    Sveningsson, S.; Alvesson, M.
  • Positioning theory and discourse analysis: some tools for social interaction analysis
    Tirado, F.; Gálvez, A.
  • Varieties of moral orders and the dual structure of society: a perspective from positioning theory
    Van Langenhove, L.
  • Managing identity: identity work, personal predicaments and structural circumstances
    Watson, T.J.
  • Validity and generalizations in future case study evaluations
    Yin, R.
  • Discursive positioning and collective resistance: how managers can unwittingly co-create team resistance
    Zanin, A.C.; Bisel, R.