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Telling tales at work: narrative insight into managers’ actions

Telling tales at work: narrative insight into managers’ actions Narrative is discussed as a way of making sense of the world of work. Qualitative research in organisations often falls short of discovering the ethnographic or agent‐centred meanings and assumptions which underlie action. It is argued that eliciting and analysing managerial narratives helps researchers identify the implicit reasoning and assumptive knowledge that underlies decisions and actions. It also allows respondents to provide narrative representations of how they see the past, present and future in their work and attain a fuller degree of coherent understanding. Research like this can shed valuable light on both the tacit and explicit knowledge in the organisation. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Library Review Emerald Publishing

Telling tales at work: narrative insight into managers’ actions

Stuart Hannabuss
Library Review , Volume 49 (5): 12 – Jul 1, 2000
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12 pages

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 MCB UP Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0024-2535
DOI
10.1108/00242530010331745
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Narrative is discussed as a way of making sense of the world of work. Qualitative research in organisations often falls short of discovering the ethnographic or agent‐centred meanings and assumptions which underlie action. It is argued that eliciting and analysing managerial narratives helps researchers identify the implicit reasoning and assumptive knowledge that underlies decisions and actions. It also allows respondents to provide narrative representations of how they see the past, present and future in their work and attain a fuller degree of coherent understanding. Research like this can shed valuable light on both the tacit and explicit knowledge in the organisation.

Journal

Library Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 1, 2000

Keywords: Narratives; Research; Qualitative technique; Management stories

References

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