This article addresses the question of how metaphor works and illustrates this with an explication of the ‘organization as theatre’ metaphor. It is argued that the so-called comparison account of metaphor that has dominated organization studies to date is flawed, misguided, and incapable of accounting for the fact that metaphors generate inferences beyond the similarities required for comprehending the metaphor and that metaphoric understanding is creative, with the features of importance being emergent rather than existing antecedently. A new model of metaphor for organizational theorizing is therefore proposed in this article and illustrated through an extended discussion and explication of the ‘organization as theatre’ metaphor. This explication shows furthermore that the ‘organization as theatre’ metaphor has not broken any new ground or led to any conceptual advances in organization theory, but has just provided a language of theatre (actors, scenes, scripts, and so on) for framing and communicating identity and role enactment within organizations. Constitutive principles and governing rules are derived from this model and from detailing the ‘organization as theatre’ metaphor, which, it is suggested, can guide theorists and researchers in their use of metaphor in organization studies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alvesson, Mats 1993 ‘The play of metaphors’ in Postmodernism and organizations. J. Hassard and M. Parker (eds). London: Sage .
2.
Baars, Bernard J. 1997 In the theatre of consciousness: The workspace of the mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
3.
Bacharach, Samuel B. 1989 ‘Organizational theories: Some criteria for evaluation’ . Academy of Management Review14: 496–515 .
4.
Barrett, Frank J., and David L. Cooperrider 1990 ‘Generative metaphor intervention: A new behavioral approach for working with systems divided by conflict and caught in defensive perception’ . Journal of Applied Behavioral Science26: 219–239 .
5.
Black, Max 1962 Models and metaphors. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press .
6.
Black, Max 1979 ‘More about metaphor’ in Metaphor and thought. Andrew Ortony (ed.), 19–43. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
7.
Boje, David M. 1995 ‘Stories of the storytelling organization: A postmodern analysis of Disney as “ Tamaraland”’ . Academy of Management Journal38: 997–1035 .
8.
Boje, David M. 2002 Theatres of capitalism: Managing corporate spectacle, resisting with carnival, and creating festival on the global stage. San Francisco, CA: Hampton Press .
9.
Bourgeois, Warren V., and Craig Pinder 1983 ‘Contrasting philosophical perspectives in administrative science: A reply to Morgan’ . Administrative Science Quarterly28: 608–613 .
10.
Camac, Mary K., and Sam Glucksberg 1984 ‘Metaphors do not use associations between concepts, they are used to create them’ . Journal of Psycholinguistic Research13: 443–455 .
11.
Cornelissen, Joep P. 2002 ‘On the organizational identity metaphor’ . British Journal of Management13: 259–268 .
12.
Czarniawska, Barbara 1997 Narrating the organization: Dramas of institutional identities. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
13.
Czarniawska-Joerges, Barbara, and Rolf Wolff 1991 ‘Leaders, managers, entrepreneurs on and off the organizational stage’ . Organization Studies12: 529–547 .
14.
Davidson, Donald 1984 Inquiries into truth and interpretation. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
15.
Eubanks, Philip 1999 ‘The story of conceptual metaphor: What motivates metaphoric mappings?’ Poetics Today20: 419–442 .
16.
Fauconnier, Gilles, and Mark Turner 1998 ‘Conceptual integration networks’ . Cognitive Science22: 133–187 .
17.
Gentner, Derdre 1983 ‘Structure mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy’ . Cognitive Science7: 155–170 .
18.
Gentner, Derdre, and Arthur B. Markman 1997 ‘Structure mapping in analogy and similarity’ . American Psychologist52: 45–56 .
19.
Gibbs, Raymond W., Jr 1992a ‘Categorization and metaphor understanding’ . Psychological Review99: 572–577 .
20.
Gibbs, Raymond W., Jr 1992b ‘When is metaphor? The idea of understanding in theories of metaphor’ . Poetics Today13: 575–606 .
Goffman, Erving 1959 The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday .
23.
Grant, David, and Cliff Oswick, editors1996 Metaphor and organizations. London: Sage .
24.
Harvey, Arlene 2001 ‘A dramaturgical analysis of charismatic leader discourse’ . Journal of Organizational Change Management14: 253–265 .
25.
Höpfl, Heather J. 2001 ‘Organizational theatre and the site of performance’ . Paper presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Washington DC, August.
26.
Inns, Dawn E., and Philip J. Jones 1996 ‘Metaphor in organization theory: Following in the footsteps of the poet?’ in Metaphor and organizations. D. Grant and C. Oswick (eds), 110–126. London: Sage .
27.
Jeffcutt, Paul, Robert Grafton-Small, and Stephen Linstead 1996 ‘Organizations as a theatre of performance’ . Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies2: 3–8 .
28.
K‰rreman, Dan 2001 ‘The scripted organization: Dramaturgy from Burke to Baudrillard’ in Language and organization. Robert Westwood and Stephen Linstead (eds), 89–111. London: Sage .
29.
Katz, Albert N. 1992 ‘Psychological studies in metaphor processing: Extensions to the placement of terms in semantic space’ . Poetics Today13: 607–632 .
30.
Kendall, Julie E. 1993 ‘Good and evil in the chairmen’s boiler plate: An analysis of corporate visions of the 1970s’ . Organization Studies14: 571–593 .
31.
Khandwalla, Pradip N. 1988 ‘Organization as theatre’ , book review. Organization Studies9: 435–440 .
32.
Kostera, Monika, Miroslaw Proppe, and Maciej Szatkowski 1995 ‘Staging the new romantic hero in the old cynical theatre: On managers, roles and change in Poland’ . Journal of Organizational Behavior16: 631–646 .
33.
Lakoff, George 1993 ‘The contemporary theory of metaphor’ in Metaphor and thought, 2nd edn. Andrew Ortony (ed.), 202–251. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
34.
Lakoff, George, and Mark Turner 1989 More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press .
35.
McGlone, Matthew S., and Deanna A. Manfredi 2001 ‘Topic-vehicle interaction in metaphor comprehension’ . Memory and Cognition29: 1209–1219 .
36.
Mangham, Iain L. 1988 Power and performance in organizations: An exploration of executive process. Oxford: Blackwell .
37.
Mangham, Iain L. 1990 ‘Managing as a performing art’ . British Journal of Management1: 105–115 .
38.
Mangham, Iain L. 1996 ‘All the world’s a...’ . Studies in Cultures, Organizations and Societies2: 9–13 .
39.
Mangham, Iain L. 2001 ‘Afterword: Looking for Henry’ . Journal of Organizational Change Management14: 295–304 .
40.
Mangham, Iain L., and Michael A. Overington 1987 Organizations as theatre: A social psychology of dramatic appearances. Chichester: Wiley .
41.
Morgan, Gareth 1980 ‘Paradigms, metaphors and puzzle solving in organizational theory’ . Administrative Science Quarterly25: 605–622 .
42.
Morgan, Gareth 1983 ‘More on metaphor: Why we cannot control tropes in administrative science’ . Administrative Science Quarterly28: 601–607 .
43.
Morgan, Gareth 1986 Images of organization. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage .
Oswick, Cliff, Tom Keenoy, and David Grant 2001 ‘Dramatizing and organizing: Acting and being’ . Journal of Organizational Change Management14: 218–224 .
48.
Oswick, Cliff, Tom Keenoy, and David Grant 2002 ‘Metaphor and analogical reasoning in organization theory: Beyond orthodoxy’ . Academy of Management Review27: 294–303 .
49.
Pinder, Craig, and Warren V. Bourgeois 1982 ‘Controlling tropes in administrative science’ . Administrative Science Quarterly27: 641–652 .
50.
Pondy, Louis R., Peter J. Frost, Gareth Morgan, and Tom C. Dandridge 1983 Organizational symbolism. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press .
51.
Schreyögg, Georg 2001 ‘Organizational theatre and organizational change’ . Paper presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Washington DC, August.
52.
Schreyögg, Georg, and Robert Dabitz, editors1999 Unternehmenstheatre: Formen, erfahrungen, erfolgreicher einsatz. Wiesbaden: Gabler .
Shen, Yeshayahu 1999 ‘Principles of metaphor interpretation and the notion of “domain”: A proposal for a hybrid model’ . Journal of Pragmatics31: 1631–1653 .
56.
Shotter, John 1993 Conversational realities: Constructing life through language. London: Sage .
57.
Sievers, Burkard 1995 ‘Characters in search of a theatre: Organization as theatre for the drama of childhood and the drama at work’ . Free Associations5: 196–220 .
58.
ThiÈtart, Raymond-Alain, and Bernard Forgues 1995 ‘Chaos theory and organizations’ . Organization Science6: 19–42 .
59.
Tinker, Tony 1986 ‘Metaphor or reification: Are radical humanists really libertarian anarchists?’ Journal of Management Studies23: 363–385 .
60.
Tourangeau, Roger, and Lance Rips 1991 ‘Interpreting and evaluating metaphors’ . Journal of Memory and Language30: 452–472 .
61.
Tourangeau, Roger, and Robert Sternberg 1981 ‘Aptness in metaphor’ . Cognitive Psychology13: 27–55 .
62.
Tourangeau, Roger, and Robert Sternberg 1982 ‘Understanding and appreciating metaphors’ . Cognition11: 203–244 .
63.
Tsoukas, Haridimos 1991 ‘The missing link: A transformational view of metaphors in organizational science’ . Academy of Management Review16: 566–585 .
64.
Tsoukas, Haridimos 1993 ‘Analogical reasoning and knowledge generation in organization theory’ . Organization Studies14: 323–346 .
65.
Walker, Robyn, and Nanette Monin 2001 ‘The purpose of the picnic: Using Burke’s dramatistic pentad to analyse a company event’ . Journal of Organizational Change Management14: 266–279 .
66.
Walsh, James P., and Gerardo R. Ungson 1991 ‘Organizational memory’ . Academy of Management Review16: 57–91 .
67.
Way, Eileen C. 1991 Knowledge representation and metaphor. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers .
68.
Weick, Karl E. 1989 ‘Theory construction as disciplined imagination’ . Academy of Management Review14: 516–531 .
69.
Weick, Karl E., and Karlene H. Roberts 1993 ‘Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks’ . Administrative Science Quarterly38: 357–382 .
70.
Wilshire, Bruce 1982 Role playing and identity: The limits of theatre as a metaphor. Bloomington: Indiana University Press .
71.
Zack, Michael H. 2000 ‘Jazz improvisation and organizing: Once more from the top’ . Organization Science11: 227–234 .
