- Q252 Quinn School
University College Dublin
Dublin, Ireland. - +353-1-7164751
Donncha Kavanagh
University College Dublin, Business and Law, Faculty Member
- Cultural Studies, Higher Education, Information Technology, Project Management, Innovation statistics, Business Ethics, and 17 moreHigher Education Policy, Innovation and Creativity (Business), Higher Education Management, Actor-Network-Theory, Critical Management Studies, Sociology of Organizations, Consumer Research, Management Education, Sociology of Art, Sociology of Childhood, Business and Economic Education, Disruptive technology, Aesthetics, Science and Technology Studies, Computer Networks, Databases, and Softwareedit
Implementing intra-organisational projects is particularly critical because those most directly affected by the project's outcome (namely the employees) can become resentful about the perceived impacts of the project.... more
Implementing intra-organisational projects is particularly critical because those most directly affected by the project's outcome (namely the employees) can become resentful about the perceived impacts of the project. Employees can resist the process of change during the implementation phase thus making it difficult for project managers to accomplish their job. Managers of intra-organisational projects need tools that will help them to generate staff acceptance towards the project, so that project implementation may run more predictably. ...
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‘Shock’ advertising is the new black and the subject of the reflection in which this article engages. We do this in particular through consideration of the (largely) British high-street fashion house French Connection’s seemingly endless... more
‘Shock’ advertising is the new black and the subject of the reflection in which this article engages. We do this in particular through consideration of the (largely) British high-street fashion house French Connection’s seemingly endless ‘FCUK’ campaign. The obvious resonance between this abbreviation and perhaps the most popular word in the English language was at the heart of the campaign’s appeal and it continues today through various extensions on both slogans and logos on French Connection’s own goods and indeed those who seek to piggy back upon and/or subvert its market power. It is far from the only example of such ‘shock’ tactics. Whether discussing reproduction in graphic detail with children, joyously dismantling chastity, or merely fucking with fuck, it seems that traditional mores can no longer remain virgin territory, unsullied by rapacious marketing. Our mediated experiences of reaching ‘extremes’, it now appears, are not paralysing, mesmerising, fascinating or inspiring but simply a further prod down the path leading to (gleeful) purchase. In this paper we explore how, via a series of semiotic reversals, the new, the strange, the unfamiliar and the would-be shocking are rendered banal, and thus thoroughly comprehensible through brand association and the endless re-iteration of existing works.
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Research Interests:
Abstract There is a contemporary scepticism towards vision-based metaphors in management and organization studies that reflects a more general pattern across the social sciences. In short, there has been a shift away from ocularcentrism.... more
Abstract There is a contemporary scepticism towards vision-based metaphors in management and organization studies that reflects a more general pattern across the social sciences. In short, there has been a shift away from ocularcentrism. This shift provides a useful basis for metatheoretical analysis of the philosophical discourse that informs organizational analysis. The article begins by briefly discussing the vision-generated, vision-centred interpretation of knowledge, truth, and reality that has characterized the western ...
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Research Interests:
Abstract While institutional theory has focused on the effect of institutions on individual organizations, this article addresses the relationships between institutions. Using a case history approach, it examines the relationship of one... more
Abstract While institutional theory has focused on the effect of institutions on individual organizations, this article addresses the relationships between institutions. Using a case history approach, it examines the relationship of one institution, the University, within an institutional complex. The study suggests that the University acts and has a role akin to the Fool in the medieval royal court. The Fool is embedded in a multiplicity of loyal yet agonistic relationships with a collection ofSovereign'institutions, such as the Church, the State, the ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In seeking to emphasise practical philosophy this volume follows in a long tradition of bridge building between theory and practice (or, alternatively, between philosophy and politics (Arendt 1990)). In this chapter, we argue that science... more
In seeking to emphasise practical philosophy this volume follows in a long tradition of bridge building between theory and practice (or, alternatively, between philosophy and politics (Arendt 1990)). In this chapter, we argue that science fiction can be a potent means of practicalising philosophy through its ability to link the abstraction of theory and the messiness of practice. Science fiction sheds light on theory by providing an idealtypical setting through which theory can be represented, clarified and developed.
Abstract The focus of this chapter is on a particular aspect of the relationship between humour and organization, namely the deliberate production of humour by organizations through advertising. Our aim is to study humour in advertising... more
Abstract The focus of this chapter is on a particular aspect of the relationship between humour and organization, namely the deliberate production of humour by organizations through advertising. Our aim is to study humour in advertising and through doing so to investigate what it tells us about humour, organizations and the social context of advertising/consumption. Specifi cally, we are interested in explaining the nature and increasing use of humour during the period that has come to be known as late capitalism.
'Shock'advertising is the new black and the subject of the reflection in which this article engages. We do this in particular through consideration of the (largely) British high-street fashion house French Connection's seemingly endless... more
'Shock'advertising is the new black and the subject of the reflection in which this article engages. We do this in particular through consideration of the (largely) British high-street fashion house French Connection's seemingly endless 'FCUK'campaign.
Implementing intra-organisational projects is particularly critical because those most directly affected by the project's outcome (namely the employees) can become resentful about the perceived impacts of the project. Employees can resist... more
Implementing intra-organisational projects is particularly critical because those most directly affected by the project's outcome (namely the employees) can become resentful about the perceived impacts of the project. Employees can resist the process of change during the implementation phase thus making it difficult for project managers to accomplish their job.
This paper considers relations between violence and organization as seen through the lens moulded by Rene Girard. This is because more than any other writer of his generation Girard postulates the primacy of violence in his sociological... more
This paper considers relations between violence and organization as seen through the lens moulded by Rene Girard. This is because more than any other writer of his generation Girard postulates the primacy of violence in his sociological theorising. In this paper we first outline Girard's theory. Next we discuss this in relation to Freudian theories of organization. We then draw out some of the implications of his theory for the understanding of topics within Organization Theory, such as bureaucracy and sexual harassment.
Abstract While institutional theory has focused on the effect of institutions on individual organizations, this article addresses the relationships between institutions. Using a case history approach, it examines the relationship of one... more
Abstract While institutional theory has focused on the effect of institutions on individual organizations, this article addresses the relationships between institutions. Using a case history approach, it examines the relationship of one institution, the University, within an institutional complex. The study suggests that the University acts and has a role akin to the Fool in the medieval royal court.
Abstract There is a contemporary scepticism towards vision-based metaphors in management and organization studies that reflects a more general pattern across the social sciences. In short, there has been a shift away from ocularcentrism.... more
Abstract There is a contemporary scepticism towards vision-based metaphors in management and organization studies that reflects a more general pattern across the social sciences. In short, there has been a shift away from ocularcentrism. This shift provides a useful basis for metatheoretical analysis of the philosophical discourse that informs organizational analysis.
SIREN (SImulation of REpetitive Networks) is a computer model of repetitive construction such as the construction of multi-story buildings, housing estates, linear projects, etc. The user interactively inputs a precedence diagram for the... more
SIREN (SImulation of REpetitive Networks) is a computer model of repetitive construction such as the construction of multi-story buildings, housing estates, linear projects, etc. The user interactively inputs a precedence diagram for the repetitive unit (eg, one floor of a skyscraper) and additional “sub-networks” that are not part of the repetitive sequence (eg, first floor of skyscraper). From this information, the computer generates the whole network. Data is input via an IBM-PC at which point extensive error checking is carried out.
In seeking to emphasise practical philosophy this volume follows in a long tradition of bridge building between theory and practice (or, alternatively, between philosophy and politics (Arendt 1990)). In this chapter, we argue that science... more
In seeking to emphasise practical philosophy this volume follows in a long tradition of bridge building between theory and practice (or, alternatively, between philosophy and politics (Arendt 1990)). In this chapter, we argue that science fiction can be a potent means of practicalising philosophy through its ability to link the abstraction of theory and the messiness of practice. Science fiction sheds light on theory by providing an idealtypical setting through which theory can be represented, clarified and developed.
Abstract: Argues that the philosophical debate in marketing, led by Shelby Hunt and Paul Anderson, is no longer providing new insights and is symptomatic of the anthropocentrism of the social sciences. This anthropocentrism has had... more
Abstract: Argues that the philosophical debate in marketing, led by Shelby Hunt and Paul Anderson, is no longer providing new insights and is symptomatic of the anthropocentrism of the social sciences. This anthropocentrism has had consequent implications for meta-theoretical frameworks that describe the field and has limited the breadth of philosophical discussion in marketing.
This paper discusses the difficulties involved in managing knowledge-intensive, multinational, multiorganisational, and multifunctional project networks. The study is based on a 2-year quasi-ethnography of one such network engaged in the... more
This paper discusses the difficulties involved in managing knowledge-intensive, multinational, multiorganisational, and multifunctional project networks. The study is based on a 2-year quasi-ethnography of one such network engaged in the design and development of a complex new process control system for an existing pharmaceutical plant in Ireland.
Abstract Business strategy publications about decision-making have provided a large amount of information on decision-making relating to market share, competitive advantage, managing change and achieving quality. Nevertheless, little... more
Abstract Business strategy publications about decision-making have provided a large amount of information on decision-making relating to market share, competitive advantage, managing change and achieving quality. Nevertheless, little research has been carried out on strategic environmental management. Four in-depth case studies of environmental strategy formation and implementation in chemical/pharmaceutical companies in Ireland are presented here.
Marketing is contemplating its End, in at least two senses of the word (Brown 1993; Brownlie and Saren 1992, 1995). Ruminations on its demise are unsurprising, since crisis and images of death are primal parts of our attempt at making... more
Marketing is contemplating its End, in at least two senses of the word (Brown 1993; Brownlie and Saren 1992, 1995). Ruminations on its demise are unsurprising, since crisis and images of death are primal parts of our attempt at making sense of the world (Kermode 1967). Such apocalyptic visions occur with particular sharpness at fin de siècle times, not to mention towards the close of a millennium, which might explain the recent flurry of announcements of the End: of the world (Meadows et at.
Ordering processes; Actor-network theory Management Management.
Time is a construct or variable that is fundamental to a variety of theories of organizational change and strategic planning, as well as numerous mid-range models such as the product life cycle. In virtually all of these models, time is... more
Time is a construct or variable that is fundamental to a variety of theories of organizational change and strategic planning, as well as numerous mid-range models such as the product life cycle. In virtually all of these models, time is assumed to be unproblematic, independent,“out there”, and unilinear; time follows its own arrow. In contrast, a long standing tradition of research in the social sciences points out that time is socially constructed and that in any society a repertoire of chronological codes is employed.
Fans are a group that are stigmatized and discredited, at least to some degree, by their “deviant” and common form of symbolic consumption. At stake in the process of stigmatization is the very identity of the individual fan, and their... more
Fans are a group that are stigmatized and discredited, at least to some degree, by their “deviant” and common form of symbolic consumption. At stake in the process of stigmatization is the very identity of the individual fan, and their symbolic and emotional well‐being. This paper reports on an empirical study of one particular group of fans—Star Trek fans (or “Trekkies”)—and explores the complex identity issues articulated by them as they “manage” their problematic public identity.
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Abstract James March's highly influential article on organizational learning underpins the studies of exploration and exploitation collected in this issue. What is less well known is that March's article, which is based on a computer... more
Abstract James March's highly influential article on organizational learning underpins the studies of exploration and exploitation collected in this issue. What is less well known is that March's article, which is based on a computer simulation of collective and individual learning, reflects a real-life experiment in exploration and exploitation that he, in large part, designed and conducted when he was the new 'boy Dean'of the School of Social Sciences in the University of California at Irvine between 1964 and 1969.
This paper takes some of Melanie Klein's ideas, which Bion (1961/1998) previously used to understand group dynamics, to analyse the discipline of management studies since its 'birth'in the United States in the late 19th century.... more
This paper takes some of Melanie Klein's ideas, which Bion (1961/1998) previously used to understand group dynamics, to analyse the discipline of management studies since its 'birth'in the United States in the late 19th century. Specifically, it focuses on the idealisation of work and play, and argues that at its inception, for idiosyncratic historical reasons, the discipline was rooted in a 'paranoid-schizoid'position in which work was idealised as good and play as bad.
Abstract Alasdair MacIntyre's distinction between institutions and practices helps illuminate how powerful institutional forces frame and constrain the practice of organizational research as well as the output and positioning of scholarly... more
Abstract Alasdair MacIntyre's distinction between institutions and practices helps illuminate how powerful institutional forces frame and constrain the practice of organizational research as well as the output and positioning of scholarly journals like Organization. Yet his conceptual frame is limited, not least because it is unclear whether the activity of managing is, or is not, a practice. This paper builds on MacIntyre's ideas by incorporating Aristotle's concepts of poíēsis, praxis, téchnē and phrónēsis.
Abstract This paper argue that critical management scholars need to give more time to critiquing and understanding the institutions that reproduce practice-in particular the university-rather than follow the current empiricist fetish for... more
Abstract This paper argue that critical management scholars need to give more time to critiquing and understanding the institutions that reproduce practice-in particular the university-rather than follow the current empiricist fetish for studying practice in situ. The paper begins by presenting a taxonomy of different'ideas of the university'. This will hopefully provide some insight into the ongoing dillemmas and conflicts that pervade the experience of management academics and their uneasy relationship with practitioners.
This paper reviews a remarkable experiment in organisation. At the centre of the story is James G.(Jim) March, one of the most influential scholars in management and organisation studies over the last half century. He is best known for... more
This paper reviews a remarkable experiment in organisation. At the centre of the story is James G.(Jim) March, one of the most influential scholars in management and organisation studies over the last half century. He is best known for his work on organizational decision-making, though he has published in the fields of politics, economics, psychology, sociology, leadership and organization studies.
“I am of Ireland; come dance with me in Ireland”. With these words, Mary Robinson ended her inaugural address on her appointment as Irish President in December 1990. In the intervening fifteen years, Ireland has undergone a remarkable... more
“I am of Ireland; come dance with me in Ireland”. With these words, Mary Robinson ended her inaugural address on her appointment as Irish President in December 1990. In the intervening fifteen years, Ireland has undergone a remarkable period of economic, social and cultural renewal; its economic turnaround and accelerated cultural modernization being so dramatic and unprecedented that the term 'Celtic Tiger'was coined and popularised to describe the phenomenon.
Abstract That we live in a time of unprecedented and ever-increasing change is both a shibboleth of our age and the more-or-less explicit justification for all manner of “strategic” actions. The seldom, if ever, questioned assumption is... more
Abstract That we live in a time of unprecedented and ever-increasing change is both a shibboleth of our age and the more-or-less explicit justification for all manner of “strategic” actions. The seldom, if ever, questioned assumption is that our now is more ephemeral, more evanescent, than any that preceded it. In this essay, we subject this assumption to some critical scrutiny, utilizing a range of empirical detail. In the face of this assay we find the assumption to be considerably wanting.
This paper considers the desire for unity, reconciliation and consensus underpinning three models of talking–namely,'the meeting','the dyadic love relationship', and 'the psychoanalytic session'. We highlight the three domains' shared... more
This paper considers the desire for unity, reconciliation and consensus underpinning three models of talking–namely,'the meeting','the dyadic love relationship', and 'the psychoanalytic session'. We highlight the three domains' shared intellectual and historical heritage wherein talk is seen as a mode of achieving unity (of the group, of the dyad, or of the self) and conversely 'silence'is seen as pathology.
This paper introduces a novel method for investigating the interfaces between art work and managerial work in the creative industries. The method, which we are calling dispraxis, seeks to transcend the traditional divisions between the... more
This paper introduces a novel method for investigating the interfaces between art work and managerial work in the creative industries. The method, which we are calling dispraxis, seeks to transcend the traditional divisions between the academic world and the world of practice. This particular dispraxis is a structured, iterative dialogue between an academic, a manager, and an artist on the themes identified in the call for papers. In this dispraxis the following four themes were elicited.
Concepts developed by the academic community… must be recovered from operational and textbook definitions and reconnected to ways of seeing and thinking about the world. In the dialectics of the situation and the talk of individuals with... more
Concepts developed by the academic community… must be recovered from operational and textbook definitions and reconnected to ways of seeing and thinking about the world. In the dialectics of the situation and the talk of individuals with different perspectives, the emergence of new ways of talking becomes possible. Alvesson and Deetz, 2000: 146
Abstract The Irish economic boom, commonly known as the Celtic Tiger, provides an interesting and unique opportunity to explore the relationship between the profound shifts in the organization of working life and in the production and... more
Abstract The Irish economic boom, commonly known as the Celtic Tiger, provides an interesting and unique opportunity to explore the relationship between the profound shifts in the organization of working life and in the production and consumption of culture. In this paper, we confine our inquiry into the relationship with one aspect of popular culture, namely dance, focusing on the phenomenon of Riverdance which emerged contemporaneously with the Celtic Tiger.
ABSTRACT We are interested in the emergence of new markets. While the literature contains various perspectives on how such new markets come to be, the dynamics of the marketization process are less clear. This paper focuses on the... more
ABSTRACT We are interested in the emergence of new markets. While the literature contains various perspectives on how such new markets come to be, the dynamics of the marketization process are less clear. This paper focuses on the development of stent technology and examines the activities characteristic of its emerging market.
Abstract Alasdair MacIntyre's distinction between institutions and practices helps illuminate how powerful institutional forces frame and constrain the practice of organizational research as well as the output and positioning of scholarly... more
Abstract Alasdair MacIntyre's distinction between institutions and practices helps illuminate how powerful institutional forces frame and constrain the practice of organizational research as well as the output and positioning of scholarly journals. Yet his conceptual frame is limited, not least because it is unclear whether the activity of managing is, or is not, a practice. This paper builds on MacIntyre's ideas by incorporating Aristotle's concepts of poíēsis, praxis, téchnē and phrónēsis.
