Postmodern management? From facts to fiction in theory and practice

Postmodernism has recently cropped up as a new buzz word in the organization and management sciences, and the purpose of this article is to critically examine its potential value in the discourse of organizations and management. The article starts with a discussion of the concept of postmodernism, showing that it is used; as an indicator of the present epoch (the postmodern age or condition), as a way of capturing a contemporary movement in the arts and literature (an "ism"), and finally as a particular mode of discourse. With the help of some of the basic postmodern assumptions and concepts, the article then proceeds to a review of contemporary Swedish organization and management theory and praxis. The review shows that the present situation can be characterized by the deconstruction of organization structures, the rejection of grand strategies, an emphasis on expressivism and the importance of coding. In the last section of the article the usefulness of the postmodern perspective for managerial purposes is discussed. It is also claimed that parallel with this deconstruction of organization structures and positive norms, it is possible to discern the reconstruction of social and cultural values developed in an open discourse and resulting in collective reason -- and morals.