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Organizations As Rhetoric: Knowledge‐Intensive Firms And The Struggle With Ambiguity

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  • Mats Alvesson

Abstract

This article discusses the concepts of knowledge‐intensive workers and firms. the functional view is questioned and a perspective on knowledge as institutionalized myth and rationality‐surrogate is proposed. the ambiguity of knowledge work is emphasized and it is argued that a crucial dimension of a knowledge‐intensive organization concerns the struggle with this ambiguity, which leads to efforts to refine various rhetorical strategies. Besides those stressing knowledge, science and rationality, the article points to rhetoric describing employees in knowledge‐intensive firms as possessing other personal qualities and orientations than personnel employed in bureaucracies.

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  • Mats Alvesson, 1993. "Organizations As Rhetoric: Knowledge‐Intensive Firms And The Struggle With Ambiguity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 997-1015, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:30:y:1993:i:6:p:997-1015
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.1993.tb00476.x
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    3. Mallett, Oliver & Wapshott, Robert, 2012. "Mediating ambiguity: Narrative identity and knowledge workers," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 16-26.
    4. Hoyer, Patrizia, 2016. "Making space for ambiguity: Rethinking organizational identification from a career perspective," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 166-177.
    5. Brown, Paul & Ly, Tuan & Pham, Hannah & Sivabalan, Prabhu, 2020. "Automation and management control in dynamic environments: Managing organisational flexibility and energy efficiency in service sectors," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    6. Philippe Baumard, 1996. "Organizations in the Fog: An Investigation into the Dynamics of Knowledge," Post-Print hal-03230959, HAL.
    7. Beau, Pauline & Jerman, Lambert, 2022. "Bonding forged in “auditing hell”: The emotional qualities of Big Four auditors," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Christopher Arz, 2017. "Mechanisms of Organizational Culture for Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(04), pages 361-409, December.
    9. Nikolova, Natalia & Möllering, Guido & Reihlen, Markus, 2015. "Trusting as a ‘Leap of Faith’: Trust-building practices in client–consultant relationships," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 232-245.
    10. Prpić, John, 2017. "Project Risk Management Incorporating Knight, Ellsberg & Kahneman," SocArXiv yqhjx, Center for Open Science.
    11. Anderson-Gough, Fiona & Edgley, Carla & Robson, Keith & Sharma, Nina, 2022. "Organizational responses to multiple logics: Diversity, identity and the professional service firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    12. Styhre, Alexander, 2011. "Institutionalizing technoscience: Post-genomic technologies and the case of systems biology," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 375-388.
    13. Virva Salmivaara & Ewald Kibler, 2020. "“Rhetoric Mix†of Argumentations: How Policy Rhetoric Conveys Meaning of Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(4), pages 700-732, July.
    14. La Torre, Matteo & Dumay, John & Rea, Michele Antonio & Abhayawansa, Subhash, 2020. "A journey towards a safe harbour: The rhetorical process of the International Integrated Reporting Council," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    15. Guiette, Alain & Vandenbempt, Koen, 2017. "Change managerialism and micro-processes of sensemaking during change implementation," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 65-81.
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    17. Emily E. Griffith, 2020. "Auditors, Specialists, and Professional Jurisdiction in Audits of Fair Values†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 245-276, March.
    18. Hoque, Zahirul, 2014. "20 years of studies on the balanced scorecard: Trends, accomplishments, gaps and opportunities for future research," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 33-59.
    19. Khuong Le-Nguyen & Romano Dyerson & G. Harindranath, 2018. "Exploring knowledge management software implementation from a knowing-in-practice perspective," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 1117-1133, October.
    20. Luis Enrique Santiago, 2020. "The industries of the future in Mexico: Local and non‐local effects in the localization of “knowledge‐intensive services”," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 584-606, June.
    21. Khuong, Le-Nguyen & Harindranath, G. & Dyerson, Romano, 2014. "Understanding knowledge management software-organisation misalignments from an institutional perspective: A case study of a global IT-management consultancy firm," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 226-247.
    22. Peter Fleming & Bill Harley & Graham Sewell, 2004. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing: getting below the surface of the growth of ‘knowledge work’ in Australia," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 18(4), pages 725-747, December.
    23. Elizabeth Goodrick & Lee C. Jarvis & Trish Reay, 2020. "Preserving a Professional Institution: Emotion in Discursive Institutional Work," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 735-774, June.
    24. Leire Gartzia, 2021. "Gender Equality in Business Action: A Multi-Agent Change Management Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, May.

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