IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v22y2011i2p522-539.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Liminality as Cultural Process for Cultural Change

Author

Listed:
  • Jennifer Howard-Grenville

    (Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403)

  • Karen Golden-Biddle

    (School of Management, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215)

  • Jennifer Irwin

    (Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403)

  • Jina Mao

    (School of Management, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215)

Abstract

This paper offers a revised understanding of intentional cultural change. In contrast to prevailing accounts, we suggest that such change can take place in the absence of initiating jolts, may be infused in everyday organizational life, and led by insiders who need not hold hierarchical power. Drawing on data from field studies and in-depth interviews, we develop a model of cultural change in which everyday occurrences such as meetings or workshops are constructed symbolically as “liminal” phenomena, bracketed from yet connected to everyday action in the organization. The construction of these occurrences as liminal illuminates the symbolic realm, creating possibilities for people to experiment with new cultural resources and invite different interpretations that hold potential for altering the cultural order. Our analyses contribute to the literature on culture by developing liminality, a process that brings forward the symbolic and invites recombination, as a cultural explanation of cultural change, to complement prevailing political or social structural explanations. We discuss implications and boundary conditions for this type of intentional cultural change.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Howard-Grenville & Karen Golden-Biddle & Jennifer Irwin & Jina Mao, 2011. "Liminality as Cultural Process for Cultural Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 522-539, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:22:y:2011:i:2:p:522-539
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1100.0554
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0554
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.1100.0554?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    2. Tammy E. Beck & Donde Ashmos Plowman, 2009. "Experiencing Rare and Unusual Events Richly: The Role of Middle Managers in Animating and Guiding Organizational Interpretation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 909-924, October.
    3. Karen Locke & Karen Golden-Biddle & Martha S. Feldman, 2008. "Perspective---Making Doubt Generative: Rethinking the Role of Doubt in the Research Process," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(6), pages 907-918, December.
    4. Hock‐Hai Teo & Xinwei Wang & Kwok‐Kee Wei & Choon‐Ling Sia & Matthew K. O. Lee, 2006. "Organizational learning capacity and attitude toward complex technological innovations: An empirical study," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 57(2), pages 264-279, January.
    5. Nancy Staudenmayer & Marcie Tyre & Leslie Perlow, 2002. "Time to Change: Temporal Shifts as Enablers of Organizational Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(5), pages 583-597, October.
    6. William H. Starbuck, 2009. "Perspective ---Cognitive Reactions to Rare Events: Perceptions, Uncertainty, and Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 925-937, October.
    7. Marlys K. Christianson & Maria T. Farkas & Kathleen M. Sutcliffe & Karl E. Weick, 2009. "Learning Through Rare Events: Significant Interruptions at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 846-860, October.
    8. Steven P. Feldman, 1986. "Management In Context: An Essay On The Relevance Of Culture To The Understanding Of Organizational Change," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(6), pages 587-607, November.
    9. Martha S. Feldman, 2004. "Resources in Emerging Structures and Processes of Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 295-309, June.
    10. Wanda J. Orlikowski, 1996. "Improvising Organizational Transformation Over Time: A Situated Change Perspective," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(1), pages 63-92, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martha S. Feldman & Wanda J. Orlikowski, 2011. "Theorizing Practice and Practicing Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1240-1253, October.
    2. Maria Laura Toraldo & Gazi Islam & Gianluigi Mangia, 2019. "Serving Time: Volunteer Work, Liminality and the Uses of Meaningfulness at Music Festivals," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 617-654, May.
    3. Stephanie Bertels & Jennifer Howard-Grenville & Simon Pek, 2016. "Cultural Molding, Shielding, and Shoring at Oilco: The Role of Culture in the Integration of Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 573-593, June.
    4. Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy & Anna Roberts & Le Xu, 2022. "Liminal movement by digital platform‐based sharing economy ventures: The case of Uber Technologies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 447-475, March.
    5. Aldona Podgórniak-Krzykacz, 2021. "The relationship between the professional, social, and political experience and leadership style of mayors and organisational culture in local government. Empirical evidence from Poland," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Loan Thi Dao, 2017. "Out and Asian: How Undocu/DACAmented Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Youth Navigate Dual Liminality in the Immigrant Rights Movement," Societies, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-15, June.
    7. François Bousquet & Valérie Barbat, 2021. "Capital social collectif et rites de passage," Post-Print hal-03768511, HAL.
    8. Silke Bucher & Ann Langley, 2016. "The Interplay of Reflective and Experimental Spaces in Interrupting and Reorienting Routine Dynamics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 594-613, June.
    9. Liisa Välikangas & Marijane Luistro-Jonsson & Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa, 2022. "Health crisis and the EU’s HERA: amplifying partial organizing with resourcing for stability, agility, and evolvability," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(4), pages 169-187, December.
    10. Neva Bojovic & Valérie Sabatier & Emmanuel Coblence, 2019. "Becoming Through Doing: How Experimental Spaces Enable Organizational Identity Work," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) halshs-02376220, HAL.
    11. Vijayta Doshi, 2022. "Experiencing liminality: At the crossroads of neoliberal and gendered experiences," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1132-1148, July.
    12. Prashantham, Shameen & Floyd, Steven W., 2019. "Navigating liminality in new venture internationalization," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 513-527.
    13. Klaus Weber & M. Tina Dacin, 2011. "The Cultural Construction of Organizational Life: Introduction to the Special Issue," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 287-298, April.
    14. Markus Perkmann & Maureen McKelvey & Nelson Phillips, 2019. "Protecting Scientists from Gordon Gekko: How Organizations Use Hybrid Spaces to Engage with Multiple Institutional Logics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 298-318, March.
    15. Xi Zhao & Yuming Liu & Wenchao Jiang & Dongri Wei, 2023. "Study on the Factors Influencing and Mechanisms Shaping the Institutional Resilience of Mega Railway Construction Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, May.
    16. Kathryn L. Heinze & Klaus Weber, 2016. "Toward Organizational Pluralism: Institutional Intrapreneurship in Integrative Medicine," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 157-172, February.
    17. William Hogan & Matthew Harris & Alexander Brock & John Rodwell, 2022. "What Is Holding Back The Use of Drones for Medication Delivery in Rural Australia?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-12, November.
    18. Moshe Farjoun & Peer C. Fiss, 2022. "Thriving on contradiction: Toward a dialectical alternative to fit‐based models in strategy (and beyond)," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 340-369, February.
    19. Neva Bojovic & Valérie Sabatier & Emmanuel Coblence, 2019. "Becoming Through Doing: How Experimental Spaces Enable Organizational Identity Work," Post-Print halshs-02376220, HAL.
    20. Mark G. Edwards, 2021. "The growth paradox, sustainable development, and business strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3079-3094, November.
    21. Weinfurtner, Tania & Seidl, David, 2019. "Towards a spatial perspective: An integrative review of research on organisational space," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(2).
    22. Orlikowski, Wanda J. & Scott, Susan V., 2021. "Liminal innovation in practice: understanding the reconfiguration of digital work in crisis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108858, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    23. Michal Frenkel & Varda Wasserman, 2023. "Bodies in‐between: Religious women's‐only spaces and the construction of liminal identities," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1161-1177, July.
    24. Sebastian Brenk & Dirk Lüttgens & Kathleen Diener & Frank Piller, 2019. "Learning from failures in business model innovation: solving decision-making logic conflicts through intrapreneurial effectuation," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(8), pages 1097-1147, December.
    25. François Bousquet & Valérie Barbat, 2021. "Capital social collectif et rites de passage," Post-Print hal-03277481, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sally Maitlis & Scott Sonenshein, 2010. "Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988)," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 551-580, May.
    2. André Luis Silva & Márcia de Freitas Duarte & Flávia Plutarco, 2020. "Organizational Rare Events: Theory and Research Practice," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 72(4), pages 635-659, October.
    3. Joseph Lampel & Jamal Shamsie & Zur Shapira, 2009. "Experiencing the Improbable: Rare Events and Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 835-845, October.
    4. Niki A. den Nieuwenboer & João Vieira da Cunha & Linda Klebe Treviño, 2017. "Middle Managers and Corruptive Routine Translation: The Social Production of Deceptive Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 781-803, October.
    5. Nay Chi Khin Khin Oo & Sirisuhk Rakthin, 2022. "Integrative Review of Absorptive Capacity’s Role in Fostering Organizational Resilience and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-27, October.
    6. Ruthanne Huising, 2014. "The Erosion of Expert Control Through Censure Episodes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1633-1661, December.
    7. Kristina Vaarst Andersen & Karin Beukel & Beverly B. Tyler, 2021. "Learning to Litigate: the Relationship Between Past Litigation Experience and Litigation Outcomes in the Chinese Intellectual Property System," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 479-500, December.
    8. Tiziana Callari & Corinne Bieder & Barry Kirwan, 2019. "What is it like for a middle manager to take safety into account? Practices and challenges," Post-Print hal-01935746, HAL.
    9. April L. Wright & Gemma Irving & Asma Zafar & Trish Reay, 2023. "The Role of Space and Place in Organizational and Institutional Change: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 991-1026, June.
    10. Alexandra Michel, 2014. "The Mutual Constitution of Persons and Organizations: An Ontological Perspective on Organizational Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1082-1110, August.
    11. repec:hal:gemwpa:hal-00864332 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Tapinos, E. & Pyper, N., 2018. "Forward looking analysis: Investigating how individuals ‘do’ foresight and make sense of the future," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 292-302.
    13. Paula A. Jarzabkowski & Jane K. Lê & Martha S. Feldman, 2012. "Toward a Theory of Coordinating: Creating Coordinating Mechanisms in Practice," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 907-927, August.
    14. Lorenz Graf-Vlachy & Jonathan Bundy & Donald C. Hambrick, 2020. "Effects of an Advancing Tenure on CEO Cognitive Complexity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 936-959, July.
    15. Esther Tippmann & Pamela Sharkey Scott & Vincent Mangematin, 2014. "Stimulating Knowledge Search Routines and Architecture Competences: The Role of Organizational Context and Middle Management," Post-Print hal-00864332, HAL.
    16. Pina e Cunha, Miguel & Rego, Arménio & Clegg, Stewart & Lindsay, Greg, 2015. "The dialectics of serendipity," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 9-18.
    17. Esther Tippmann & Pamela Sharkey Scott & Vincent Mangematin, 2014. "Stimulating Knowledge Search Routines and Architecture Competences: The Role of Organizational Context and Middle Management," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00864332, HAL.
    18. Manisaligil, Alperen & Gölgeci, İsmail & Bakker, Arnold B. & Faruk Aysan, Ahmet & Babacan, Mehmet & Gür, Nurullah, 2023. "Understanding change in disruptive contexts: The role of the time paradox and locus of control," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    19. Esther Tippmann & Pamela Sharkey Scott & Andrew Parker, 2017. "Boundary Capabilities in MNCs: Knowledge Transformation for Creative Solution Development," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 455-482, June.
    20. Sharma, Amalesh & Borah, Sourav Bikash & Moses, Aditya C., 2021. "Responses to COVID-19: The role of governance, healthcare infrastructure, and learning from past pandemics," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 597-607.
    21. Ming Piao & Edward J. Zajac, 2016. "How exploitation impedes and impels exploration: Theory and evidence," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7), pages 1431-1447, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:22:y:2011:i:2:p:522-539. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.