Overview

This book discusses the ontological foundation for organizational analysis and organizational life from a phenomenological perspective. The objective of this book is to provide the reader with an understanding of organizations that adequately takes into account the current philosophical knowledge regarding human nature. A key result of this analysis is that organizations are existentially founded human experiences of emotions, ethics, culture and narrative. This understanding of organizations is furthermore complicated by the existence of concepts of power, relationship, interaction and identity, which all can be perceived as contradicting notions of objectivity, professionalism and rationalism. The question is not whether this is an easy description to navigate nor apply, but rather where we go from here.   This book would be of interest to students and scholars working on the philosophy of business, and academics in critical organization studies and alternative philosophy of organization. The book would also be of interest to people in all organization trying to understand everyday of dilemmas and contradictions.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kim Malmbak Meltofte Møller ,  Michael Fast
Publisher:   Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Imprint:   Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Edition:   1st ed. 2020
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9783030581374

ISBN 10:   3030581373
Pages:   99
Publication Date:   26 November 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

1)            The arguments for an ontological reflection on Being in organizations and management This introductory and fundamental chapter will serve as a basis upon which the remaining chapters will elaborate, particularly regarding the ontological foundation of being and its significant critique of mainstream functionalistic business economic theory. The purpose will be to argue that an understanding of everyday life and humans is a theoretical necessity for any economical discussion, be it theoretical or practical. This book will discuss phenomenology and organizations but what sets it apart is it critical and discussive elements with the functionalistic and business based discussion. This book is not just accounting for a phenomenological approach, but it aims to explicate the only scientific approach to the crossdisciplinary study of organizations (and how it is not mainstream economics).   2)            Discussion of the philosophy of phenomenology and perspectives on being The structure of this book is based on the notion of humans in society and as such chapter 2 will be a discussion of human individual existence. Here we develop an understanding of being from a phenomenological perspective. This discussion will highlight the core concepts and characteristics of human beings which will be used later on, e.g. Consciousness, self-awareness and critique, reflection, intentionality, intersubjectivity, ethics, thought as a happening and eidetic reduction. In short, the conclusion will be the search for the epistemological and dialectical essence of being and being together.    3)            Discussion of the I,  and of the becoming a social being in organizations Chapter 3 will address the human as an inescapably ethical being. This chapter will among other things highlight our nature as social beings and how sociality plays a pivotal role in everything, from our needs and actions, to our perception and cognitive selections.  It will also show how ethics is a fundamental part of perception and therefore also some of the existential dilemmas which affects organizations.   4)            Organizational Contradictions – the Dialectics of organizations Chapter 4 and 5 will apply some of the considerations from the previous chapters to concepts such as organizational dialectics and leadership. This structure is chosen in order to discuss all fundamental notions regarding organizational life from an ontological standpoint. Here we address the issues that arises when we introduce a presupposed and formalized set of social rules (organizations) to the social nature of our existence and the contractions, which occurs not only within the social and formalized rules of organizations but also between the social and formal rules and the nature of human beings. One line of questioning here is; what if the organizational rules forced upon humans in organizations counteract the nature of being, e.g. emotions, perception, identity, self-defining storytelling and so on. Dialectics is more, and the tradition in philosophy of science goes back in a search for understanding of how to understand development. It is seen in the discussion of Heraclitus “Panta rhei – everything is in movement”, Aristoteles - Criticism, Socrates – logical investigation, Plato – cognition, and later on in Kant´s theory of cognition and Hegel´s discussion of the dialectics of history and society. Dialectic is a broad concept used to understand the creation of knowledge, in methodological discussion of understanding something, and as in the process of conversation. It is about and related to the subject and as well to the whole. In this chapter, we will elaborate on dialectic, both in relation to the subject and to the concept of the organization as to understand the development of the human being and the organization.   5)            The matter of Leadership - the leader and being Here we address the notion of Leadership and its implications and assumptions regarding the ontological being. Management and leadership is a part of everyday of organizations, and a discourse in society. It is something we are confronted with, both in our praxis, as well as the stories we are presented to. It is a part of life. Based on that discussion we highlight some of the existential problems and practical challenges and benefits that unfolds when the idea of Leadership, power, communication, culture, expectations and metaphors are introduced and formalized in the togetherness of being.   6)            Ethics and moral in organizations as part of being This chapter will further discuss the philosophical notions, which pertains to assumptions within organizations and leadership especially regarding the formal and social power distribution between members in an organization. Based on that discussion and the other chapters of this book we will show a set of ontological arguments for the role organizations and individuals in organizations ethically and existentially is and should play in society.    7)            Summary, further discussions and perspectives

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Author Information

Michael Fast, Ph.D., is Docent and Head of Research at Business, University College of Northern Denmark. He holds a Ph.D. from Aalborg University and worked there as Research Leader. Main research interest are in organization, leadership, philosophy of science, and qualitative methods - all on understanding development of people and organizations, and of social science and business. Kim Malmbak Meltofte Møller, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in Management Philosophy and Organizational Development at Aalborg University, Denmark. His main research is inter-disciplinary such as phenomenology of management philosophy, epistemology, organizational culture, sustainability and ethics. He has a cross-disciplinary PhD in the study of cognition at Aalborg University.

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