This book considers the discourses that come into play in organizational change. The book outlines the tensions that arise for people having to enact change, and analyzes the ways in which they position themselves in changing organizational environments. The book takes a social semiotic perspective on discourse, organization and change. Here, discourse encompasses not only the multi-modal resources that people mobilize in organizational (inter)action, but also the practices and transformative dynamics afforded by those resources. The organizational changes highlighted in the book revolve around three dimensions of work that are increasingly coming to the fore: participation, boundary-spanning and knowledging. These dimensions are explored through case studies, including a health planning project, an initiative to standardize work practices, and the tension between paper-based and IT-based reporting. The book addresses the relevance of this discourse perspective to organizational research more broadly, by investigating organization as a dynamic of ‘resemiotizations’.

Table of contents

Acknowledgements vii Preface ix 1. The discourses of post-bureaucratic organization 1–25 2. Approaches to studying organizational discourse 27–56 3. A social semiotic view of discourse and organization 57–81 4. Organizational discourse: A historical view 83–110 5. Negotiating organization: A case of symbolic violence 111–132 6. The dynamics of post-bureaucratic interaction: Resemiotization 133–147 7. Recording the organization 149–173 8. ‘Pathwaying’ as post-bureaucratic ethos 175–192 9. Conclusion: Post-bureaucratic organization 193–204 References 205–225 Author index 227–230 Subject index 231–234