Talking About Organizations Podcast

We conclude our presentation of this year’s professional development workshop (PDW) on key approaches to the study of work with a panel discussion. Presenters Steve Barley, Gina Dokko, Ingrid Erickson, and Davide Nicolini answer some challenging questions about work, its management, and related social issues. This PDW was held at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Seattle, Washington in the U.S.

We continue with two more presentations from this year’s professional development workshop (PDW) on key approaches to the study of work. Ingrid Erickson presents on the Computer Supported Collaborative Work tradition, and Davide Nicolini discusses the Tavistock Institute and associated socio-technical systems tradition. This PDW was held at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Seattle, Washington in the U.S.

This year’s professional development workshop (PDW) on Classics of Organization and Management Theory explored key approaches to the study of work and was held at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Seattle, Washington in the U.S. It represents the fourth edition of a standing series showcasing the enduring relevance of early organizational research. Part 1 covers the first two presentations by Steve Barley on the work of the Chicago School tradition of study on work and occupations, and Gina Dokko on traditions of research into employment and careers.

We will present a recording of the presentations and panel discussion of a professional development workshop (PDW) on approaches to the study of work. This was held at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Seattle, Washington in the U.S.

We conclude our discussion of organizational secrecy using the Manhattan Project during World War II as a case study, focusing mostly on the aftermath. As the devastating effects of employing nuclear weapons is realized, key scientists from the Manhattan Project hoped that they would be banned. Instead, the Cold War ensued and proliferation became a global concern. What therefore are the longer term impacts of institutionalizing secrecy?

We are examining organizational secrecy using the Manhattan Project during World War II as a case study. The Manhattan Project came about following the discovery of nuclear fission in 1938 and the understanding that Nazi Germany was trying to develop a powerful weapon that could change the course of the war. Naturally, the American effort had to be kept secret to hide both the existence of the project and, failing that, any information about progress and potential employment. How did they do it and what challenges did they face? What could we learn about maintaining secrets in contemporary organizations?

We will examine organizational secrecy using the Manhattan Project during World War II as a case study. The Manhattan Project was an effort to devise, develop, and test the world’s first nuclear weapons, an effort whose public disclosure could have been devastating. From the case, we will examine what organizations decide needs to be kept from outside observation, why, how they accomplish it, and to what extent they succeed.

We conclude our discussion of Follett’s Dynamic Administration with a look at contemporary issues. The COVID-19 pandemic arguably made pragmatists of many of us as we navigated the challenges and shifted to different modes of working! But as the pandemic recedes to an uncertain new normal, now what? Can we sustain and grow ‘power-with’ and avoid falling back to old forms of competition and ‘power-over’?

We return to the works of Mary Parker Follett and expand upon “The Law of the Situation” that we covered in Chapter 5. In this episode, we revisit Dynamic Administration with a look at the first five chapters as a whole – focusing on Chapter 1 (“Constuctive Conflict”), Chapter 3 (“Business as an Integrative Unity”), Chapter 4 (“Power”), and Chapter 5 (“How Must Business Management Develop in order to Possess the Essentials of a Profession”) that introduced Follett’s conception of professionalizing business.

We return to the works of Mary Parker Follett and explore her ideas on professionalizing business. Expanding on our examination of her “law of the situation” in Episode 5, we look at constructive conflict, organizational integration, and power. Together, these ideas represent a pragmatic approach to business where collaboration is the norm and channels competition toward the good of the organization rather than any one party within it.