essential-guide-to-qualitative-in-organizational-research

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––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– STORIES IN ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH––––––––– 119PROCESSINGThe interviews were then transcribed from tapes yielding 404 organizational stories, of which159 involved computers. The stories were analysed with the help of a special version of acomputer database package, Cardbox-Plus. 3 Each story was entered on a separate record withseveral distinct fields as in Table 10.1.The software permits the selection of stories sharing specific qualities, or having particularwords in common. For example, it instantly retrieves all stories which involve a disparagingcomment about one’s supervisor, or all comic stories involving computers or animals.FINDINGS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Density of folkloreThe number and quality of stories drawn from different organizations varies enormously. Forexample, 24 interviews at the manufacturing firm yielded 138 stories, whereas the samenumber of interviews at the research and publishing organization yielded a mere 48. Thisvariation was not a product of the methodology but reflects, at least in part, the vitality andstrength of folklore in different organizations. The research and publishing organization hadan ethos of factual precision and accountability which seemed to inhibit the making ofunsubstantiated claims and the spinning of elaborate stories. By contrast, the manufacturingcompany had many older participants who had known and worked with each other for anumber of years and related many stories.Types of storiesThe classification of stories into different types of narratives was the hardest part of theprocessing. 4 Some stories instantly fell into a well-established type, such as comic or epic, orwere hybrids of two or more types (for example, comic-tragic); yet, some were not easilyclassifiable in spite of several iterations. Several things eventually became clear. First, the same‘events’ may feed different types of story. One particular event, involving the accidentalexplosion of a fire extinguisher gave rise to an epic, a comic and a tragic narrative (Gabriel,2000). Second, certain narratives described events purely as facts, devoid of emotional orsymbolic content. Such narratives were identified as ‘reports’ rather than ‘stories’, followinga long-standing Aristotelean distinction. 5A third classification issue arose in connection with certain terse narratives with either avery thin plot or uncommitted emotional content; under certain conditions of repetition andembellishment these could yield fully fledged stories. Such narratives were classified as ‘protostories’.There were 119 proto-stories among the 404 narratives in the database, thecommonest of any type.What then are the main story types and what are their principal qualities? The followingclassification is not exhaustive, although it covers the great majority of stories collected.COMIC STORIESThese, as identified by Aristotle, involved ‘deserved misfortune’. Their emotional qualitiesencompass amusement and mirth but also disparagement. The majority of these stories had
120 –––––––––– QUALITATIVE METHODS IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES ––––––––––––––––––a critical quality, namely were at the expense of an individual or group of individuals whoappeared to deserve their misfortunes, for instance experts disparaging non-experts or viceversa. Specific groups in different organizations were targeted for special types of disparagingcomicstories, for example, lawyers at the manufacturing company or central management atthe utility. Some comic stories focused on practical jokes.EPIC STORIESThese stories focused either on achievement or on survival against the odds. Their chiefemotional qualities were admiration, approval and especially pride. About one quarter of epicstories had comic qualities as well. In many cases the central character of these stories is a heroor heroine, worthy of admiration. Their plots emphasized achievement, success and victory.TRAGIC STORIESThese stories focused on undeserved misfortune and tended to generate the classic mixtureof horror and pity for the victim. These were variously mixed with bitterness, horror, guiltand anxiety. In the majority of these stories misfortune is not the result of accidental factorsbut the accomplishment of a villain. Tragic stories focused on insults, redundancies, bullyingand harassment and can be sub-categorized into gripes and traumas.ROMANTIC STORIESThese are stories which express gratitude, appreciation and love. Many of these stories involvegifts and acts of unsolicited kindness. These were often associated with feelings of affectionbut also nostalgia or self-pity. A special type of romantic story is the office or workplaceromance. These are stories which focus on love affairs or love fantasies, without turningromantic attachments into occasions for disparagement or ridicule. Generally romantic storiesconstruct the protagonist (individual, couple or even organization) as love object and includemany nostalgic stories which celebrate the organization of old.Distribution of stories across organizationsThe distribution of story-types varied in the five organizations surveyed. Clearly, the methodologyof the research was not geared at establishing the ‘story-profile’ of each organization, but,interestingly, comic stories were by far the most common story-type in the manufacturingcompany, yet entirely absent from one of the two utility branches. Romantic stories were foundonly in the hospital and the utility branch from which comic stories were absent. Epic stories werepredominant in the other utility branch and the hospital. This finding suggest a line of inquirywhich uses the organization rather than the individual story as the unit of analysis.Thematic distribution of storiesIn each organization, a small number of events generated a large number of the stories; forinstance, the imbroglio over the introduction of a new information system, the disturbanceduring a Christmas party, an office romance leading to marriage, the death of a colleague, apractical joke involving a horse, were recounted by more than three interviewees in each case,with a minimum of prompting. Comparison of the different accounts reveal wide variationsin matters of fact, substance and meaning. If one were to try and re-construct ‘what actually
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ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO QUALITATIVE METH
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This book is dedicated to our child
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viii ---------- CONTENTS ----------
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Notes on ContributorsJohn Benington
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AcknowledgementsIt has been 10 year
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2 ---------- QUALITATIVE METHODS IN
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10 ---------- QUALITATIVE METHODS I
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4 ---- Life Histories -------------
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170 ---------- QUALITATIVE METHODS
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15 ---- Critical Research and Analy
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19 ---- Attributional Coding ------
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20 ---- Grounded Theory in Organiza
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Quote Code in open coding Concept T
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Table 20.2 Examples of open coding,
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Table 20.3Collective stressors and
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21 ---- Using Templates in the Them
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Table 22.1Matrix 1: descriptive sum
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Table 22.1 cont1.1 Analysis by colu
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Table 22.2DebbieAndrewMatrix 2: con
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Table 22.2cont.Allan Petrol scam Wa
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23 ---- Preserving, Sharing and Reu
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25 ---- Ethnography ---------------
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27 ---- Soft Systems Analysis: Refl
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30 ---- The Future Conference -----
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