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- Title
Stories from the Front-line: How they Construct the Organization.
- Authors
Hopkinson, Gillian C.
- Abstract
Drawing on social constructionist theory this paper applies discourse analysis to ten narratives told by service delivery staff in one distribution network. The analysis looks at how the narratives construct the organization through their constructions of self (the narrator), customer and manufacturer and their constructions of the relationships linking these three sets of actors. The paper argues that the narrators construct the self either as an organizational customer or an organizational partner. The two constructions locate conflict either within the organization or at the customer--organizational boundary respectively. The implications of this are suggested. Contrasts between the manner in which organizational members construct the self as customer or partner and the construction of the organizational member in the internal customer literature are highlighted and briefly discussed.
- Subjects
CUSTOMER orientation; DISCOURSE analysis; ORGANIZATIONAL communication; SOCIAL constructionism; POWER (Social sciences); COMMUNICATION accommodation theory; LANGUAGE-action paradigm; ORGANIZATIONAL sociology research; CUSTOMER relationship management; FUNDAMENTAL interpersonal relations orientation theory (Communication)
- Publication
Journal of Management Studies (Wiley-Blackwell), 2003, Vol 40, Issue 8, p1943
- ISSN
0022-2380
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1046/j.1467-6486.2003.00407.x