1st Edition

Interacting and Organizing Analyses of a Management Meeting

Edited By Francois Cooren Copyright 2007
    372 Pages
    by Routledge

    372 Pages
    by Routledge

    This work provides an exceptional case study, shedding light onto the functioning of an actual corporate board of directors. It presents analysis of a series of corporate management meetings shown in the 1974 documentary film, Corporation: After Mr. Sam. The film chronicles the discussion and communication processes as a company considers how to replace its president, and it serves as a unique opportunity for analysis of real-world organizational discourse.
     
    With an impressive list of prominent contributors, Interacting and Organizing: Analyses of a Management Meeting employs the dual perspectives of organizational communication and language and social interaction (LSI) to examine the film. It is arranged around specific topics, analyzed separately by organizational communication and LSI scholars. Editor François Cooren provides an introduction for each topic, and a comparison and synthesis conclude each part. Readers will appreciate the information presented, as it is an arena typically off-limits to outside eyes. The transcript of the film is included as an appendix to the volume.
     
    This volume is appropriate for use in advanced courses and seminars in organizational communication, LSI, management, and organizational behavior. With its distinctive approach to studying the film's content, it will be invaluable to scholars, researchers, and graduate students in organizational communication, LSI, and management.

    Contents: Preface. F. Cooren, General Introduction. Part I: Leadership and Speakership: Which Voice Matters? F. Cooren, Introduction. J.R. Taylor, D. Robichaud, Management as Meta-Conversation: The Search for Closure. A. Pomerantz, P. Denvir, Enacting the Institutional Role of Chairperson in Upper-Management Meetings: The Interactional Realization of Provisional Authority. G.T. Fairhurst, Liberating Leadership in Corporation After Mr. Sam: A Response. Part II: Organizing and Emotional Display: Contradictions and Paradoxes. F. Cooren, Introduction. K. Tracy, Feeling-Limned Talk: Conduct Ideals in the Steinberg Succession Meeting. L.L. Putnam, Contradictions in the Meta-Talk About Feelings in "After Mr. Sam." K.L. Fitch, M. Foley, The Persuasive Nature of Emotion and the Cultural Nature of Feelings in Organizations. Part III: Strategies of Decision Making: Competencies and Coherences. F. Cooren, Introduction. R.D. McPhee, S. Corman, J. Iverson, "We Ought to Have...Gumption:" A CRA Analysis of an Excerpt From the Videotape "After Mr. Sam." R.E. Sanders, The Effect of Interactional Competence on Group Problem-Solving. C. Stohl, Bringing the Outside In: A Contextual Analysis. Part IV: Can We Study Interactions in Documentaries? Ways of Talking, Closure, and Data. F. Cooren, Brief Introduction. G. Philipsen, J. Leighter, Sam Sternberg's Use of "Tell" in After Mr. Sam. S. Deetz, R. Heath, J. MacDonald, On Talking to Not Make Decisions: A Critical Analysis of Organizational Talk. D.L. Wieder, H. Mau, C. Nicholas, Documentaries Are Not Data. C. Oswick, Closing Words (and Opening Discussions?): An Afterword on After Mr. Sam. Appendices.

    Biography

    Francois Cooren