Other publication
Rethinking vulnerability of dialogical interactions in an organizational merger through embodied metaphors : a methodological study
(Presentation at the European Academy of Management Annual Conference (EURAM) 2025)
Authors: Nummi, Eeva; Satama, Suvi
Conference name: European Academy of Management Annual Conference
Publisher: European Academy of Management
Publication year: 2025
Journal:: EURAM conference
Book title : EURAM 2025, Florence, Italy : Managing with Purpose
ISBN: 978-2-9602195-7-9
ISSN: 2466-7498
Web address : https://euram.academy/euram?service=info&d=past_conferences
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/491928320
Additional information: For EURAM 2025, the abstracts and full papers will be published in e-format and for the latter, accessible for registered delegates only.
This study explores the methodological potential of embodied metaphors to capture the vulnerabilities of dialogical interactions in an organisational merger. Although there is an established body of research on the embodied side of work organisations in the field of organisation studies, little is known about how organizational merger unfolds as a highly embodied and vulnerable process. This study is based on a two-year ethnography of an organisational merger. The empirical material consists of 13 dialogues between organizational members, five dialogic interviews, workshop material and an autoethnographic diary by one of the authors written in the midst of the merger process. Based on our in-depth ethnographic analysis, we identified three embodied metaphors which capture the experiences of vulnerability of the organizational members in dialogic interactions amidst the merger – Bambi, a spider, and a bat in a glass box. These embodied metaphors offer a powerfully sensory perspective on the collectively intimate struggles faced during the organisational merger and illustrate their potential in capturing the embodied nuances of this process.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |