“WE ARE A FAMILY” – A CRITICAL ORGANIZATIONAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Year 2009, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 1 - 10, 01.06.2009

Ozan Nadir Alakavuklar

Abstract

Organizations are arenas where discourses are built and implicated. One of the discourses used in
the organizations is the “family” discourse which is realized as “we are a family”. Such an
approach aims to construct a meaning that contains not just only pragmatist and rational relations
in an organization, but also an illusion of an intense emotional experience. Nature of such a
discourse is paradoxical. As an intentional constructed entity organization lacks basic
characteristics of a family such as kinship, family bonding and intimate relationships. Therefore,
the main assumption of the study is that such a family discourse helps hiding the contradictions
and the socio-political structure of the organizations that emerge from the nature-of-organization.
Accordingly, the definition of family concept is examined within disciplines of psychology/
sociology and the reality of the family discourse is compared with a critical perspective. This study
aims to demonstrate hidden motives that lie beneath the organizational discourses employed by the
executives in order to manipulate and manage employees. Such recognition would help to prevent
the abuse of organizational power under the name of management.

Keywords

Critical Management Studies, Organizational Discourse Analysis, Family Metaphor

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