@inproceedings{Towers2013, author = {Towers, Ian}, title = {Learning how to be a modern manager while sitting on the sofa: the role of television in diffusing and legitimising management practices}, series = {EGOS Conference 2013, Montr{\´e}al}, booktitle = {EGOS Conference 2013, Montr{\´e}al}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0298-opus4-352}, pages = {24}, year = {2013}, abstract = {What processes must have taken place so that HR managers or operations managers somehow 'know' that they have to do things differently from the way they did things five or fifteen years ago? How do they learn what the latest management trends are? The creation and diffusion of management theories and practice is generally viewed as a three stage process: business schools and consulting firms produce the knowledge, the business press disseminates it, and then there is a process of legitimization as these theories become part of 'common sense' and form the standard managerial discourse through their representation in non-business media. An ever increasing amount of attention has been paid to the first two of these stages, but relatively little has been paid to how management knowledge might be diffused through other methods. This paper is an attempt to address this gap.}, language = {en} } @article{TernesTowers2013, author = {Tern{\`e}s, Anabel and Towers, Ian}, title = {Managing change to avoid unwanted outcomes}, series = {Marketing Review St. Gallen}, volume = {30}, journal = {Marketing Review St. Gallen}, number = {5}, pages = {72 -- 82}, year = {2013}, abstract = {The process of change is difficult to manage. In this paper the authors investigate a planned organisational change involving a marketing department that did not reach its objectives and had several unwanted outcomes. The authors show how a multi-level model is helpful understanding change processes, and suggest how change can be managed more successfully.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{Towers2013, author = {Towers, Ian}, title = {It didn't work out like we thought it would: understanding unwanted outcomes of a planned organizational change}, series = {XXXIII Sunbelt Social Networks Conference of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), Hamburg}, booktitle = {XXXIII Sunbelt Social Networks Conference of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), Hamburg}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Keine Angabe No details}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{Towers2013, author = {Towers, Ian}, title = {Organizational Change: Processes and Levels}, series = {15th IAMB Conference, Lisbon}, booktitle = {15th IAMB Conference, Lisbon}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Keine Angabe No details}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{TowersTernes2013, author = {Towers, Ian and Tern{\`e}s, Anabel}, title = {Change journeys, language and reflexivity}, series = {8th International Conference in Critical Management Studies, Manchester}, booktitle = {8th International Conference in Critical Management Studies, Manchester}, year = {2013}, abstract = {When planned organisational change happens, the members of the organisation experience it in different ways at different times. Their "change journeys" begin with the original response to the change initiative and they pass through a sequence of steps from the initial realisation that there is a discrepancy or inconsistency with pre-existing schemas (i.e. when the individual learns of a change, or perceives that there has been a change) to an actual change in their own schemas (George and Jones, 2001), which is the point where the change journey has (temporarily) ended and the destination been reached. Such a journey becomes possible when individuals start to question their own position(s) in regard to the change, when they start taking into account their own reactions to it together with developments and responses to the change initiative at the meso and macro-level over time. As individuals reach different understandings about themselves during the change process, their change journey itself changes: they may set out for a new destination, or continue to the original destination but follow a different route. Much of the literature on reactions to change ignores the tendency of individuals to pay attention to their own reasons for how they react and tends to view responses to change-especially resistance- almost as an involuntary reflex rather than as part of a complex process of interpretation and action carried out by self-aware individuals. This paper reports on how reflexivity is a vital aspect of the change journey. We carried out a longitudinal, multi-level qualitative study of a planned change initiative at PCo, the Canadian subsidiary of a European pharmaceutical company, which involved the introduction of a new organisational structure- the creation of a matrix structure. Grounded theory was used to guide the research. More than sixty in-depth interviews were carried out over a period of eighteen months. The data from these interviews were supplemented by quantitative data. We describe how members of the organisation thought through what the change was "really" about and what it meant for them. They told stories and passed on anecdotes, which provided a way of demonstrating their own analysis of the change and their role in it, and of then building on this in order to achieve particular goals, like simply securing their own position or moving up the career ladder. We show that there was an element of playfulness in these processes. The employees analysed their own position and changed this according to developments in their groups and in the organisation. For some, it was like playing a game where they had to react to what was going on and change their tactics and strategy. This could then meant replanning their own change journeys. In analysing this process, we pay particular attention to the role of language. Language is not simply a mechanism of communication, but rather a fundamental aspect of organisation and organising (eg Westwood and Linstead, 2001). One view is that organisation exists only through language, leading to views of organisation as text, or as narrative, or as constituted in discourse (e.g. Mumby and Clair, 1997). So there is great value at investigating discourse during change processes because language, in the form of conversations, stories and rumours, is a significant factor in the way change is conceptualised (Balogun and Johnson, 2005). Conversation - "language-based interactions of individuals within organisations" (Woodilla, 1998: 33)- is one of the most common forms of communication in the workplace. Studies of managerial activities (e.g. Mintzberg, 1973) have shown that managers spend a large part of their time in carrying out oral communications. The act of conversation and the content of conversation produce action (Hardy et al., 2000), which indicates why conversations can play an important part in a change process. The way in which organisational members negotiate meaning in the change process is through discursive practices and textual objects (Anderson, 2005). Indeed, coherent language use can play a significant role in the outcome of change initiatives (Sillince, 1999) and there are fragmented and competing discourses within an organisation during a change process. Stories play a significant role in the creation and maintenance of meaning in organisations. Stories are passed from one person to another through conversation, and storytelling is "something done around the water cooler" (Boje at al., 2001: 166). The informal nature of storytelling does not mean that it is not important. Boje (1991) shows how the use of stories enabled change to take place, as when an executive's storytelling enabled him to convince colleagues to move in new direction. Indeed, Tsoukas (2005) argues that organisational change is the process of constructing and sharing new meanings and interpretations of organisational activities. Discourse, then, is a mechanism through which change happens and through which change journeys are planned and re-planned and made. The members of an organisation use discourse in all its various forms to reflect on and change (or not) their own position and to influence the change journeys of others.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{TowersTernes2013, author = {Towers, Ian and Tern{\`e}s, Anabel}, title = {Become a responsible manager by watching TV}, series = {27th Annual Conference Managing to Make a Difference, Liverpool}, booktitle = {27th Annual Conference Managing to Make a Difference, Liverpool}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Keine Angabe No details}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{TowersTernesShauchenka2013, author = {Towers, Ian and Tern{\`e}s, Anabel and Shauchenka, Natallia}, title = {Testing the impact of gamification on the interest in urban planning}, series = {12th Annual Worldwide Forum on Education and Culture, Rome}, booktitle = {12th Annual Worldwide Forum on Education and Culture, Rome}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Keine Angabe No details}, language = {en} } @misc{TowersTernesShauchenka2013, author = {Towers, Ian and Tern{\`e}s, Anabel and Shauchenka, Natallia}, title = {Testing the impact of gamification on the interest in urban planning}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Keine Angabe No details}, language = {en} } @article{TernesTowersDaniszewski2013, author = {Tern{\`e}s, Anabel and Towers, Ian and Daniszewski, A.}, title = {International Cooperation: Impact of Cultural Diversity on Brand Strength in the Hotel Industry}, series = {Acta Oeconomica Cassoviensia}, volume = {6}, journal = {Acta Oeconomica Cassoviensia}, pages = {14 -- 24}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Keine Angabe - No details}, language = {en} }