عنوان

The manager's tale :

Number

TLets402642

Title Proper

The manager's tale :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Reedy, Patrick.

Title Proper by Another Author

an exploration of narrative construction of managerial identity

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Keele

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2004

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

University of Keele

Text preceding or following the note

2004

Text of Note

The thesis explores the idea that the construction of managerial identity can usefully beconceptualised as a narrative accomplishment. The research is framed as itself a story thatis made up of interrelated autobiographies and biographies. In my introduction I explainhow and why I have used stories, including an account of how I collected and organisedthe material that forms the empirical content of the thesis. In the following two chapters Ipresent both my own life history and those of a number of managers. In Chapters Four,Five and Six, I develop my theoretical position on narrative identity. I start by evaluatinghow managerial identities are framed within Critical Management Studies (CMS), offeringa critique of CMS as a product of an academic identity project that often unreflexivelyrelies upon positioning managers as 'the Other'. I go on to argue that, as a result, a ratherlimited bipolar debate between humanistic and poststructuralist conceptions of identity hasbecome characteristic of CMS research. In Chapter Six I argue that the existentialistphilosophy of Heidegger, Sartre and Ricoeur might extend thinking about managerialidentity through its insistence on the essential narrativity of human existence and itsconception of lives as existential quests. I then return to the life histories, thematisingthem using the theoretical framework developed previously, according to three modes ofnarrative analysis; those of historical reference, narrative elements, and narrativeperformance. I conclude that the narrative approach and the use of life histories has muchto offer future research into managerial identity and has important ethical and politicalimplications for the CMS 'project'. These implications include the ethical imperative ofrepresenting others empathetically and exploring the links between our own identityprojects, our representation of others and the pursuit of social justice.

Reedy, Patrick.

University of Keele

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y