management of change coursework

8/13/2019 Management of Change Coursework

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Robert Barner. (2007). The Dark Tower: Using Metaphors to facilitate emotionalexpression during Organizational Change. Journal of Organizational ChangeManagement, Vol 21 o.1, 200!, ".120#1$7.

Its an interesting descriptive case study that sheds light on the significance of visual

metaphors in organizational change initiatives as an emotional grievance ventilationmechanism & a tool of making a sense of the change events.

It is demonstrated by the author through the construction of drawings as visual metaphorsto facilitate the group members of an organization express their emotional reaction toorganizational change that they otherwise are unable to freely express due to variousorganizational barriers imposed on them & at the same time also form a sharedexperience of it. The author adopts a design methodology that involves forming groups ofseven members each that is asked to construct a drawing to convey their reaction to anon-going change initiative in their organization.

The roup that is author has selected for the case study is one of several groups formed.!owever the particular reason for selecting this for the purpose of analysis is that it isheterogeneous in character & that all of group members are among the employees of theorganization. "ork group draws its thoughts regarding organizational change in the formof a visual metaphor of a dark tower that symbolizes its strong negative emotions toorganizational change initiatives. The group formulated its final metaphor construction ofdark tower after three successive drawings showing different level of emotional anger &frustration of the change event. !owever as also accepted by the author the case study didnot attempt to provide a comparative review of metaphor constructions across workgroups# nor was it supplemented by use of other research methods# such as structuredinterviews# $uestionnaires etc# to confirm the findings. The study is primarily aimed at

providing the researchers to gain a more in-depth understanding of collective experienceof groups during organizational change events.

%ccording to !ill & evenhagen '())*+ ,etaphors provide a very powerful medium forunderstanding understanding & presenting ideas relating to organizational change eventsthat are not always available through the kinds of formal research methods such asstructured interviews or $uestionnaires. !owever# the . ,organ '() + is of the viewthat metaphor is based upon a partial truth & built on one-sided abstraction in whichcertain features are emphasized & others suppressed. /imilarly according to himmetaphors rely on what he calls 0constructive-falsehood as a means of liberating theimagination. /imilarly the author of this article fails to highlight the overall emotionalreaction of the employees by exclusively focusing on one of the groups only & notmaking comparisons of it with rest of the groups. Thus we are only given a partial picture

based on one group analysis only. ray '1223+ writes that rather than looking forsimilarities or parallels# we should instead focus on the differences among the groupmembers with in the group & also across the group.

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!owever# the usefulness of visual metaphors as also demonstrated by the article is by

constructing an alignment i.e. organizing the actions of group members towards single purpose & motivating them towards a concerted action ',c 7ourt# ())4+.

8isual metaphors give us rich strategic insights ' ray# 1223+ into the emotional reactionsof the members during organizational change events as in most of cases they are unableto express their emotional anger & frustration through other mechanisms like interviews& $uestionnaires. !owever a key potential danger of using visual metaphors as seems todone by author is exclusively focusing on 9ust one element of an organization rather thanorganization as a whole '6swick & ,ontgomery# ()))+.

The study of the author into visual metaphors to express emotional distress should have

been corroborated by other form of data like structured interviews & $uestionnaires. To:ondy '() 3+ the use of visual metaphors should be applied coupled with other methodsduring organizational change initiatives to gauge the reaction of employees. !e furtherexplains it by saying that metaphors# myths & stories only capture the 0symbolic realityof & not the 0ob9ective reality of an organizational change. To him both are important in

bringing out the emotional reaction to 6rganizational changes and should be usedsimultaneously. The picture the author gives us thus seems to be some what partial &devoid of empirical evidence. 8aill '() 3+ writes that in order to remove the inherentstructural shortcomings in the use of metaphors during organizational change events toelicit the emotional reaction of employees it should be used with great caution. ;irst ofall# he says that visual metaphors should be directed towards creative problem solving &its results shared with all the stake holders. In the article under review no where it seemsthat visual metaphors are being used for that purpose. It seems that the employees are

being involved in this exercise merely for ventilating their emotional grievances to theorganizational change event & no mechanism of grievance redressal seems to be in placefor them.

:feffer '())(+ says that metaphors are like a double-edged sword they can be used tomotivate the employees & at the same time a handy tool in the hands of seniormanagement for manipulating the employees through the superficial use of participativedecision making techni$ues. %s also seems the case in the authors case study that themetaphors are being used as a safe mechanism to channel the emotional outburst of theemployees to the changes they largely view as hostile. ike what :ondy '() 3+ appearsto rightly point to this fact on the use of metaphors in organizational change processes.!e says that metaphors offer a valuable paradox< it can simultaneously facilitate change& reinforce traditional values. The respected author again fails to highlight this fact in hisexcitement of over emphasizing the significance of visual metaphor in the case study.The reader is also not told as to why the company in $uestion is bent upon employing theservices of the respected author for applying the visual metaphors techni$ue when thema9ority of the organizations employees already seem dissatisfied with the change

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initiated by newly appointed managers of the company who have absolutely no ideaabout the companys employees feelings.

:errow '() + expresses the concern that myths & symbols can be used to rationalize &divert attention from real issues. 6nly if the power dynamics of the 6rganizational

7hange initiatives are also concerned only then this concept of visual metaphors can beuseful for analysis. !owever# the author of this case study does not unravel the powerdynamics which are propelling the change or tell us as to why the change is being done inthe first place=

To :ondy '() 3+ metaphorical thinking is common in organizations & agrees with ourauthor that it represents a fruitful & untapped area for increasing organizationaleffectiveness< however it should be used not in exclusion as being adopted by the author

but as a supplement to to other rational models. /imilarly another area of great concernunfortunately not pointed out by respected author is that the although the literaturefocusing on organization change based on metaphors is growing but its applications are at

a rudimentary stage. %s 7leary & :ackard '())1+ says that metaphors are rooted in particular assumptions & ideas about the world so they themselves should be reflected oncritically# including the way in which they are selectively adopted. The author shouldhave taken a note of this too< which he is appears to have completely overlooked in hisanalysis regarding visual metaphors.

>y using metaphor to analyze & assess organizational change processes can bring fruitfulresults. !owever< learning to use them effectively re$uire creativity & imagination whichdemands lot more research & testing than what the author seems to have done.

In final analysis it can be argued that ,etaphors although presents us with a convenienttool to explain the organizational change & its impact on the employees< however at thesame time they give us not the complete description of an change event ' .,organ#() + and that they should be used in addition to other core research methods such assurveys# structured interviews & $uestionnaires.

,ore over the authors research as regards to 8isual ,etaphors need additional testing &refinement so that other uses of metaphor in change events should also be developed thanonly 9ust focusing on emotional expression of disgruntled employees & their felt-experiences of change events.

In the end it can be said that authors approach in use of application of 8isual metaphorsis too narrow & should have been used as supplement to a more complete 6rganizationalchange process. It needs to have been used with innovation# & great care. %lthough it isan effective tool for researchers to unravel complex problems of future that emanate fromorganizational change events & we may need to solve complex problems of the comingyears by using it. >ut it should be used as one of the tools & not the tool.

"ord count? (@4*

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management of change coursework

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