Problems of Growth in a High Technology Firm: Moving between Conscious and Unconscious Accounts of Organizational Processes
| Author | John Roberts |
| Date | 01 March 1997 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00044 |
| Published date | 01 March 1997 |
Introduction
The focus of this paper is on an infrequently
discussed divide within qualitative research; that
between conscious and unconscious accounts of
organizational processes. Although both orienta-
tions are motivated by the desire to understand
subjective meanings, they have tended to develop
in relative isolation from one another. Within
each stream of research there are well established
divergences and schisms. Within organizational
ethnography Van Maanen (1988) distinguishes
between realist, confessional and literary ap-
proaches. Within psychoanalytic approaches to
the study of organizational dynamics there are
tensions between various individual and group/
systemic orientations (Gould, 1991). The focus
here, however, is upon the conditions and con-
sequences of the divide in terms of research
methods and interpretation between what Schein
(1987) characterizes as ‘clinical’ and ‘ethno-
graphic’ approaches within qualitative research.
The stimulus for this paper came from a piece
of longitudinal qualitative research into the
problems of growth in a small high-technology
firm. Over a period of two years the firm grew
from nine to eighteen staff. Funding was being
sought for ambitious future expansion, when the
hint of recession led the managing director/
founder to sack half of the staff, including two
directors. My interviews were suddenly full of
British Journal of Management, Vol. 8, 107–118 (1997)
Problems of Growth in a High Technology
Firm: Moving between Conscious
and Unconscious Accounts of
Organizational Processes*
John Roberts
Judge Institute, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1AG, UK
This paper explores an infrequently discussed methodological divide within qualitative
research; that between conscious and unconscious accounts of organizational pro-
cesses. The paper makes use of an empirical case study of problems encountered in the
growth of a high-technology company. The conscious accounts of growth treat mem-
bers of the firm as knowledgeable agents whose understandings are then drawn upon
to generate an account of growth in terms of interrelated processes of power, meaning
and legitimacy. These conscious accounts are then complemented through an explora-
tion of unconscious dynamics in the personality of the entrepreneur, the work group
and the ‘family’ structure of the firm. It is argued that the key shift in moving between
conscious and unconscious interpretation, involves the bracketing of the reality claims
implicit in conscious rationalizations, and a re-listening to research material as a largely
unconscious projection of individuals’ ‘inner worlds’. With unconscious interpreta-
tions, the character of language, its emotional content and in particular the sources of
individual and group anxiety all realize a central importance. Despite the established
divide in the literature between these two forms of interpretation, it is argued that the
case suggests the value and necessity of their integration, particularly for the under-
standing of creativity.
© 1997 British Academy of Management
* The research upon which this paper is based was
funded by Barclays Bank.
To continue reading
Request your trial