MANAGEMENT GURUS and MANAGEMENT FASHIONS: a DRAMATISTIC INQUIRY a Thesis in Support of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D
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MANAGEMENT GURUS AND MANAGEMENT FASHIONS: A DRAMATISTIC INQUIRY A thesis in support of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) By Bradley Grant Jackson, B.Sc., M.A. Department of Management Learning The Management School Lancaster University November 28,1999 JUN 2000 ProQuest Number: 11003637 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11003637 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, popular management thinkers, or management gurus, have promoted a number of performance improvement programs or management fashions that have greatly influenced both the pre-occupations of academic researchers and the everyday conduct of organizational life. This thesis provides a rhetorical critique of the management guru and management fashion phenomenon with a view to building on the important theoretical progress that has recently been made by a small, but growing, band of management researchers. Fantasy theme analysis, a dramatistically-based method of rhetorical criticism, is conducted on three of the most important management fashions to have emerged during the 1990s: the reengineering movement promoted by Michael Hammer and James Champy; the effectiveness movement led by Stephen Covey; and the learning organization movement inspired by Peter Senge and his colleagues. The study discovers that the rhetorical visions for all three movements possess strong dramatic qualities. It suggests that managers and other followers find these visions compelling because they can readily relate to the gurus’ organizational dramas which contain a familiar cast of characters, a clear and well-developed plot line and a meaningful setting. While they share strong dramatic qualities, the underlying rhetorical appeal of each vision is rooted in three quite distinctive master analogues or deep structures: pragmatic (reengineering), righteous (effectiveness) and social (learning organization). In addition to its theoretical and empirical contributions, it is hoped that this study will help to stimulate a critical dialogue between practitioners and academics about the sources of the underlying appeal of management gurus and management fashions and their effect upon the quality of management and organizational learning. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS v LIST OF TABLES vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Personal Significance of the Study 1 General Significance of the Study 4 Purposes of the Study 7 The Structure of the Study 8 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW: THE MANAGEMENT GURU AND MANAGEMENT FASHION PHENOMENON Introduction 11 Describing the Management Guru and Fashion Phenomenon 12 The Rise and Rise of the Management Guru 12 Guru Origins 12 Defining Management Gurus 15 “Surfing” Management Fashions 20 The Management Guru and Management Fashion Backlash 24 Explanations for the Management Gurus and Fashions 34 The Rational Approach 36 The Structural Approach 39 The Institutional/Distancing Approach 43 The Charismatic Approach 50 Towards a Rhetorical Critique 58 Summary 68 CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE REVIEW: DRAMATISTIC RHETORICAL CRITICISM Introduction 70 The Fantasy Theme Method of Rhetorical Criticism 72 Origins 72 Key Assumptions and Concepts 75 Empirical Applications of SCT and FT A 81 The Critique and Defence of Symbolic Convergence Theory 91 The Appropriateness of FT A for the Research Problem 101 Summary 106 iii CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH DESIGN Introduction 108 Selecting the Case Studies 109 Data Collection 116 Data Analysis 119 The Pilot Study 125 Summary 127 CHAPTER FIVE MICHAEL HAMMER, JAMES CHAMPY AND THE REENGINEERING MOVEMENT Introduction 129 The Reengineering Movement 131 The Rise and Fall of Reengineering 131 Michael Hammer and James Champy’s Leadership Role 135 The Rhetorical Vision of Reengineering 140 Character Theme One: Preservation of Self 142 Character Theme Two: Redemption of Self 144 Character Theme Three: Representation of Self 147 The Performance o f Reengineering 149 Rethinking Reengineering 149 The Guru as Rhetorical Performer 151 The Guru as Organizational Playwright 154 Summary 162 CHAPTER SIX STEPHEN COVEY AND THE EFFECTIVENESS MOVEMENT Introduction 164 The Seven Highly Effective Habits of Stephen Covey 165 Defining the Rhetorical Community of the Effectiveness Movement 172 The Rhetorical Vision of the Effectiveness Movement 175 Setting Theme: Heading Back to the Farm 176 Action Theme: Working from the “Inside Out” 179 Character Theme: Finding “True North” 184 Managing Spiritual Movements in a Secular Age 188 Stephen Covey’s Mormon Heritage 188 Comparing the Effectiveness Movement with Mormonism 191 Mormonism Goes Mainline 196 Summary 199 iv CHAPTER SEVEN PETER SENGE AND THE LEARNING ORGANIZATION Introduction 201 Forerunners and Variants of the Learning Organization Vision 203 Organizing the Learning Organization Vision 207 Background 207 Guru of the New 210 Peter Senge’s Anti-Guru Persona 211 A Collaborative Approach to Organizing 212 Where East Meets West 216 Connecting the Private and Public Sectors 219 The Link with the Quality Movement 220 The Rhetorical Community of the Learning Organization 222 Senior Executives 223 Trainers and Human Resource Professionals 226 The Rhetorical Vision of the Learning Organization 229 Setting Theme: Living in an Unsustainable World 229 Action Theme: Getting Control, but not Controlling 232 Character Theme: The Manager’s “New Work” 236 Setting Theme: Working it out within the Microworld 240 Sustaining the Vision of the Learning Organization 243 The Critique 243 Senge’s Response 251 Summary 257 CHAPTER EIGHT DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Introduction 259 Expanding the Empirical Account 260 Contributions 260 Limitations and Future Directions 269 Theorizing Management Gurus and Management Fashions 272 Contributions 272 Limitations 273 Future Directions 277 Fostering Dialogue Between Academics and Practitioners 279 Contributions and Limitations 279 Curtain Call 281 BIBILIOGRAPHY 284 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Heading The Rise of Three Prominent Management Gurus during the 1990s vi LIST OF TABLES Heading Page 1 The “Guru Texts” and the Academic Critiques of Some Recent 27 Management Fashions 2 The Four Approaches to Explaining Management Gurus and 35 Management Fashions 3 The Key Concepts of Symbolic Convergence Theory and Exemplars 76 from Popular Management Theory 4 Illustrative Empirical Studies Grounded in Symbolic Convergence 82 Theory 5 The Three Management Fashion Case Studies 116 6 The Types and Number of Data Sources Utilized in the Study 118 7 Number and Monthly Rate of Citations of the Terms ‘Reengineering’ 134 and ‘Re-engineering’ in the ABI/Inform Database 8 Key Fantasy Themes within the Rhetorical Vision of the Reengineering 141 Movement 9 Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People 168 10 Key Fantasy Themes within the Rhetorical Vision of the Effectiveness 176 Movement 11 Defining the Learning Organization and its Variants 206 12 The Five Disciplines of Peter Senge’s Learning Organization 209 13 Key Fantasy Themes within the Rhetorical Vision of the Learning 229 Organization 14 The Key Rhetorical Elements of Three Major Management Fashions of 262 the 1990s ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the course of working on this thesis over the past six years, a great many people have played their part in helping me along the way. I would like to begin by thanking my advisor, Professor John Burgoyne for initially agreeing to have dinner with me in Winnipeg, hearing me out and taking me on in the program. The members of the Department of Management Learning always made me feel very welcome during my flying visits to Lancaster. I am particularly grateful to Mark Easterby-Smith, Vivian Hodgson, Steve Fox, Anne Lorbecki, Michael Reynolds, Jill Roberts and Morgan Tanton. Thanks also to Rosamond Pardee for her support and encouragement. At the University of Calgary, I would like to thank all my colleagues in the Faculty of Continuing Education and Morris Baskett, Susan Hutton, Tom Keenan and Bill Taylor in particular. My gratitude also extends to the staff of the Management Seminars Area, the Special Sessions Office and TransAlta’s Corporate Communications group for putting up with a frequently distracted leader. From the Faculty of Management, I would especially like to thank Pushkala Prasad for allowing me to participate in three marvelous doctoral seminars. I am also very appreciative of the editing prowess of Jo-Anne Andre and the bibliographic support provided by Merrit Penny. In the closing stages of the thesis, my newfound colleagues at Victoria University of Wellington—notably Urs Daellenbach and Deborah Jones—provided helpful encouragement. Elsewhere in the academic universe I would like to thank the following people who kindly offered support or provided helpful feedback along the way: Eric Abrahamson, Ernest Bormann, Doug Bowie, Peter Case, Ann Cunliffe, Timothy Clark, Kathy Lund Dean, Michael Elmes, Christopher Grey, Mary Jo Hatch, Andrzej Huczynski, David Kirby, Karen Legge, Albert