University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2016 Collective Management in a Cooperative: Problematizing Productivity and Power Avery Edenfield University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Edenfield, Avery, "Collective Management in a Cooperative: Problematizing Productivity and Power" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 1138. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1138 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT IN A COOPERATIVE: PROBLEMATIZING PRODUCTIVITY AND POWER by Avery C. Edenfield A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2016 ABSTRACT COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT IN A COOPERATIVE: PROBLEMATIZING PRODUCTIVITY AND POWER by Avery Edenfield The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016 Under the Supervision of Professor Dave Clark Since the mid-twentieth century, the structure of the workplace has undergone a transformation. While the conventional firm with its rigid bureaucracies is still in use, many businesses have grown increasingly flexible, flat, and polycentric: “empowerment” and “innovation” are the coin of the realm. As the way we work changed, professional communication scholarship pivoted to consider communication practices in these structures. While professional communication scholars have long discussed these kinds of organizations, they have not discussed an increasingly popular alternative: cooperatives. Owned and operated by the people who use them, these organizations can significantly affect the communities in which they operate. To contribute to the rhetorical knowledge of cooperatives, I conducted a qualitative study at the Riverwest Public House Cooperative (“Public House”). This project extends research of flat organizations by investigating a cooperative business. I draw my research questions from the concerns scholars identified in other kinds of organizations: namely, the role of genres in configuring power and facilitating organizational change (Clark 2006; Devitt 1991; Spinuzzi 2007; Star 1991; Winsor 2003; Zachry 2000). 1. How does a cooperative employ genres differently? 2. What do these texts tell us about how power is distributed in a cooperative? 3. How do the genres it employs affect organizational change? ii These questions helped me better understand the connections between negotiations of power and texts at work in this particular business, leading me to several findings: 1. Genres. Collaboratively produced texts are the backbone of consensus-based decision- making. Unlike conventional organizations, in a cooperative, many (though not all) stakeholders are given access to governance. For instance, documents like an incident report or safer space policy have greater social significance when they are not only produced by agreement but also enforced through agreement. 2. Organizational Change. The Public House underwent a managerial overhaul during my study. Like conventional businesses, change occurred through a confluence of material circumstances and individual and organizational goals; however, due to the absence of formal structure, in this instance, a broader range of individuals was able to institute structural change. 3. Distribution of Power. In place of hierarchy, rhetorics of empowerment and democracy were deployed horizontally to task employees with managerial duties without financial rewards. For this project, I provide an interdisciplinary take on hierarchy and organizational structure by examining one cooperative, still in its infancy, through the lens of genre and power in the workplace. iii © Copyright by Avery Edenfield, 2016 All Rights Reserved. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: COOPERATIVES, COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT, AND HIERARCHY: RATIONALE AND RELEVANCE FOR STUDY 1 Introduction 2 Conventional Business 5 Surveillance and Control 8 Genre of Control 12 Flat and Non-hierarchical Organizations 14 Adhocracy 17 Co-management 19 Anarcho-syndicalism 19 Cooperative Business 21 Democratic Control 22 Profit: Interdependent and Sustainable Communities 23 Balance of Community Needs 26 Cooperative Management 27 Worker-Owned Cooperative 28 Worker Collective 29 An Evaluation of Power and Hierarchy in Conventional and Cooperative Firms 30 Rhetoric of Empowerment 33 Democracy under Surveillance: Cooperative Management and Mutual Monitoring 38 Overview of the Project 42 Research Questions 42 Dissertation Chapters 43 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 44 Research Setting 44 Design of the Project: Methodologies 48 Actor-network Theory 48 Genres: Stabilizing and Generic 51 Participant-Observer 55 Social Bonds of Participation 56 Design of the Project: Methods 58 Artifact Collection 58 Textual Analysis 59 Site Interviews 59 Study Timeline 59 Participants 60 v CHAPTER 3: RHETORICAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE PUBLIC HOUSE: ACCESS, PARTICIPATION, AND CONTRADICTIONS 62 Founding Network: Stabilized through Texts 63 The Shape of Genres 64 The Shape of the Network 66 The Myth of the Public House: Exclusionary Practice Meets Democratic Principles 70 Relational Underpinning Affected Textual Access 74 Textual Access Affected Participation 78 CHAPTER 4: DREAM AND DEATH OF A DREAM: REARRANGEMENT OF AN ORGANIZATION THROUGH RHETORICAL STRATEGY 84 Conflicts in Structuring the Public House: The Manifesto 86 Foundational Split: Two Perspectives at Odds 87 Workers Collective: An Uneasy Network Compromise 96 Workers Collective Texts 97 Network Positions 98 Re-organization: The Destabilized Network Manages Innovation 101 Destabilizing the Network: Failures in the Texts 102 Stabilizing the Network: Reorganization 104 Transmission of Change: Employee Handbook 107 Dismissal of a Founder and Completion of Change 113 Reinterpretation and Change in the Workers Collective 118 Post-Mortem 120 CHAPTER 5: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 122 Implications for Actor-Network and Genre Theory 122 Implications for Cooperative Development 126 Effects of Documentation on Democratic Practice 127 Effects of Scale on Management Practice 128 Implications for Professional Communication Research 129 Tension as a Condition for Innovation 129 Professional Communication Support for Cooperative Research 130 Conclusion 132 vi REFERENCES 135 APPENDIX 146 CURRICULUM VITAE 148 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: OVERLAP OF FLAT ARRANGEMENTS 20 FIGURE 2: INCIDENT REPORT 81 FIGURE 3: COVER OF MANIFESTO 89 FIGURE 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS 90 FIGURE 5: STRUCTURE CHART FROM BOARD MANUAL 98 FIGURE 6: FOUNDING NETWORK 100 FIGURE 7: CHANGES IN NETWORK ENROLLMENTS 106 FIGURE 8: WORKER HANDBOOK COVER 108 FIGURE 9: WELCOME 110 FIGURE 10: CHECKLIST 112 FIGURE 11: DISSOLUTION/REMAKING OF NETWORK 117 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to the Riverwest Public House Cooperative for their transparency and willingness to be open and vulnerable for this study. During my research, I watched the business go through many dramatic changes and through it all, the people involved were courageous, honest, and deeply committed to their common goals. I would often remind participants of their right to speak “off the record.” The response would often be, “No, please write this down.” I was struck by their willingness to be open to analysis, so that through my stories of their struggle and growth, the fields of professional communication and cooperative development could benefit. I am so grateful to them. I also want to thank my dissertation committee: Dave Clark, Rachel Spilka, S. Scott Graham, Bill Keith, and Fredrik O. Andersson. Thank you for your time and energy with this project, and for supporting me through this process. Lastly, I am thankful to my partner, Laura Kendellen, for late-night brainstorming sessions, many pots of coffee, stacks of books all over the house, and her superior editing skills, including this acknowledgment. ix Chapter 1: Cooperatives, Collective Management, and Hierarchy: Rationale and Relevance for Study Vignette 1: Jamal has worked for two years as the lead bartender for the Workers’ Collective, the committee of workers who democratically manage the bar. After starting school, he finds he is overwhelmed and decides to step down. The bar operates fine without a lead bartender for a few months, but soon maintenance tasks start to fall through the cracks, scheduling gaps occur, and inventory and finance officers operate without input from the group. The Board of Directors gives the Workers’ Collective a deadline to decide how they will manage themselves. At the next workers’ meeting, the Collective revisits the job description of the lead bartender, paring down the description to fit the bar’s current needs, and then makes changes in Google Docs. They agree one person could perform the tasks—most of what was previously performed by Jamal. The workers decide to revisit the decisions they have made in two weeks, then three months, and then one year. Finally, one worker nominates another for the position. After it is seconded, a vote is taken. The nominee is brought back into the room and congratulated on her new position as lead bartender. Vignette 2: After a year in the same position, Liz believes she deserves a raise. After consulting