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Human Relations
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Beyond the metaphor: The morphology of organizational decline and turnaround

Juha-Antti Lamberg

Helsinki University of Technology. juha-antti.lamberg{at}hut.fi

Kalle Pajunen

Tampere University of Technology kalle.pajunen{at}tut.fi

This study is based on the thesis that Vladimir Propp's (1928/2001) theory of folktale structure functions not only as a morphology of folktales, but also as a structural, deep-level model of any process that includes crisis and recovery. We essentially suggest that corporate decline and turnaround processes can be emplotted into a folktale-like structure that supports Propp's theory and thereby helps uncover deep-level mechanisms governing the process. The developed model describes seven mechanisms that drive the organization from initial strategic harmony to disharmony, and furthermore to the construction of a new strategic harmony, thus creating a perspective for the interpretation of long-term organizational decline and turnaround processes. Theoretical and practical implications are offered.

Key Words: folktale • history • morphology • organizational decline • psychodynamics • turnaround

Human Relations, Vol. 58, No. 8, 947-980 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0018726705058499
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K. Pajunen
The Nature of Organizational Mechanisms
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[Abstract] [PDF]