James March and the poetry of leadership

Abstract

Purpose Taking issue with the predominance of reviews of James March’s writings that focus on his technical contributions to organizational studies, this study aims to emphasize the central significance and contemporary relevance of his critical reflections on the meaning of life and work in modern organizations. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a novel framework illustrated by extensive original quotations for capturing and making more accessible March’s profound contribution to organization studies. His work on organizational behaviour and decision-making is viewed as identifying and grappling with three key paradoxes of modernity: of rationality, performance and meaning. His prescriptions on how to handle and address these paradoxes are explored through a focus on his reflections on the poetry of leadership. Findings Whilst March himself emphasized that not all of his insights can be captured in an article level overview, March, his collaborator Olsen and others who worked with and studied under him have confirmed the accuracy of the review and the value of the enterprise. Practical implications Capturing March’s advocacy of sensible foolishness and playful seriousness in the face of ambiguity, uncertainty and contestation hopefully contribute to enhancing practitioners’ “lightness of being” in coping with and finding meaning in challenging environments. Originality/value Through the range of ideas covered, the framework used and the extensive use of March’s own worlds, the study, hopefully, communicates the depth and richness of March’s humanitarian enterprise and the “playfully serious spirit” that he advocates and exemplifies – in a way that is often omitted from narrower, more technical and somewhat dry treatments of his work.

Guest editorial

“…Always with reference to the leadership studies conducted by Jim, Badham (2021), in his elegantly crafted article "James March and the poetry of leadership," highlights three overarching paradox foci in March's works, exploring paradoxes of rationality, performance and meaning. The paper reveals how March's work contributes to our poetic understanding of leadership in discussing how leaders appreciate, handle and live with these paradoxes.…”

Elgar Introduction to Designing Organizations

“…Second, the absence of hierarchy can lead to disorganization (Cooper, 1986) while third, organizing without hierarchy requires an infrastructure of accountability (Cunha, Rego & Clegg, 2011, p. 500) which is hard to build and even harder to maintain. Thus, the search for balance is aggravated by the fact that organizations have a multiplicity of goals that are also competing and ambiguous (Badham, 2021; see also Highlight 2.1). As Starbuck and Nystrom (1981, p. 5) summarize: an organization's mission, such as when medical care is rendered secondary to financial concerns (Hartzband & Groopman, 2014).…”

“Physics envy” in organisation studies: the case of James G. March

“…Rather, only those aspects of March’s scholarship which pertain to their underpinnings are analysed. Readers interested in learning more about March’s ideas are referred to contributions dedicated to such an endeavour, for instance, Badham (2021), Schachter (2021) and the special issues introduced by Levinthal and Marengo (2020) or Bromiley et al (2019). Naturally, readers are also directed to the primary sources (March’s books and articles) although, or so this article argues, extracting definitive meaning from them is a challenging undertaking.…”