Narrative, metaphor and the subjective understanding of historic identity transition

Abstract

This paper examines the relevance of employing an oral history method and narrative interview techniques for business historians. We explore the use of oral history interviews as a means of capturing the expression of subjective experience in narrative and metaphor. We do so by analysing interviews concerning the transition of East German identities following reunification with West Germany. Self-expression emerges as critical to the vital identity work required for social integration following transformation, metaphor providing a means of articulating deep-rooted patterns of thought. We demonstrate that employing an oral history methodology can benefit business historians by affording access to the human dimension of a research project, unlocking the subjective understanding of experience by low-power actors among the non-hegemonic classes. Hence, employing an oral history methodology provides a valuable means of countering narrative imperialism, exemplified here by the dominant West German success story grounded in Western-style individual freedom.

Rethinking history and memory in organization studies: The case for historiographical reflexivity

“…Our next exemplar reveals yet another approach to retrospective organizational history, by aligning itself self-consciously with 'history from below', which respects the life stories (Ghorashi, 2008;Harrison, 2014) of those who might otherwise be ignored in the historical record. Maclean et al (2017) do not interview participants as eyewitnesses for the purpose of historical reconstruction, as Cruz does, but instead -like other advocates of oral history approaches (Haynes, 2010) -focus more on the meaning of events to individuals. They also argue that the often sparse and untrustworthy nature of archival documentation necessitates such an approach.…”

“…Interviews conducted, but reflecting a different focus to how interviews were analysed subsequently an archival resource, as the authors highlight how they returned to interviews previously conducted with a different research question in mind, and on revisiting the material began to appreciate the presence of themes and issues they were initially less concerned with (Maclean et al, 2017(Maclean et al, : 1218(Maclean et al, , 1224. Considering oral history interviews as sources rather than data entails consideration of the unintentional nature -and unelicited content -of these interviews.…”

Stelae from ancient India: Pondering anew through historical empathy for diversity

“…We acknowledge histories from the ‘periphery’ – or in the words of Cooke and Alcadipani (2015: 496), ‘the AOM (Academy of Management) will only become truly international when the learning of its members is seen as necessarily multidirectional between ‘domestic’ and ‘international’ knowledge centres, and indeed, when that distinction is no longer made’. A similar theme is evident in the work of Maclean et al (2017), which explores historic identity transition in the former East Germany. In their work, metaphors provide a channel for the expression of emotion and empathy towards a historic past.…”

The curse of agility: The Nokia Corporation and the loss of market dominance in mobile phones, 2003–2013

“…Executives have already had many opportunities to tell their versions of the process (starting with CEO Jorma Ollila's memoirs and widespread media attention since 2013); we primarily wanted to talk with middle managers and technology experts who understood (a) the strategic challenges of the corporation and (b) the limits of Nokia's internal technological competencies to build better smartphones. This allowed us to avoid the 'narrative imperialism' (Maclean, Harvey, & Stringfellow, 2017) and intersubjectivity problems prevalent in earlier research on Nokia and in the oral history tradition more generally (Summerfield, 2000). Finally, we had no personal links with the informants.…”