Three Frames of Reference: The description Of Climate

Making sense of (mis)matched frames of reference: A dynamic cognitive theory of (in)stability in HR practices

“…The cognitive discussion of “frames of reference” in employment relations scholarship, while limited, can be traced back to Thelen and Withall (1949: 159) who note that “each person perceives and interprets events by means of a conceptual structure of generalizations or contexts, postulates about what is essential, assumptions about what is possible, and ideas about what will work effectively” and that “this conceptual structure constitutes the frame of reference of that person.” Fox (1966: 2; 1974) proposes that one’s frame of reference “determines judgement, which in turn determines subsequent behavior.” Frames have received substantially more attention in the meso‐strategic management and organizational literatures than in employment relations theory and research. In these former literatures, cognitive frames have been proposed to shape how organizational systems are structured (Ranson, Hinings, and Greenwood 1980) and how organizational actors behave (Cornelissen and Werner 2014; Weber and Mayer 2014).…”

“…However, research applying frame analysis to the employment relationship has primarily focused on identifying and labeling different frames of reference (Budd and Bhave 2008; Cradden 2018; Godard 2017; Heery 2016), using contrasting frames to understand alternative perspectives on central employment relations issues (Bray, Budd, and Macneil 2020; Budd and Bhave 2008; Heery 2016; Kaufman 2016), and establishing an empirical basis for the existence of different frames, particularly among managers (Geare, Edgar, and McAndrew 2006; Geare et al 2014; Godard 1997). In this paper, we return to the classic employment relations literature in emphasizing frames of reference as a basis for action (Thelen and Withall 1949; Fox 1966, 1974; but also Cradden 2018).…”