Vaara, Eero and Sonenshein, Scott and Boje, David (2016) Narratives as sources of stability and change in organizations : approaches and directions for future research. The Academy of Management Annals, 10 (1). pp. 495-560. ISSN 1941-6520
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Abstract
Although narrative analysis has made significant advances in organization and management studies, scholars have not yet unleashed its full potential. This review provides an understanding of key issues in organizational narrative analysis with a focus on the role of narratives in organizational stability and change. We start by elaborating on the characteristics of organizational narratives to provide a conceptual framework for organizational narrative analysis. We elaborate on three key approaches to narrative analysis on stability and change: realist, interpretative and poststructuralist approaches. We then review several topic areas where narrative analysis has so far offered the most promise: organizational change, identity, strategy, entrepreneurship and personal change. Finally, we identify important issues that warrant attention in future research, both theoretically and methodologically.