Costello, Gabriel J. and Rochford, Colm and Donnellan, Brian
(2008)
A Dialogical Action Research Approach to Innovation as Organisational Change.
In: Action in Language, Organisationsand Information Systems, the 5th International Conference ALOIS 2008, 5-6 May 2008, Venice, Italy.
Abstract
This paper argues that dialogical action research (AR), recently proposed to the IS community
by Mårtensson & Lee (2004), provides a novel approach to address the perennial call for more
relevant and rigorous collaboration between academics and practitioners. The work is
presented in the context of a case study of APC-MGE Ireland, a subsidiary of the critical
power and cooling services division of the Schneider Electric Corporation. The research
proposes to make a contribution by presenting a study of using dialogical AR as an impetus
for the process of change involved in the re-orientation of a subsidiary to an innovative
organisation. Furthermore, the work builds on Ciborra’s challenge to return to the “origins of
phenomenology” and argues that the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer can
provide a solid underpinning for dialogical AR. The paper now proceeds as follows. Firstly a
literature review is provided on innovation and organisational change building on the work of
Zaltman et al.(1973) and using the taxonomy of innovation theories developed by Slappendel
(1996). The paper then addresses the thematic aspects of ALOIS by discussing the
Hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer with his emphasis on engagement with practice and
the importance of language. Following this, the background and context of the case study is
presented. Next the research approach is outlined and the scope of the research question and
data collection are described. Subsequently, the case is examined in light of models of
organisational change and of the innovation theory presented earlier in the paper. Finally the
conclusions of the study are presented and suggestions made for future work.
| Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
|
| Keywords: |
innovation; organisational change; dialogical action research; phenomenology; hermeneutics; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Business |
| Item ID: |
10814 |
| Depositing User: |
Prof. Brian Donnellan
|
| Date Deposited: |
24 May 2019 13:59 |
| Refereed: |
No |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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