Oedipus and the CEO: Ambiguities of change in myth, discourse and practice

Abstract

This article situates the theme of the new, in its many guises, within the framework of shifting concepts and uses of change. It adapts ideas from Freud, Foucault and Marx to establish the intractable complexity of ideas of change and to explore its symptomatology in different texts and contexts in management. The article finds good reasons for such apparently opposite qualities as silence in theory and excess in talk about change. In doing so, it uses ‘discourse’ to show how the threat of change is subjected to control in managerialism and ‘myth’ to articulate some contradictions that need to be controlled. The article presents an analysis of two case studies from different times. By treating the story of a CEO of a multinational corporation as a myth, it reveals core tensions and contradictions of managerialism. By treating Oedipus, a character from the Greek tragedy, as the CEO, it shows analogous tensions and conditions of change and draws lessons for management studies today.

Keywords:

• change in organisations
• managerialism
• restructures
• revolutions
• myth analysis
• discourse analysis