Disorganization, disidentification and ideological fragmentation: Verbal and pictorial evidence from a British business school

Abstract

Rather than focusing on organizing dimensions of society, one may conceptualize disorganization processes, where ideological values incongruence leads to disidentification and ideological fragmentation. Integrating discourse analysis and critical social psychology, I focus on professional organizations facing ideological, managerialist change to develop a typology of multiple‐identity organizations (MIOs) incorporating various degrees of disorganization, rather than the traditional ideographic–holographic dualism. I then apply a creative, visual method to explore how wider ideological tensions between managerial (utilitarian) and professional (normative) values shape lived experiences in a major British business school. Longitudinal verbal and pictorial discursive analysis shows a cacophony of images competing to construct and deconstruct organizational identity over a decade and a half. The organization tends towards disorganization, but somehow retains a sufficient sense of (multiple) identity to survive, suggesting it is myopic to ignore processes and structures that mark and contribute to the ideological fragmentation of MIOs.

Keywords:

• disorganization
• disidentification
• ideology
• fragmented identity
• pictorial image
• multiple‐identity organizations

Notes

1. There is an extensive specialist literature on managerialism in higher education arguing identities prioritizing traditional approaches to research and teaching are being challenged by rational economic belief systems advocating market‐based competition, cost‐efficiency and customer (student) preferences. These are reflected in rankings and league tables, academic entrepreneurialism, institutional and academic performance indicators, teaching and research quality objectives, and audits (Henkel 2000; Parker and Jary 1995). Such initiatives are seen to have strong ideological dimensions, since they legitimize private sector practices and problem‐solving approaches in universities and seek to extend the right to manage other academics and administrative staff (Maskell and Robinson 2002).

2. Research Assessment Exercises (RAE) are designed to assess the quality of research by unit of assessment across UK higher education institutions in terms of scales measuring research output, environment and esteem. They have been implemented by the four higher education funding councils in UK universities in 1986, 1989, 1992, 1996, 2001 and 2008. RAE have been used to target research grants to those conducting higher quality research according to these measures, creating funding pressures across and within institutions (see Stiles 2002).