Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-05T03:59:17.943Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Poetry and Leadership in Light of Ambiguity and Logic of Appropriateness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2015

Yijun Xing  and
Yipeng Liu
Yijun Xing
Affiliation:
Beijing Jiao Tong University, China
Yipeng Liu
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between poetry and leadership – in particular, how business leaders might leverage poetry in practice. Drawing on the theoretical lenses of logic of appropriateness and ambiguity, we suggest a conceptual model to understand the multilayered meaning of poetry, noting that poetry has four layers of meaning: the superficial meaning, the poet's evocative meaning, the reader's recasting into a modern situation, and the recipient's interpretation. Using the storytelling research method, we collected leadership narrative stories that indicate poetry as an effective communication tool in practicing leadership. From these data, we identify four approaches that leaders use to apply the multilayered meaning of poetry in contemporary business practice: drawing lessons from poets' experience through critical interpretation of the poem, inspiring leaders' heroic spirits, guiding leaders' rules of behavior, and adopting poetry as a tactic to influence others. Our study contributes to the argument of ambiguity as a source of intelligence and illuminates how poetry as an artistic form of story facilitates contemporary leadership practice in light of the logic of appropriateness framework.

Keywords

ambiguityChinaleadershiplogic of appropriatenessmultilayered meaningpoetry
Type
Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 11 , Issue 4: Special Issue Expanding Research on Family Business in China , December 2015 , pp. 763 - 793
Copyright
Copyright © The International Association for Chinese Management Research 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Argote, L., & Greve, H. R. 2007. A behavioral theory of the firm-40 years and counting: Introduction and impact. Organization Science, 18 (3): 337–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Augier, M. 2004. James March on education, leadership, and Don Quixote: Introduction and interview. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3 (2): 169–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Augier, M., & Prietula, M. 2007. Historical roots of the behavioral theory of the firm model at GSIA. Organization Science, 18 (3): 507–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourgeois, V. W., & Pinder, C. C. 1983. Contrasting philosophical perspectives in administrative science: A reply to Morgan. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28 (4): 608–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryman, A. 2004. Qualitative research on leadership: A critical but appreciative review. The Leadership Quarterly, 15 (6): 729–769.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Confucius. BC551/BC479. The analects/Confucius. Zhong Hua Shu Ju Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Cornelissen, J. P., Holt, R., & Zundel, M. 2011. The role of analogy and metaphor in the framing and legitimization of strategic change. Organization Studies, 32 (12): 1701–1716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornelissen, J. P., Oswick, C., Christensen, L. T., & Phillips, N. 2008. Metaphor in organizational research: context, modalities and implications for research-Introduction. Organization Studies, 29 (1): 7–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coutu, D. 2006. Ideas as art: A conversation with James G. March. Harvard Business Review, 84 (10): 82–91.Google Scholar
Cunliffe, A. L. 2002. Social poetics as management inquiry a dialogical approach. Journal of Management Inquiry, 11 (2): 128–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunliffe, A. L. 2008. Orientations to social constructionism: Relationally responsive social constructionism and its implications for knowledge and learning. Management Learning, 39 (2): 123–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cyert, R. M., & March, J. G. 1963. A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Dailey, S. L., & Browning, L. 2014. Retelling stories in organizations: Understanding the functions of narrative repetition. Academy of Management Review, 39 (1): 22–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darmer, P. 2006. Poetry as a way to inspire (the management of) the research process. Management Decision, 44 (4): 551–560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darmer, P., & Grisoni, L. 2011. The opportunity of poetry: Report about poetry in organizing and managing. Tamara Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry, 9 (1–2): 5–13.Google Scholar
Diesing, P. 1971. Patterns of discovery in the social sciences. Chicag: Aldine·-Atherton.Google Scholar
Gabriel, Y., & Connell, N. A. D. C. 2010. Co-creating stories: Collaborative experiments in storytelling. Management Learning, 41 (5): 507–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gavetti, G., Greve, H. R., Levinthal, D. A., & Ocasio, W. 2012. The behavioral theory of the firm: Assessment and prospects. The Academy of Management Annals, 6 (1): 1–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giles, H. A. 1923. A history of Chinese literature. New York: Grove Press Inc.Google Scholar
Grisham, T. 2006. Metaphor, poetry, storytelling and cross-cultural leadership. Management Decision, 44 (4): 486–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grisoni, L., & Kirk, P. 2006. Verse, voice and va va voom!: Illuminating management processes through poetry. Management Decision, 44 (4): 512–525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gu, S., & Ye, J. 2012. Enlightenment of Ancient Chinese Poetry (‘Gu Dian Shi Ci Gan Fa’ in Chinese). Peking University Press.Google Scholar
Gu, S. 2013. Comments on Chinese poetry by Tuo An (‘Tuo An Hua’ in Chinese). China: SDX Joint Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
Hightower, J. R., & Yeh, F. C. 1998. Studies in Chinese poetry. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ho, C. K. 2012. Chinese poetry of Tang and Song dynasties: A new translation. Hong Kong, China: Shangwu Yinshu Guan.Google Scholar
Kuang, Z. 1859/1926. Huifeng Cihua (in Chinese). Hong Kong: The Commerce Press.Google Scholar
Li, P. P. 2012. Toward research-practice balancing in management: The Yin-Yang method for open-ended and open-minded research. In Wang, C. L., Ketchen, D. J., & Bergh, D. D. (Eds.), Research methodology in strategy and management, Vol. 8: 143–171: Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
Lin, Y. 1936. My country and my people. London, Toronto: William Heinemann.Google Scholar
Liu, J. 1962. The art of Chinese poetry. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Liu, W.-c., & Lo, I. Y. 1975. Sunflower splendor: Three thousand years of Chinese poetry. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Liu, Y., Xing, Y., & Starik, M. 2012. Storytelling as research method: A West-meets-East perspective. In Wang, C. L., Ketchen, D. J., & Bergh, D. D. (Eds.), Research methodology in strategy and management, Vol. 8: 143–171: Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Google Scholar
March, J. G. 1978. Bounded rationality, ambiguity, and the engineering of choice. The Bell Journal of Economics, 9: 587–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, J. G. 1994. A primer on decision making: How decisions happen. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
March, J. G. 2006. Poetry and the rhetoric of management Easter 1916. Journal of Management Inquiry, 15 (1): 70–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, J. G. 2010. The ambiguities of experience. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. 1976. Ambiguity and choice in organizations. Bergen, Norway: Universitetsforlaget.Google Scholar
March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. 1989. Rediscovering institutions: The organizational basis of politics. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. 2004. The logic of appropriateness, ARENA, Centre for European Studies, Working papers 04/09. University of Oslo: ARENA.Google Scholar
March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. 1993. Organizations. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Melvin, S. 2012. The poetry of Chinese politics. Caixin Online (August 3).Google Scholar
Miao, Y. 1979. Ci Lun in Shi Ci Sanlun (Translated by John Minford: ‘The Chinese lyric’) Renditions: A Chinese-English Translation Magazine : 25–44.Google Scholar
Morgan, G. 1997. Images of organization (2nd ed.). Beverley Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Oswick, C., Keenoy, T., & Grant, D. 2002. Metaphor and analogical reasoning in organization theory: Beyond orthodoxy. Academy of Management Review, 27 (2): 294–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, M., Grisoni, L., & Turner, A. 2014. Dreaming fairness and re-imagining equality and diversity through participative aesthetic inquiry. Management Learning, 45 (5): 557–592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, N., & Oswick, C. 2012. Organizational discourse: Domains, debates, and directions. The Academy of Management Annals, 6 (1): 435–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pontikes, E. G. 2012. Two sides of the same coin: How ambiguous classification affects multiple audiences' evaluations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 57 (1): 81–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhee, M. 2010. The pursuit of shared wisdom in class: When classical Chinese thinkers meet James March. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9 (2): 258–279.Google Scholar
Rosile, G. A., Boje, D. M., Carlon, D. M., Downs, A., & Saylors, R. 2013. Storytelling diamond: An antenarrative integration of the six facets of storytelling in organization research design. Organizational Research Methods, 16 (10): 557–580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santos, F. M., & Eisenhardt, K. M. 2009. Constructing markets and shaping boundaries: Entrepreneurial power in nascent fields. Academy of Management Journal, 52 (4): 643–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sims, D. 2005. You bastard: A narrative exploration of the experience of indignation within organizations. Organization Studies, 26 (11): 1625–1640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sims, D. 2010. Looking for the key to leadership under the lamp post. European Management Journal, 28 (4): 253–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsui, A. S. 2007. From homogenization to pluralism: International management research in the academy and beyond. Academy of Management Journal, 50 (6): 1353–1364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsui, A. S. 2009. Editor's introduction–Autonomy of inquiry: Shaping the future of emerging scientific communities. Management and Organization Review, 5 (1): 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walder, A. G. 2011. From control to ownership: China's managerial revolution. Management and Organization Review, 7 (1): 19–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, K. 1877/1927. Jen-Chien Tz'u-Hua: A study in Chinese literary criticism (Translated by Adele Austin Rickett). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Weber, J. M., Kopelman, S., & Messick, D. M. 2004. A conceptual review of decision making in social dilemmas: Applying a logic of appropriateness. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8 (3): 281–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wengraf, T. 2001. Qualitative research interviewing: Biographic narrative and semi-structured methods. London: Sage Publications Ltd.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whiteman, G. 1997. Poems from James Bay. Organization & Environment, 10 (2): 191–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xing, Y., Liu, Y., Tarba, S.Y. & Cooper, C.L. 2014. Intercultural influences on managing African employees of Chinese firms in Africa: Chinese managers' HRM practices. International Business Review, DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2014.05.003.Google Scholar
Xing, Y., & Liu, Y. 2015. Linking leader's identity work and the involvement of HRM: The case of sociocultural integration in Chinese Mergers & Acquisitions. The International Journal of Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2015.1031156.Google Scholar
Xing, Y., & Sims, D. 2012. Leadership, Daoist Wu Wei and reflexivity: Flow, self-protection and excuse in Chinese bank managers' leadership practice. Management Learning, 43 (1): 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, Y. 2005. Selected poems and pictures of the Song Dynasty. Beijing: China Intercontinental Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Xing and Liu supplementary material

Translated abstracts

Download Xing and Liu supplementary material(File)
File 33.3 KB