Waubonsee Community College

The dysfunctional workplace, theory, stories, and practice, Seth Allcorn and Howard F. Stein

Label
The dysfunctional workplace, theory, stories, and practice, Seth Allcorn and Howard F. Stein
Language
eng
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-218) and index
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
Literary Form
non fiction
Main title
The dysfunctional workplace
Nature of contents
bibliography
Oclc number
909974826
Responsibility statement
Seth Allcorn and Howard F. Stein
Sub title
theory, stories, and practice
Summary
"This book explores the dark, dysfunctional nature of organization and the experience of working in them. The authors offer dozens of stories of workplace dysfunction and use a psychoanalytically informed perspective to help readers understand why a leader, colleague, or friend behaves in ways that are destructive to others and to the organization. The work is divided into three parts: theory, stories, and practice. Topics covered in the first section include the value of storytelling, an overview of competing paradigms in analysis, and the value of psychoanalysis and its explanatory power. This is followed by chapters on case stories organized by theme and a conclusion that explores the implications of the research and analytic practice. The engaging stories are drawn from events the authors have experienced or observed, and from their roles as professional consultants. Subjects range from the consequences egotistical and shortsighted leaders can have on organizations to details such as the effect a suddenly empty desk has on staff in the office. This fresh scholarship provides the basis for studying the workplace, organizational dynamics, and management. By posing questions and providing analysis, the authors seek to make the reader a "virtual consultant" participating in answering the questions that stories inevitably raise. This is followed by the authors' own analysis of the case studies, addressing those same questions and offering reflections on how organizations might be managed so as to minimize dysfunction." -- Publisher's description
Table Of Contents
Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Part one. Theory -- 1. Stories from the workplace : an introduction -- 2. Why use a psychoanalytic approach to understand organizations? -- 3 Psychoanalytic perspectives and the workplace -- Part two. Stories and analysis -- 4. Destructive leaders and organizational darkness -- 5. Projection and organizational crazy making -- 6. Organizational toxicity -- 7. The geography of organizational darkness -- 8. The stories, their meaning, and understanding workplace complexity -- 9. Implications for theory and research
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