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The Schismatic Metaphor and Its Implications for Organizational Analysis

Department of Organizational Behavior. The Pennsylvania State University

This article investigates the possibility of studying organizations upon the basis of a schismatic metaphor, which presumes that there is a fundamental tendency within organizations towards disintegration as a result of endogenously generated change. The metaphor specifically sets out to provide an alternative to the traditional mechanical and organismic metaphors, which assume that social systems are functionally unified and essentially stable, by focusing upon strains and tensions which often work towards the incompatible ends of unity and fission. It suggests that these strains and tensions can account for patterns of internal differentiation, the decentralization of power and control, patterns of conflict, and many other important organizational characteristics. Systematically developed, the schismatic metaphor offers an opportunity to view orga nizations from a perspective which elevates the importance of many variables which are either neglected or taken for granted within the context of traditional theorizing. The article elaborates a theme, substantiated in more detail elsewhere (Morgan f.c.), that social theorizing is essentially metaphorical and that powerful new insights can be generated through the use of new metaphors which allow theorists and researchers to study and see familiar phenomena in new ways.

Organization Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, 23-44 (1981)
DOI: 10.1177/017084068100200103


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