ABSTRACT
Storytelling in management practice has evidently enjoyed increasing popularity in recent years as managers have sought to organize both business processes and professional relationships through more symbolic means (e.g. Deetz 2001). This has become particularly important in the twenty-first century, where instant, constant and concise communication impacts on both business and social practice. In this context, managers grapple with balancing the efficiency imperative (i.e. the achievement of business goals) with quality interpersonal interactions between organizational actors, leadership and organizational setting (e.g. Ward et al. 2001; Brown et al. 2005; Denning 2005; Maxwell and Dickmann 2007; Mackesy Davies 2012). The quality and depth of communication and personal interaction in organizations seems to have declined in line with the available quantity, potentially jeopardizing the cohesion of the organization and the achievement of its goals (e.g. Lovely 2006; Wortmann 2006). Research participant Patrick, an employee, commented on this phenomenon as follows:
Communication is always an issue. How do you get your messages to the right people at the right times and make them actually listen to it? I’ve yet to come up with anybody who’s actually come up with the definitive solution other than just keep trying the different routes and making sure you identify the right groups of people. If somebody did come up with the magic solution to organizational communication, I think they’d make a fortune.
