Johan Hultman
Professor
From ‘Less Landfilling’ to ‘Wasting Less’: Societal narratives, socio-materiality, and organizations
Author
Summary, in English
Abstract in Undetermined
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show that organizational change depends on societal narratives - narratives about the character, history, or envisioned future of societies. Design/methodology/approach - A case study of a Swedish municipal waste management company serves as an illustration. Findings - Swedish waste governance is powered by two main narratives: "less landfilling" and "wasting less". Less landfilling has been the dominant narrative for several decades, but wasting less is gaining momentum, and a new narrative order is establishing itself. This new narrative order significantly redefines the socio-material status of waste and imposes major changes on waste management organizations. Research limitations/implications - Based on the case of waste governance in Sweden, the authors conclude that organizations should be aware that societal narrative affects the legitimacy and nature of their operations; therefore, they must integrate a watch for narrative change in their strategic reflections. Originality/value - This paper establishes the relevance of the notion of societal narrative to understand organizational change.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to show that organizational change depends on societal narratives - narratives about the character, history, or envisioned future of societies. Design/methodology/approach - A case study of a Swedish municipal waste management company serves as an illustration. Findings - Swedish waste governance is powered by two main narratives: "less landfilling" and "wasting less". Less landfilling has been the dominant narrative for several decades, but wasting less is gaining momentum, and a new narrative order is establishing itself. This new narrative order significantly redefines the socio-material status of waste and imposes major changes on waste management organizations. Research limitations/implications - Based on the case of waste governance in Sweden, the authors conclude that organizations should be aware that societal narrative affects the legitimacy and nature of their operations; therefore, they must integrate a watch for narrative change in their strategic reflections. Originality/value - This paper establishes the relevance of the notion of societal narrative to understand organizational change.
Department/s
- Department of Service Studies
Publishing year
2012
Language
English
Pages
297-314
Publication/Series
Journal of Organizational Change Management
Volume
25
Issue
2
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Topic
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- Society
- Narratives
- Sweden
- Waste management
- Social change
- Sustainability
- Organizational change
- Organizational processes
Status
Published
Project
- Organizing critical infrastructure services-The case of Waste Management
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0953-4814