The Psycho-Managerial Complex at Work: A Study of the Discursive Practices of Management Coaching
Type
doctoral thesis
Date Issued
2013
Author(s)
Abstract
This thesis investigates how psychotherapeutic and managerial practices sustain a complex relationship that instigates the alignment of emotions towards managerial discourses of professionalism and productivity. To explore this ‘psycho-managerial complex' the thesis takes specific interest in ‘management coaching', which has recently become an influential and widely used person-centered Human Resource Management intervention. It is suggested that management coaching represents a new generation of person-centered interventions that encourages employees to engage in intensive self-work and promotes the regulation of emotions. Based on a theoretical framework which emphasizes the processual dynamics of discourse, two supplementary empirical studies are conducted to explore the concrete discursive practices of management coaching.
The first empirical study (‘talk in coaching') is based on transcribed coaching sessions and investigates the discursive positioning processes between a professional coach and middle managers in three separate management coaching cases. This study suggests that the coach consistently uses internalizing and emotionalizing problem constructions to frame the managers' experiences and applies linguistic practices commonly found in psychotherapy. Furthermore, it is shown how the coach attempts to persuade managers to work on their experiences and regulate their emotions to become more productive and more professional workers.
The second empirical study (‘talk about coaching') is based on 31 transcribed interviews with main stakeholders of the coaching and explores how coaches, managers and HR-managers legitimize the use of coaching processes in organizations. The analysis suggests that the key stakeholders generally account for management coaching by drawing upon variations of managerial and psychotherapeutic discourses. Moreover, the analysis unravels the emergence of three relational patterns through which these managerial and psychotherapeutic discourses are related in the form of assimilation, unfolding and countering moves. It is suggested that these complex discursive maneuvers enable the translation of psychotherapeutic practices into the work realm.
The findings of the two empirical studies are further discussed in relation to the ongoing transformations of capitalism towards a soft / emotional capitalism by which intimacy and productivity are espoused to unleash the whole of human resourcefulness. Overall, the thesis illustrates how the psycho-managerial complex is constituted in and through management coaching. It situates the study of management coaching into the emerging field of Critical Human Resource Management and connects these to discussions concerning the transformation of capitalism and the management of emotions. Moreover, the thesis introduces discourse analysis as a means to study and reflect critically on concrete discursive practices and their processual unfolding in the field of Organization Studies.
The first empirical study (‘talk in coaching') is based on transcribed coaching sessions and investigates the discursive positioning processes between a professional coach and middle managers in three separate management coaching cases. This study suggests that the coach consistently uses internalizing and emotionalizing problem constructions to frame the managers' experiences and applies linguistic practices commonly found in psychotherapy. Furthermore, it is shown how the coach attempts to persuade managers to work on their experiences and regulate their emotions to become more productive and more professional workers.
The second empirical study (‘talk about coaching') is based on 31 transcribed interviews with main stakeholders of the coaching and explores how coaches, managers and HR-managers legitimize the use of coaching processes in organizations. The analysis suggests that the key stakeholders generally account for management coaching by drawing upon variations of managerial and psychotherapeutic discourses. Moreover, the analysis unravels the emergence of three relational patterns through which these managerial and psychotherapeutic discourses are related in the form of assimilation, unfolding and countering moves. It is suggested that these complex discursive maneuvers enable the translation of psychotherapeutic practices into the work realm.
The findings of the two empirical studies are further discussed in relation to the ongoing transformations of capitalism towards a soft / emotional capitalism by which intimacy and productivity are espoused to unleash the whole of human resourcefulness. Overall, the thesis illustrates how the psycho-managerial complex is constituted in and through management coaching. It situates the study of management coaching into the emerging field of Critical Human Resource Management and connects these to discussions concerning the transformation of capitalism and the management of emotions. Moreover, the thesis introduces discourse analysis as a means to study and reflect critically on concrete discursive practices and their processual unfolding in the field of Organization Studies.
Language
English
Keywords
Management Coaching
Psychotherapy
Management
HRM
Discourse
Psycho-Managerial Complex
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SHSS - Kulturen, Institutionen, Maerkte (KIM)
Refereed
No
Publisher
Difo-Druck
Publisher place
Bamberg
Start page
216
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
222651