The Organizational Setting, Use and Institutionalization of Argumentation Repertoires

Abstract

Although the association between management and argumentation has been a long-standing one, very little research has been undertaken into the organizational setting, institutionalization and use of argumentation. Argumentation is still considered to be undertaken between isolated individuals or within political communities. This paper aims to provide a first attempt at an organizational theory of argumentation. It suggests that organizations institutionalize very specialized repertoires of arguments, which constrain what their members can say, and which are discourse resources which are subject to appropriation and manipulation by organization members to increase their power and influence. One example of the importance of managerial control of argumentation is during organizational change, where specific argumentation subrepertoires are postulated to facilitate the transition between successive stages of change