Janne Tienari

• Dr.Sc.(Econ)
• Professor at Aalto University

Now in its third edition, this Handbook is essential for students and researchers in Strategic Management and Organizational Theory and Behaviour. The Strategy as Practice approach moves away from the disembodied and asocial study of firm assets, technologies and practices, towards the study of strategizing as an activity. Strategy is understood as...

A growing number of organizations open their strategy processes by including a more diverse set of actors. This has drawn scholarly interest and led to a field of research known as open strategy. In this paper, we problematize how open strategy research deploys diversity and inclusion without engaging with the diversity and inclusion literature tha...

We argue that privileged forms of scholarly writing in the English language perpetuate inequalities in academia. While writing and language, on the one hand, and marginalization and exclusion, on the other, are subject to critique, we propose that these are considered together as interrelated elements of an unequal academic system. We call for ling...

The founders of Organization include Marta Calás and Linda Smircich who are among the most influential feminist theorists in organization studies. We take inspiration from their work to outline ideas for feminist and other critical scholars studying organizations and organizing. We draw especially on their consistent interest in transnational femin...

This paper explores tensions related to using representation to signal diversity and inclusion on and behind the stage in a performing arts organization in Sweden. Drawing on a recognition‐based approach to inclusion, we analyze how minority and majority organisational members negotiate tensions related to representing, and being made to represent,...

In this paper, I offer an autoethnography of academic work and imagination. I write as an “armchair traveler” who joins others in research endeavors that they have initiated. Imagination takes center stage in what I do: I use my imagination in analyzing empirical materials and in theorizing and writing meaningful research. Together with others, I e...

How platform companies act as intermediaries between precarious workers and consumers has received critical attention in terms of the way companies exploit those who work for them and the ambiguity they create in the labor market. We study how male drivers, or “brothers,” in an intermediary platform that provides ride-hailing services in Vietnam di...

ANTTI AINAMO ja JANNE TIENARI Suomalainen mallin viimeaikainen menestystarina: Tarkastelussa liikkeenjohdon konsultoinnin rooli 1 M iksi Suomessa on onnistuttu useimpia muita maita paremmin tuloksin uudistumaan ja sa-manaikaisesti parantamaan kansantalouden ja yritysten kilpailukykyä? Liikkeenjohdon konsultit ovat ammattilaisia, jotka ovat erikoist...

The #MeToo and the Time's Up movements have captured the urgency to address systemic manifestations of sexism, patriarchy, and misogyny in all aspects of society. Among the myriad discourses that have been catalyzed by these contemporaneous movements includes one related to the role of men in achieving gender egalitarianism. Men are allocated unear...

Feminism is a theoretical perspective and social movement that seeks to reduce, and ultimately eradicate, sexist inequality and oppression. Yet feminist research remains marginal in the most prestigious management and organization studies (MOS) journals, as defined by the Financial Times 50 (FT50) list. Based on a review of how feminism is framed i...

This piece of writing is a joint initiative by the participants in the Gender, Work and Organization writing workshop organized in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2019. This is a particular form of writing differently. We engage in collective writing and embody what it means to write resistance to established academic practices and conventions together....

Feminism is a theoretical perspective and a social movement that seek to reduce, and ultimately eradicate, sexist inequality and oppression. Yet feminist research remains marginal in the most prestigious management and organization studies (MOS) journals, as defined by the Financial Times 50 (FT50) list. Based on a review of how feminism is framed...

This paper develops the idea of neocolonialism as organizational identity work in multinational corporations (MNCs). We argue that neocolonialism – the ethos and practice of colonialism and western superiority in contemporary society – is a means through which identity is worked on at MNC headquarters (HQ). In contrast to extant neocolonial studies...

In this chapter, we focus on national identity in and around multinational corporations (MNCs). We offer three conceptualizations of national identity and demonstrate how it may be studied in MNCs. First, we argue that organizational actors (re)construct their national identities via references to, and associations with, particular ideologies and w...

Autoethnography is about studying a community through the author’s personal experience. I offer my autoethnography of moving from a Finnish-speaking business school to a Swedish-speaking one in Helsinki, Finland. This is my story as a Finnish speaker who works in English, develops a sense of lack and guilt for not contributing in Swedish, and enact...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze how global and local changes in higher education impact upon writing practices through which doctoral students become academics. The study explores how norms and values of academic writing practice are learned, negotiated and resisted and elucidates how competences related to writing come to determine...

There is a paucity of knowledge of one key aspect of diversity in and around international organizations: national identity. This is especially the case with research on multinational corporations (MNC) that has focused on cultural differences instead of processes of national identification or national identity construction. Drawing on a critical d...

There is a paucity of knowledge of one key aspect of diversity in and around international organizations: national identity. This is especially the case with research on multinational corporations (MNC) that has focused on cultural differences instead of processes of national identification or national identity construction. Drawing on a critical d...

In this paper, we explore forms and possible implications of new masculinities in universities, and elucidate how they relate to hegemonic masculinity. “New masculinities” coins a particular tradition of naming in Nordic masculinity studies. In the Nordic context, gendered social relations are shaped by State policies and equality discourses, which...

Concerns have been voiced in recent years about the widespread use of U.S.-dominated journal rankings in business schools. Such practice is seen to have the effect of spreading globally a U.S.-style scholarly monoculture and reconstituting other forms of scholarship as marginal and inferior. In this essay, we explore the ways in which the English l...

Feminism is a long established, often neglected empirical and theoretical presence in the study of organizations and social relations at work. This special issue provides a space for research that focuses on contemporary feminist practice and theory. We suggest that now is a new time for feminism, noting very recent examples of sexist oppression in...

Feminism, historically and today, provides challenges and opportunities to men. In this essay, we present a dialogue that highlights different positions on men’s activism and thought in relation to feminism. We argue that it is essential for men to engage with feminism as activists and in theory, although this may present risks subjectively, profes...

In this article, we respond to Emma Bell and Amanda Sinclair’s call for reclaiming eros as non-commodified energy that drives academic work. Taking our point of entry from institutional ethnography and the standpoint of junior female academics, we highlight the ambiguity experienced in the neoliberal university in relation to its constructions of p...

Writing is presented in hegemonic academic discourse as a rational and predictable activity that targets publications in the right journals. Nevertheless, many academics struggle with writing. In this article, we draw attention to how writing is experienced as an embodied, sensuous, emotional, social, and identity-related activity. Specifically, we...

Research summary F or nearly five decades, international business ( IB ) research in general and the literature on organizational design and staffing of multinationals in particular have treated ethnocentrism mainly as an adverse attribute. Limited attention has been paid to the disciplines that originally established the concept—anthropology, soci...

In this article, we explore how executive search consultants in Austria, Finland and Sweden address ethnicity. Our findings suggest that while consultants working in these different sociocultural settings may attribute different meanings to ethnicity, they share a tendency to evade questions of ethnicity with regard to the search process. We specif...

This chapter conceptualizes identity construction in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as sensemaking where discursive resources are mobilized to construct, transform, and at times destruct senses of organizational identity. M&As are offered as specific contexts where resources such as stereotypes, tropes, narratives, and antenarratives are drawn on...

In the Finnish higher education system, government steering and the interests of industry and business have come to focus on the impact of the university in society. In 2010, Aalto University was created in a merger of three universities representing different academic fields. The new university developed a forward-looking strategy, restructured it...

Higher education has been subject to substantial reforms as new forms of performance management are implemented in universities across the world. Extant research suggests that in many cases performance management systems have disrupted academic life. We complement this literature with an extensive mixed methods study of how the performance manageme...

In this article, we aim to revitalize the concept of role for advancing theory on identity work in organizations. Our article makes three contributions. First, we offer a critical review of how roles have been conceptualized in studies on identities, and develop a theoretical frame for understanding how people in organizations engage in transitions...

Our review shows that M & A research fails to discuss questions of gender. In this chapter, we aim to understand this lack of sensitivity to gender in analyzing how M & A processes unfold. We discuss strategic and people-oriented M & A research, seek to explain why gender and gender relations are not debated therein, and offer some ideas on how the...

In this chapter, we explore the ethico-political character of diversity and its production in and for organizations. Our focus is on the politics of diversity as a form of knowledge, and on the ethics of the means by which that knowledge is produced. The ethical dynamics of diversity research and its politics is an issue that has thus far not recei...

While research on strategy-making has begun to focus attention on identity construction, we nevertheless lack a critical understanding of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of strategy are (re)constructed at the level of identity. In this article, we draw on Judith Butler's theorizing on performative subject formation—first to explor...

In this article, we argue that university branding can be understood as a political game. Analyzing a new university created in a merger, we demonstrate how branding is characterized by different interests among players with different means to influence brand development. We suggest that university branding is a fundamental question of organization...

In this article, we adopt a critical perspective to study how executive search practices reproduce particular understandings of the ‘ideal’ executive body. We show how this disadvantages not only women but also men who are considered not to fit the ‘ideal’, and further demonstrate how search practices are embodied: how aesthetics, the senses and a...

We extend research on organizational legitimacy and celebrity status by showing how an organization can become a publicly recognized villain through unfavorable public assessment. Focusing on the role of categorization in legitimacy, we find that the loss of legitimacy following a public outrage leads to organizational recategorization. Drawing on...

Recent research underlines that strong branded identities are created through co-creational processes in which multiple stakeholders are actively involved and brand identities are matched with cultural, political, and economic forces in society. However, there is a lack of in-depth research into how organizations attempt to adopt new branding logic...

In this paper, we focus on ethnocentrism as a practice that persists among top managers at MNC headquarters and steers their efforts in orchestrating the global network of subsidiaries. While the extant literature has viewed ethnocentrism as a detrimental attitude that top management seek to remedy, we offer a different reading. On the basis of our...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on self-reflexivity and, in particular, explore the notion of context in relation to men's reflexivity in academic work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a commentary on an earlier paper published in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion addressing the issue of reflexivity in organization s...

Although previous studies have shown that social-media platforms offer companies new ways to gain business value, they have also identified fundamental brand-related challenges in social media. The purpose of this paper is to complement the extant literature by addressing the ways in which companies manage their reputation in social media, focusing...

This article joins recent critical diversity studies that point to an urgent need to revitalize the field, but goes further by showing the inherent contextual issues and power relations that frame existing contributions. Based on a theoretical reading inspired by Michel Foucault, diversity is presented as discourse that is not independent of the pa...

Purpose – This paper aims to outline different views on international business (IB) as an academic discipline and looks into how IB scholars can cope with challenges to their disciplinary identity when stand-alone IB departments are merged with other departments such as management, marketing or strategy in business schools and universities. Design...

Although previous studies have shown that social-media platforms offer companies new ways to gain business value, they have also identified fundamental brand-related challenges in social media. The purpose of this paper is to complement the extant literature by addressing the ways in which companies manage their reputation in social media, focusing...

Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which gender is "done" in executive search. The authors uncover how the ideal candidate for top management is defined in and through search practices, and discuss how and why women are excluded in the process. Design/methodology/approach ‐ The study is based on in-depth interviews with m...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on reflexivity in organization and management studies by scrutinizing the possibilities of self‐reflexivity. Design/methodology/approach – By means of auto‐ethnography, the authors analyze their own experiences as (pro‐)feminist men in the field of gender studies. Findings – The a...

I argue that publishing in the global academia has come to resemble the operations of financial markets. Academics-cum-investors target a set of 'top' journals in a system that is portrayed as self-evident. I suggest that the financial markets metaphor enables us to explicate the self-fulfilling prophecies that constitute the academic system, to un...

This chapter sheds light on power-related issues in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). A brief overview of the ways in which power has been treated in management and organization studies is provided. This is followed by an analysis of the ways in which power and politics have been conceptualized in different strands of the M&A literature, focusing on...

Although extant research has highlighted the role of discourse in the cultural construction of organizations, there is a need to elucidate the use of narratives as central discursive resources in unfolding organizational change. Hence, the objective of this article is to develop a new kind of antenarrative approach for the cultural analysis of orga...

Purpose – This study of a university merger seeks to shed new light on reputation‐building, which has remained unexplored in the mergers and acquisitions (M&As) literature. It aims to study how key actors seek to build the reputation of the new university and how issues related to reputation become (re)constructed in different forums and vis‐à‐vis...

In a radical change to modes of academic employment in Finland, a newly merged university is introducing a tenure track system based on examples from the United States. Analyzing texts produced by university strategists, on the one hand, and interviews with staff affected by the system, on the other, we explore how notions of academic freedom are (...

Summary This article provides accounts by the past and present editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Management, recounting its history and showing how editing an international academic journal has changed over time. Reflections are offered on developing a journal of management studies from the margins; from outside the core of a field that is dom...

This paper aims to contribute to media studies on climate change through a study of the ways in which the adequacy of transnational measures of tackling climate change are represented in media outlets in the UK, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. Media texts on the European Union Energy and Climate Package, introduced in January 2008 and approved in modi...

'This important book should be required reading for all management educators. Starting from an incisive and timely critique of the increasingly standardized global academic system, the editors set out to offer an inclusive vision of what education can be. A rich array of contributors from diverse cultures and perspectives offer experiences and idea...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative analysis based on interviews with virtually all top manage...

Purpose We address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers. Design/methodology/approach Our qualitative analysis is based on interviews with virtually all top managers in the Nordic financial...

In this article, we reflect on our experiences of collaborative working in a cross-cultural research team. We reflexively interrogate the construction of the univocal “we” that is expressed in our dissemination of the research findings. We show how cross-cultural collaborative research brings into sharp relief underlying complex culturally and theo...

The notion of diversity management (DM) has in recent years spread out from its Anglo-American origins. However, few studies have theorized how alternate discourses established in particular societal contexts can challenge penetration of the organizational agenda by DM discourse. Based on a study of corporate websites, we offer a description of DM...

Managing diversity has emerged as a timely issue in organizations operating in the global economy. We contribute to the critical literature on diversity and its management in transnational organizations by exploring ways in which diversity is discursively (re)constructed in a European Union Framework Programme project. We draw on Michel Foucault's...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on gender and corporate boards of directors by focusing on how female board professionals construct particular notions of accessing and succeeding in boards. Design/methodology/approach A discursive perspective is offered, based on conceiving gender as something that is “done” in socia...

In this article we present a comparative study of media texts in Sweden and Finland, two societies traditionally viewed as Nordic welfare states. Focusing on the controversial question of introducing gender-based quotas on the boards of companies, we analyse how representations of gender and management are affected in Sweden and Finland by contempo...

Few studies have examined legitimation in multinational corporations from a discursive perspective. To complement the existing institutional literature, we adopt a critical discourse analysis perspective that allows us to examine the microlevel processes of discursive legitimation. We provide an example of a media text— dealing with a production un...

Drawing on a reflexive account of a British—Finnish joint publishing experience, we suggest that institutions of academic publishing are constantly reproduced through hegemonic practices that serve to maintain and reinforce core-periphery relations between the Anglophone core and peripheral countries such as Finland. The wider academic milieu with...

Internationalization poses specific challenges for organizational identities. These challenges are accentuated in situations such as cross-border mergers and acquisitions, which imply radical changes for the organizations and people involved. We argue that a key issue in such contexts is how corporate management succeeds in handling the needs for n...

In this paper, we explore the shutdown of an industrial site by a multinational corporation (MNC) from a critical discursive perspective. Through an analysis of media texts, we focus on recurring themes and motifs – or tropes – in the media coverage to understand the various ways in which the shutdown is legitimated and resisted. Tropes present par...

This is one of the first research books to take a multi-disciplinary perspective upon M&A. Drawing upon finance, strategy, psychology, organisational behaviour, economics amongst others, the dominant view of M&A are critiqued and new research horizons revealed.

Despite the central role of legitimacy in social and organizational life, we know little of the subtle meaning-making processes through which organizational phenomena, such as industrial restructuring, are legitimated in contemporary society. Therefore, this paper examines the discursive legitimation strategies used when making sense of global indu...

The Cold War era was characterized by ideological struggles that had a major impact on economic decision-making, and also on management practice. To date, however, these ideological struggles have received little attention from management and organizational scholars. To partially fill this research gap, we focus on the role of the media in these id...

We argue in this paper that corporate language policies have significant power implications that are easily overlooked. By drawing on previous work on power in organizations (Clegg, 1989), we examine the complex power implications of language policy decisions by looking at three levels of analysis: episodic social interaction, identity/subjectivity...

In this article we explore ways in which vertical gender inequality is accomplished in discourse in the context of a recent chain of cross-border mergers and acquisitions that resulted in the formation of a multinational Nordic company. We analyse social interactions of ‘doing’ gender in interviews with male senior executives from Denmark, Finland...

Despite the central role of the media in contemporary society, studies examining the rhetorical practices of journalists are rare in organization and management research. We know little of the textual micro strategies and techniques through which journalists convey specific messages to their readers. Partially to fill the gap, this paper outlines a...

The primary purpose of introducing a common corporate language in crossborder mergers is to integrate two previously separate organizations and facilitate communication. However, the present case study of a cross-border merger between two Nordic banks shows that the common corporate language decision may have disintegrating effects, particularly at...

Management consulting started to evolve in Estonia around 40 years ago. The development was affected by the consulting practice and literature mostly from the United States and neighbouring Finland. The most important factors in the development of the consulting sector in Estonia were direct contacts and cooperation of Estonian and Finnish manageme...

The concept of globalization has become a shorthand for making sense of contemporary society. It reflects large-scale economic and social change, which affects people differently and evokes different viewpoints. Globalization is thus a highly contested concept and phenomenon. Contradictory and competing views, in turn, seem to be based on different...

In this article, we explore the discursive possibilities available to men and women when they construct their professional self as 'knowl- edge workers' in multinational management consultancies. We argue that this professional identity construction is embedded in a normalizing, gendered discourse of what it means to be an 'ideal' consultant. Howev...