Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Gilles Fauconnier & Mark Turner, " The way we think: conceptual blending and the mind's hidden complexities"

Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning. Bradd Shore. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 428 pp.

Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning

Imagery And Verbal Processes

Service management: Strategy and Leadership in Service Business, 2nd edn. Richard Normann, Wiley, Chichester, 1991

Drawing from a qualitative, empirical study of work experiences in a North American organic supermarket, we introduce the notion of ‘enchanting work’, a polyvalent concept referring to the aura found in certain forms of service work in contrast to the disenchantment commonly associated with it. Enchanting work, because of its unique stance vis-a-vis workplace critique and commitment, can inform the study of work by moving beyond the dichotomy of meaningful versus alienated work. Our findings show how enchanting work can be found on three different levels to (1) infuse otherwise mundane work processes with meaning, (2) obscure organizational control mechanisms and divert attention from precarious work conditions, and (3) recruit the participation of workers for creating an enchanted workplace. We discuss the implications of our results for understanding contemporary worlds of work and explore both the emancipatory and ideological ramifications of enchanting work.

Enchanting Work: New Spirits of Service Work in an Organic Supermarket

The current paper examines analogical processes as drivers of innovation in the creative industries. Based on a longitudinal case study of a signature perfume label, we argue that analogies embody cultural schemas in diverse material modalities, a process commonly referred to as analogical schematization. We highlight the role of materiality to ground these analogical processes, bridging embodied cognition and material products. We extend knowledge in this area by showing, among perfumers, how analogies work not only vertically from idea to concrete product but also horizontally across modalities, leveraging material affordances in a process that we label analogical reconfiguration. We discuss the implications of understanding innovation as being driven by analogical processes where materiality is key in creating novel, yet seemingly familiar, products in the creative industries.

Beyond ‘the Eye’ of the Beholder: Scent innovation through analogical reconfiguration

Visual organizing: Balancing coordination and creative freedom via mood boards

This article explores the intersection of branding, identity and control. It develops the notion of identity-incentive branding and links research on the collective-associative construction of occupational identities with work on identity incentives as an engaging form of control. Empirically, we draw on a case study of a North American grocery chain that is known for employing art-school graduates and other creative talents in creative (store artist) and non-creative shop-floor positions. The study shows that the brand is partly built outside–in through association with employees who embody brand-relevant characteristics in their identities and lifestyles. In return, those employees receive identity opportunities to validate their desired sense of self as ‘creative subject’. We discuss the dual nature of identity-incentive branding as neo-normative control and outline its implications for the organization and the employees.

Claus Noppeney

Papers

Enchanting Work: New Spirits of Service Work in an Organic Supermarket

Beyond ‘the Eye’ of the Beholder: Scent innovation through analogical reconfiguration

Visual organizing: Balancing coordination and creative freedom via mood boards

Incorporating the creative subject: Branding outside–in through identity incentives

Materializing the Immaterial: Relational Movements in a Perfume’s Becoming