Supporting Change
The University of Auckland
Knowledge Is Not What It Used To Be: Organizational Implications of Critical Theory and Postmodern Thought View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Robert Donmoyer
Historically, knowledge was often defined as “justified true belief.” Both the critical theory movement that initially emerged from the Frankfurt School in the middle of the 20th century and what is sometimes labeled postmodern thought that grew out of and, to some extent, transcended the critical perspective decades later, challenge the very notion of truth and the idea that empirical research can produce knowledge that is, in any way, objective. Both scholarly traditions suggest that knowledge is always political and invariably serves the interests of some (normally the most privileged members of society) while disadvantaging others. Part of the problem is that, before even the most rigorous researchers can engage in empirical research, they must frame their studies by deciding what counts and what to count. They also must select language to characterize the phenomena they will be studying, and the language selected normally predetermines who and/or what is the source of the problem being investigated before any data have been collected. This determination, in turn, will almost always impact the gathering and analysis of data. I have spent a good part of my career exploring the organizational implications of critical theory and postmodern thought. I have not so much challenged claims about the politicalized nature of knowledge; rather I have asked whether there is not some way to salvage rationality and minimize brute politics in organizational decision making. This paper details one strategy I came up with and reports on the results of an attempt to implement this strategy.
Developing Resilient Recreation Delivery Systems through Inter-sectoral Collaboration: A Canadian Action Research Case Study on Rural Recreation Provisions During the Pandemic
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mary Sweatman
This paper is based on a study that examined the recreation delivery model of a rural Canadian municipality during the first two phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on how they served rural low-income families. We interviewed 29 rural low-income moms from diverse backgrounds on their experience with a Nova Scotia Parks and Recreation municipality and partnering organizations during the pandemic. We also conducted focus groups with partnering organizations, who serve rural low-income families, to understand how inter-sectoral outreach, partnerships and collaborative efforts worked during the pandemic and the lessons learned as a result. The Parks and Recreation Department’s ability to be collaborative and resilient during the pandemic, by pivoting to a decentralized program model, was due to the following factors: 1) a commitment to community development approaches; 2) a commitment to inter-sectoral partnerships, 3) a commitment to learning and action research, and 5) a commitment to humility, empathy and care. Ultimately, we found that it was not about creating resilient citizens during crisis but creating resilient systems and organizations to support citizens during crises. Our study illuminates these findings that fostered organization and systems resiliency and compare it to current literature.
Effects of Emotion Appraisal and Psychological Safety on Resilience and Organisational Commitment during COVID-19 Pandemic View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Helena Lee
The occurrence of crisis or changes in the environment affect the workplace as adjustments to the work practices must be made in response to the circumstances. Changes in the workplace affect employees’ emotions and resilience due to the uncertainty and security of job role. Resilience refers to the ability of an individual who is able to rebound from crisis, adversity, conflict or major changes. Employees regulates and appraises their emotions in making sense of the changes and adhering to the workplace rules and procedures. Self-emotion appraisal involves emotion regulation strategies that adjusting own emotion, particular negative emotion, be able to express them and re-evaluate emotion in a constructive way. Others’ emotion appraisal relates to being able to assess and recognize emotions in others. In the present paper, we examine if self-emotion appraisal and other’s emotion appraisal influence individual resilience at the workplace. Organisational commitment encompasses affective and continuance commitment to the organization. Previous studies showed that organisational commitment is linked with employee turnover, reward and organisation support. This study generated 140 survey responses from the workers in diverse occupations and industries during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. The multiple regressions analysis demonstrated that self emotion appraisal strongly correlated to resilience. However, other’s emotion appraisal and psychological safety are not significant predictors of resilience at the workplace. In contrast, psychology safety is associated with organizational commitment. Organisations need to address the different emotions and employees’ perception of expression of voice in promoting resilience and organisational commitment.
