In the service of a higher good : Resilience of academics under managerial control

Jaakko Siltaloppi*, Juha Laurila, Karlos Artto

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

This article extends the literature of resistance in organisational settings by examining the forms and sources of resistance that endure even in the face of successive adversities. This article characterises such resistance as resilience and elaborates on this concept empirically in the university context by showing how academics find new ways to maintain and promote their professional agendas despite successive, unpredictable managerial interventions typical of the contemporary university. In our analysis, we identify three forms of resilience - protective, independent, and adaptive - each of which draws on specific professional values that we term constitutive goods. The focus on constitutive goods highlights the moral grounding of resistance that comes into play, especially in situations in which the actors have something fundamentally valuable at stake, and which they feel compelled to defend. Moreover, resilience extends the focus beyond situated resistance tactics to a process geared towards protecting constitutive goods against control over the long term.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1350508419890084
Pages (from-to)714-735
Number of pages22
JournalOrganization
Volume29
Issue number4
Early online date6 Dec 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2022
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Academics
  • constitutive good
  • managerial control
  • resilience
  • resistance
  • ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE
  • RESISTANCE
  • IDENTITIES
  • MANAGEMENT
  • PERFORMANCE
  • WORK
  • NEOLIBERALISM
  • UNIVERSITIES
  • UNCERTAINTY
  • CONTEXT

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