Apposition, contradiction, conflict and domination

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to qualitatively describe and explain the contemporary Finnish discourse of municipal managers. The emphasis within is on analyzing the encounters of the public sector management discourse and the private sector management discourse, and the effects that these encounters have on the construction and representation of municipal management. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a three-phase discourse analysis, proceeding from the textual and linguistic level through interpretive analysis to critical analysis. This analysis is based on the proceedings and presentations of a seminar of municipal leadership and management, arranged in 2013 i…

Varjosta valokeilaan : kriittisiä diskurssianalyyseja huonosta johtamisesta

The aim of this dissertation is to qualitatively describe and explain bad leader- ship and the role of the bad leader within. The dissertation consists of five orig- inal articles and the introductory section. The study is based on the foundation formed by research on bad leadership and research on discourse analysis. The focus is on the role of language in the construction, reconstruction and mainte- nance of meanings. The first of the articles contains the description of the discursive approach applied in the studies. This approach is implemented in the four remaining arti- cles, with analyzed samples of 430 media texts, a published research report (95 p.) and over 3 hours of transcribed …

Diskurssianalyysi : tapa tutkia, tulkita ja olla kriittinen

Vaiennettu huono johtaminen: kunta-alan johtamisen diskurssien kriittistä tarkastelua

Silenced bad leadership: A critical study of municipal leadership discourses This qualitative study compares the views of subordinates and leaders about bad leadership in Finland’s municipalities. The material of the study includes a study report, representing the subordinate discourse, and seminar proceedings, representing the leader discourse. During the seminar, the two discourses meet and collide. This article describes and analyzes the discourses and the consequences of their encounter. The main results are fourfold: first, the representations of bad leadership, discursively presented by leaders and subordinates, are different. Subordinates tend to emphasize the role of the leader, whi…

Recognised but not Acknowledged: Searching for the Bad Leader in Theory and Text

The aim of this article is to qualitatively explain different elements of bad leadership, especially elements relating to the leader her/himself. The study reported here consists of a literature review and an empirical analysis. The literature review covers the most important trends and theories, presenting scientific articles during the last 15 years. The aim of the literature review is to synthesize the core elements of the bad leader. The empirical analysis consists of three different analysis methods to one volume of Talouselämä (The Economic Life), a leading Finnish business magazine. Methodologically the study proceeds from content analysis via interpretative discourse analysis to cri…

The Discursive Dance : The Employee Co-operation Negotiations as an Arena for Management-by-fear

The purpose of this article is to qualitatively describe and critically explain the discursive construction of employee co-operation negotiations in Finland as an arena for management-by-fear. The article consists of a theoretical review, covering the legislative basis of co-operation negotiations and recent research on management-by-fear. The empirical study consists of media texts and company media releases in Finland in 2012–2013. The main conclusions are that there are distinctive features in the co-operation negotiations that enable and enforce the possibility of management-by-fear, and thus destructive leadership. The process, supported by law and very much against the original aim, e…