A Podcast About Organization Theory and Management Studies

Current Release

  • 111: Visible & Invisible Work – Susan Leigh Star
    In this episode, we focus on the emerging discourse from the 1990s on how automated systems would potentially change the very meaning of work. The discussion is on a seminal work of Susan Leigh Star and co-author Anselm Strauss, “Layers of Silence, Arenas of Voice: The Ecology of Visible and Invisible Work,” published in CSCW’s flagship journal, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, in 1999. The article focuses on the challenges and risks of automating work processes without due consideration of all the invisible work done in an organization that systems designers might overlook.

Recent Episodes

  • 111: Visible & Invisible Work – Susan Leigh Star
    In this episode, we focus on the emerging discourse from the 1990s on how automated systems would potentially change the very meaning of work. The discussion is on a seminal work of Susan Leigh Star and co-author Anselm Strauss, “Layers of Silence, Arenas of Voice: The Ecology of Visible and Invisible Work,” published in CSCW’s flagship journal, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, in 1999. The article focuses on the challenges and risks of automating work processes without due consideration of all the invisible work done in an organization that systems designers might overlook.
  • 110: Organizations and Law – Lauren Edelman
    In this episode, we explore two articles from Lauren Edelman, “Legal Ambiguity and Symbolic Structures: Organizational Mediation of Civil Rights Law” from 1992 and “The Endogeneity of Legal Regulation: Grievance Procedures as Rational Myth” from 1999. These studies showed a wide variety of organizational responses to the enactment of civil rights legislation, but that certain responses were legitimated due to their success in symbolically showing effort in addressing discrimination and thus institutionalized across other organizations.
  • 109: Emergence of Mental Health Professions – Abbott
    In this episode, we return to Andrew Abbott’s The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor from 1989 to study in depth one of his case studies that may illuminate the present-day mental health crises gripping many nations from the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Construction of the Personal Problems Jurisdiction” chronicles how social changes from the Industrial Revolution led to the maladjustment and isolation felt by many newly industrialized workers who could no longer reach back to the stable social structure from whence they came. As a result, several professions emerged and competed for jurisdiction over the diagnosis and treatment of personal problems.
  • 108: Presentation of Self in Everyday Life – Goffman
    Erving Goffman’s 1959 book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life was an important attempt at explaining both apparent and hidden human behaviors across social and organizational settings. Through a comprehensive framework employing theater as a metaphor, he describes the roles of people as performers and members of an audience who try to shape the unfolding situation in ways suitable to their aims. Meanwhile, there is a backstage where people return to being themselves and proceed to set conditions for the next performance, and rules and protocols seek to protect such backstage behaviors from unwanted observation or disclosure. The aim for each person is to be seen in the best or most purposeful light.
  • 107: Institutionalized Rules and Formal Structures — Meyer & Rowan
    We discuss John Meyer and Brian Rowan’s famous 1977 article “Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony.” In it, they argued that “institutionalized products, services, techniques, policies, and programs function as powerful myths, and many organizations adopt them ceremonially” (p. 340), even if they result in organizations becoming less efficient or effective in their intended missions or purposes. In fact, these myths can become so powerful as to stigmatize organizations that reject them.
  • 106: The Study of Organizations Across Disciplines
    We sit down with Woody Powell and Bob Gibbons who, since 2016, have been organizing the summer institute on organizational effectiveness at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) in Stanford, California. We ask them to reflect on the history of CASBS and the summer institute, the value of fostering interdisciplinary conversations on the study of organizations, and the way in which they design and conduct the summer institute to allow young scholars across economics, sociology, management, public policy, political science, information and communication studies, and other fields, to learn from one another.

A wonderful podcast on org theory, covering a range of critical topics/readings that define organisation and management studies; run by the best of our young scholars. Listen in!

Maja Korica, Associate Professor at Warwick Business School, UK

Here is a very worthwhile initiative – an impressive number of podcasts about organizational theory conducted by PhD students and junior faculty. Some big names in org theory make guests appearances…

Nicolai J. Foss, Professor at Bocconi University, Italy

The portions I heard were excellent with both depth and continuity. This is a valuable project and this is well executed.

Karl E. Weick, Professor Emeritus at University of Michigan, US

Meet the Podcasters

Tom Galvin

EdD / Podcaster / Administrator

Tom is an Assistant Professor of resource management at the U.S. Army War College, located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He teaches courses in strategic leadership and defense management, and has published on matters of professional education, organizational change and communication, and professionalism. He also hosts the Reflections on Management with Tom Galvin program on the Talking About Organizations Network. Linkedin


Pedro Monteiro

PhD / Co-founder / Podcaster

Pedro is an ethnographer of work and organizations focused on bureaucracy/formal organizational structures. He is currently an assistant professor at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Twitter Linkedin Website


Miranda Lewis

PhD / Co-founder / Podcaster

Currently a PhD student at the University of Warwick Business School in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation group, Miranda’s research looks at top management teams and the nexus between cognition and growth literature. Linkedin


Gretta Corporaal

PhD / Podcaster

A sociologist of work and organizations, Gretta’s academic interests center around the future of work and how digital technologies enable new models of work and organizing to emerge. Her current research is an ethnography of the creation and adoption of online labor platforms. Linkedin Website Twitter


Samantha Ortiz-Casillas

PhD / Podcaster

Sam is an ethnographer of work and organization in the contexts of public administration and political collective action. Her research examines how people organize and work towards social change—through public policy, regulation, or community organizing—in complex and sometimes hostile environments. She is an assistant professor at the Public Administration Division of the Center for Economics Research and Teaching (CIDE) in Mexico City. Linkedin Twitter Website


Sarah Otner

PhD / Podcaster

Sarah is an Assistant Professor (Senior Lecturer) of Organizational Behavior at Kingston Business School. She works at the intersection of Organizational Theory and Economic Sociology. Sarah’s research focuses on awards and prizes, with specific phenomenological interests in cultural domains, the evaluation of elites, and non-linear career trajectories. She serves on the Editorial Board of Administrative Science Quarterly (ASQ). Twitter Linkedin Website


Catherine Jackson

MBA / Podcaster

Catherine holds an MBA from the Warwick Business School. A journalist by trade, for the past 11 years she has been working in the not-for-profit sector as a consultant in fundraising and communications. Previously she worked as a print journalist for publications in the UK and Ireland. Linkedin


Leonardo Melo Lins

PhD / Podcaster

A sociologist by training, Leonardo currently works at the Brazilian Network Center (NIC.br) where he is responsible for the conduction of the ICT Enterprises survey and to promote the use of ICT by Brazilian enterprises. His research interests include institutional theory, organizational change, digital economy, and public policy to foster development. Linkedin Twitter


Frithjof Wegener

MSc / Podcaster

Frithjof is a PhD Candidate at the TU Delft, NL. He works across the boundaries of design and organization studies, with an interest in pragmatism, process research and issues of organizational design. Linkedin Twitter


Rohin Borpujari

PhD Candidate / Podcaster

Rohin Borpujari is a PhD Candidate at the London Business School. His dissertation investigates how secretive innovation is organized, using an in-depth historical case study of the Manhattan Project. Rohin’s research aims to understand how people navigate knowledge sharing and concealment while managing associated social dynamics of inclusion and exclusion within and across organizations. His work on the Manhattan Project has been recognized with Best Paper and Murray Davis ‘Thats Interesting!’ awards at AOM and EGOS respectively. He joined as a guest on Episode 92: Organizational Secrecy — Case of the Manhattan Project and joined as a full-time cast member in 2023. LinkedIn


Ralph Soule

EdD / Co-founder / Podcaster

Ralph (also known as “Rafael”) is a retired United States Navy Captain and a co-creator of the podcast. He holds a Doctorate in Human and Organizational Learning from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Twitter Linkedin


Dmitrijs KravÄŤenko

PhD / Founder / Administrator

A philosophically inclined social epistemologist, Dmitrijs is the creator of the podcast and is currently Assistant Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Latvia. He holds a Doctorate in Management from Warwick Business School, UK. Twitter Linkedin Website


Jarryd Daymond

PhD / Cast Member (2017-2022)

Jarryd is a Postdoctoral Researcher at The University of Sydney Business School and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Jarryd’s research examines strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship practices in organizations, which are areas he first became interested in while consulting on strategy interventions. His current postdoctoral work includes collaborating with scientists, engineers and biomedical researchers to advance knowledge about science commercialization. Linkedin Twitter


Maikel Waardenburg

PhD / Cast Member (2018-2022)

An interpretive scholar, who is particularly interested in connections between organizations from different domains. Maikel’s research interests include organizational change, hybridization and public-private partnerships. He is based at Utrecht University’s School of Governance, NL. Linkedin Twitter Website


Ella Hafermalz

PhD / Cast Member (2017-2020)

Ella Hafermalz joined the KIN research group in 2018. Ella has a PhD in Information Systems and Work and Organisational Studies from the University of Sydney Business School in Australia and also holds degrees in Teaching, Media and Communications, and Cultural Studies from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research looks at how technologies are used to facilitate new ways of working. Ella is particularly interested in how distance and remoteness are experienced by workers, and her research has looked at how colleagues skillfully use technologies to achieve a sense of being together even when they are physically apart.


For sophisticated and engaging discussions of organization theory, look no further than the Talking About Organizations site. Highly recommended!

Chris Grey, Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

TAOP has become my virtual Organizational Studies network that I have access to from the comfort of my own daily routines. Highly recommend it!

Raluca Stana, PhD Fellow at IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark

TAOP blends the best of modern technology with the joys of the old-fashioned conversation. It gave me permission to slow down, pour a glass of sherry, snuggle in a comfortable chair, listen in and take an occasional note, knowing I could share my thoughts later on its blog

Albie M. Davis, Writer and former Director of Mediation for the Massachusetts District Courts, US

Special Guests

All the people who made an appearance on the podcast, and their corresponding episodes.

Prof. Peter Adamson (LMU Munich; History of Philosophy without any Gaps podcast):

Prof. Mats Alvesson (UQ Business School; Lund University)

Prof. Emma Bell (Open University)

Rohin Borpujari (PhD Candidate, London Business School)— now a cast member

Dr. Deborah Brewis (Bath University)

Dr. Todd Bridgman (Victoria University of Wellington)

Prof. Gino Cattani (NYU Stern)

Dr. Lisa Cohen (McGill University)

Prof. Stephen Cummings (Victoria University of Wellington)

Dr. Katharina Dittrich (Warwick Business School)

Prof. Paul Duguid (University of California, Berkeley)

Dr. Anna Rylander Eklund (Chalmers University of Technology)

Prof. Marianna Fotaki (Warwick Business School)

Dr. Barton Friedland (University of the Arts, London)

Prof. Bob Hinings (University of Alberta)

Dr. Summer Jackson (Harvard Business School)

Dr. Paul Kan (U.S. Army War College)

Prof. Sarah Kaplan (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto)

Dr. Maja Korica (Warwick Business School)

Prof. Ann Langley (HEC Montreal)

Dr. Hila Lifshitz-Assaf (New York University – Stern School of Business)

Mr. Thomas A. Mercer (Rear Admiral, US Navy, retired)

Prof. Henry Mintzberg (McGill University)

Dr. Bjørn Erik Mørk (BI Norwegian Business School)

Dr. Davide Nicolini (Warwick Business School)

Dr. Sarah Otner (Imperial College London) — now a cast member

Prof. Brian Pentland (Michigan State University; Doctor Decade)

Prof. Andrew M. Pettigrew OBE (University of Oxford)

Dr. Simone Phipps (Middle Georgia State University)

Dr. Leon C. Prieto (Clayton State University)

Prof. Trish Reay (Warwick Business School; University of Alberta)

Dr. Thomas Roulet (University of Cambridge)

Prof. Denise M. Rousseau (Carnegie Mellon University)

Prof. Jörgen Sandberg (UQ Business School; Warwick Business School)

Dr. Bill Starbuck (New York University)

Dr. Arianna Tassinari (European University Institute)

Prof. Hari Tsoukas (Warwick Business School; University of Cyprus)

Prof. Signe Vikkelsø (Copenhagen Business School)

Dr. Judy Wajcman (London School of Economics)

Prof. Mike Wright (1952-2019) (Imperial College London)

Prof. Tammar Zilber (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

I found the Talking About Organizations podcasts an excellent and very engaging way of introducing both classical and contemporary organization and management theories

Jörgen Sandberg, Professor at University of Queensland Business School, Australia

I found the podcast refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable. The conversation was insightful, instructive and the comments often sharp and perceptive. I am really impressed.

Davide Nicolini, Professor at Warwick Business School, UK

This is a brilliant podcast, building upon the idea that a lot of management scholars actually have no time to read the original masterpieces in their field. Here, we get them presented in a neat package, including a critical analysis of content as well as applicability and relevance

Daniel Semper, Research Fellow at WU Vienna, Austria

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