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Manufacturing conformity: leadership through coercive persuasion in business organisations

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 06:37 authored by Dennis TourishDennis Tourish, David Collinson, James R Barker
This paper critically examines the neglected importance of employee conformity in organisations. More specifically, it addresses the ways in which coercive persuasion can manufacture conformity through contemporary leadership processes and corporate culture practices. Drawing on the foundational work of Schein (1961), we illustrate how the nine techniques of coercive persuasion that he identified can serve as a framework for understanding the exercise of power and the manufacture of conformity in modern organisations. In particular, we discuss this framework in relation to the phenomenon of ‘corporate culturalism’ (in which powerful leaders determine constraining norms and values for others, in the form of compelling ideologies). We argue that ideology, when embraced with sufficient vigour, can function as an invisible internal eye, ensuring that subjects themselves become the instruments of their own subjugation. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of coercive persuasion in organisational discourse.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

M@n@gement

ISSN

1286-4692

Publisher

AIMS

Issue

5

Volume

12

Page range

360-383

Department affiliated with

  • Business and Management Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-06-13

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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