Outila, V, Piekkari, R, Mihailova, I et al. (1 more author) (2020) “Trust But Verify”: How middle managers in a multinational use proverbs to translate an imported management concept. Organization Studies. ISSN 0170-8406
Abstract
In this paper we report on how middle managers in a Russian subsidiary translate empowerment, a ‘western’ management concept imposed by the Finnish headquarters. The analysis shows that in their discursive struggles these middle managers mobilised proverbs to address competing discourses that reflected imported and local ideals of good management. We advance organisational translation research by highlighting the value of proverbs as an understudied discursive resource in translation activities on the ground. The paper also examines the dual role of middle managers as both translators and implementers of an imported and imposed concept in a multinational corporation. Translation work carried out by middle managers in multinationals has received limited attention in previous research. Finally, by bringing together the discursive and the interlingual, we join recent efforts to broaden the definition of translation to encompass translation work undertaken in multilingual organisations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2020. This is an author produced version of an article published in Organization Studies. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Discourse, discourse theory, employee empowerment, human relations and practices, interpretive, leadership, proverbs, Russia, single case study, translation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > International Business Division (LUBS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 May 2020 13:20 |
Last Modified: | 11 Jul 2020 13:00 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0170840620934065 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:160373 |