Journal of Management
1998, Vol. 24, No. 6, 741-762
The Formal Analysis of Narratives of
Organizational Change
William B. Stevenson
Danna N. Greenberg
Boston College
Formal analysis of narrative descriptions of events allows the
researcher to rigorously examine processes of organizational change.
Event-structure analysis (ESA), a rule-driven formal technique of
narrative analysis, is applied to a narrative description of an environmental dispute. Various organizations and government agencies
engaged in this dispute. ESA is applied to the narrative to clarify the
causal linkages among the events and to demonstrate the advantages of
studying organizational change through the formal analysis of narratives.
Van de Ven and Poole (1995) point out that existing models and theories of
organizational change have not significantly advanced our understanding of the
processes and sequences of events that unfold during an organizational change.
Too often explanations of the change process depict change as composed of
discrete phases that are connected in a single linear sequence. These theories oversimplify the change process and the complex components that underlie it (Abbott,
1988; Van de Ven & Poole, 1995).
Organizational change can be complex because the change process is often
composed of the actions of many individuals acting in the name of organizations
or groups. Actions by individuals may inspire divergent, multiple, parallel
sequences of individual actions. Some of these actions may be unsuccessful and
abruptly end a sequence of events, while parallel sequences of actions produced
by other individuals may converge on a key event in the change process.
Simplifying these parallel, sometimes contradictory, occasionally unsuccessful sequences of actions into a more abstract series of steps while ignoring variations in the change process as random error may be justified in the search for
parsimonious, generalizable theory. However, this simplification has costs in that
reducing organizational change to an abstract series of steps removes the actor
from the process. Thus, the failures of actors are obscured, the contradictory
Direct all correspondence to: William B. Stevenson, Department of Organization Studies, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167.
Copyright © 1998 by JAI Press Inc. 0149-2063
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W.B. STEVENSON AND D.N. GREENBERG
actions taken by individuals in the name of the organization are ignored, and
negotiation of the outcome of the change process between individuals representing organizations and groups is lost.
Therefore, an important step in the development of rich models of the change
process is the use of methods that capture the complexity of detail in the change
process. There are a number of new methods being developed to conduct formal
qualitative analysis that can be useful for capturing this complexity (e.g., Abell,
1987; Abbott, 1990b; Heise, 1989). These methods are formal in that they use a
set of logical rules to analyze cases. These formal rules produce results that can be
replicated and generalized to other cases. The methods are qualitative in the sense
that they rely on the understanding of the researcher and try to preserve the
complex history of interactions between actors in the context of the unique
circumstances in which events take place.
In this paper, we perform a formal analysis of an organizational change by
applying one of the new techniques, event-structure analysis (ESA) (Heise, 1989),
to an analysis of an organizational change. Because ESA relies on a narrative
approach which assumes that change is composed of a complex, interweaving
sequence of events, ESA is an ideal approach for researchers who are attempting
to develop dynamic explanations of the change process. To demonstrate the
advantages and challenges of a formal narrative analysis, we apply ESA to a
narrative history of how a number of nonprofit organizations and government
departments became involved in a dispute over the use of public parks in a city.
As part of the analysis, we consider the methodological difficulties of the formal
analysis of organizational narratives and propose solutions. Finally, we discuss
the strengths of ESA for understanding the process of organizational change.
Narratives and the study of Organizational Change
An organizational change is a process by which an organizational entity
alters its form, state, or function over time. The process that underlies an organizational change can be described as a sequence of events that unfold during.an organizational entity's existence and that relate to a specific type of change (Van de
Ven & Poole, 1995). Examples of such change processes include the development
of new products, organizational innovations, the movement of an organization
from a bureaucratic structure to team-based management, and the resolution of
critical decisions.
This unfolding sequence of events constitutes the historical narrative or
underlying story of a particular change process (Abbott, 1988). A narrative is an
analytic construct that is used to unify a group of events into a single story
(Abbott, 1990a; Griffin, 1992). Narrative analyses differ from quantitative variable-based methodologies for the study of change in that they take into account
the temporal and historic nature of the numerous events in a particular change
sequence. Narratives have a specific beginning, a series of intervening actions,
and an end point that is arrived at based upon the numerous paths and the interconnections between the intervening actions (Griffin, 1992).
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A narrative explanation relies on these unfolding interconnections to investigate why something happened in the change process and how individuals understood those events. In the unfolding story, there are contingencies to be taken
account of and conjunctions of events that might alter the general flow of the
narrative. Thus, narrative explanation has to take account of the order of events
and the position of an event in the story (Gotham & Staples, 1996).
However, narrative by itself does not provide causal explanations of social
processes. From an unanalyzed narrative description, it would appear that an
event is the sum total of all actions occuring before the event in a narrative
description. However, as Griffin (1993) points out, chronological order does not
necessarily provide causal significance. An action may not have significance until
much later in a series of events. Narrative description by itself can obscure explanation (Griffin, 1993).
Narrative Positivism as a Methodological Technique
To move beyond description and understand how causal processes are
embedded in these temporal streams of actions, to understand how some
sequences have no real impact on the outcomes of events and how parallel
streams of events can spring from an event and perhaps converge on a key turning
point, it is necessary to develop rigorous systematic methods for analyzing narratives. Abbott (1992) coined the term "narrative positivism" to convey the idea that
narratives or stories capture the processes of social reality, and these narratives
can be analyzed by a rigorous application of methodological rules. According to
Griffin and Ragin (1994) this positivist or formal qualitative approach is a form of
analysis in which the researcher attempts to create a synthesis between the thick
descriptions of an interpretive mode of inquiry and the scientific causal generalizations that are produced by an explanatory mode of inquiry. From the interpretive side, a formal qualitative analysis relies on interpretation and qualitative
descriptions as the central building blocks of an explanation. Hence, the
researcher continues to use context, complexity, and contingencies to discern
meaning and develop an interpretation of the process being studied (Griffin &
Ragin, 1994). From the explanatory side, a formal qualitative analysis relies on
some type of logical principles that enable the researcher to produce an explanation that contains explicit causal reasoning and allows for both study replication
and theory generalizability (Griffin & Ragin, 1994).
This narrative positivist approach can be distinguished from a wide variety
of other strategies for analyzing change. For example, narrative as story telling by
an informant has a long history in the social sciences. Analysis of organizational
stories by the use of techniques such as semiotics, ethnomethodology, textual, or
conversational analysis have become popular in the last decade. Space considerations preclude a detailed discussion of the many techniques for analyzing a text
or narrative of events. (See Feldman, 1995, for a review of certain techniques.)
Suffice to say, narrative positivism differs from these techniques in its desire to
link events to other events, determine what events precipitated other events, and
produce consistent inferences through the use of formal rules that allow replicaJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, VOL. 24, NO. 6, 1998
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W.B. STEVENSON AND D.N. GREENBERG
tion and generalizability. This concern leads to attempts to validate connections
between events.
This is not to imply that those using other techniques of narrative analysis are
unconcerned about replication and generalizability. However, some who analyze
narratives reject the traditional techniques of validation often identified as positivistic. Riessman, for example, in her discussion of personal narratives maintains
that "Prevailing concepts of verification and procedures for establishing validity
(from the experimental model) rely on realist assumptions and consequently are
largely irrelevant to narrative studies. A personal narrative is not meant to be read
as an exact record of what happened nor is it a mirror of a world 'out there.'"
(Riessman, 1993: 64).
We take narrative positivism, with an emphasis on establishing connections
between events, to lean more toward the traditional concept of validity while
being concerned with problems of interpretation and point of view. We are not
oblivious to the debate that has entered the literature of qualitative methods
concerning the ability of an analyst to accurately portray events or to determine
the causal connections between them (e.g., Guba & Lincoln, 1994). We take the
position of Huberman and Miles (1994) and others that an objective social world
exists outside of our own perceptions of it, and we can discover lawful, "reasonably stable relationships" (Huberman & Miles, 1994: 429) between social
phenomena. In addition, given the problems of assuring the objectivity of the
observer in the reconstruction of events (Atkinson, 1992), it is incumbent upon
researchers to consider many possible sources of evidence to support the importance of events and to verify the connections between them. Further, the
researcher needs to clearly state the steps taken in the gathering of these qualitative data, so that others may understand the decisions the researcher has to make
in creating the causal analysis.
Event Structure Analysis
Applying insights from cognitive anthropology and rational choice theory,
event-structure analysis (ESA) enables a researcher to develop causal, interpretive
based explanations of narratives. ESA was originally developed to study cultural
routines (Corsaro & Heise, 1990; Heise, 1989) and has since been applied by
many researchers to the study of historical narratives (i.e., Griffin, 1993; Isaac,
Street, & Knapp, 1994). Because ESA is grounded in narrative interpretation, a
researcher can use ESA to develop an analysis that preserves the complex description of the change process as a sequential, temporally unfolding whole. At the
same time, because ESA is based on a formal mathematical logic, the researcher
can develop a dynamic, causal interpretation of the original narrative that can be
replicated and generalized. ESA, therefore, is both explanatory and interpretive
and can be classified as a form of formal qualitative analysis (Griffin & Ragin,
1994).
When using ESA and its associated computer program ETHNO, the
researcher begins the analysis process by developing a running chronology of the
events that constitute a particular change sequence. The analyst then enters these
events into t h e ETHNO program in chronological order. As new events are
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NARRATIVES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
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entered, ETHNO poses a series of yes/no questions to the researcher that ask for
clarification about whether a previously entered event is required for the occurrence of this new event. Through this process of interrogation, the analyst is able
to dissect the running chronology of the narrative and reconstruct it with causal
connections that are based upon the analyst's "expert judgments" (Griffin, 1993).
ETHNO produces a diagram that reflects the analyst' s interpretation of the causal
relationships, the path dependencies, and the critical points in the change process.
ETHNO can be downloaded from the internet at http://www.indiana.edu/,-.socpsy/
ESA/index.html.
The term causality is used in ESA to refer to the interdependency between
two events in the narrative. By locating an event in a particular sequence and by
linking it to prior events, the researcher is able to identify what previous event(s)
"caused" the subsequent event to occur (Griffin, 1993). These causal links
between events are identified based upon the production systems if-then rules of
action that underlie the logic of ESA and ETHNO (Heise, 1989). I f a configuration of prerequisite events arises, then a certain event occurs. An event may have
multiple prerequisites, and each event may be a prerequisite for multiple ensuing
events. If two events are linked by this if-then logic, then the prerequisite event is
seen as being causally linked to the subsequent event.
The analyst uses ESA to make the causal relationships between particular
events explicit. Individuals taking action in the name of the organization weigh
costs and benefits, resources and opportunities. This type of analysis can lend
itself to a "rational choice" perspective on action (Kiser, 1996). However, an ESA
analysis can show how the actions of individuals are not always congruent with a
rational model of organizations pursuing goals. That is, corporate actions are
sometimes inconsistent because corporate actions are composed of the actions of
individuals, and these individuals may be acting at cross-purposes. For example,
parallel streams of actions may be pursued in concert by a number of individuals
who are only loosely coordinating their actions in the interest of common goals.
An ESA diagram can clarify the sometimes discordant threads of the action that
constitute corporate action:
ESA diagrams also help to determine key turning points in the multiple
sequences of events that constitute a narrative. Organizational routines may
generate path dependent sequences of actions towards a goal. However, other
actions by other organizations may be taking place at the same time. Certain
actions may be key "turning points" that funnel the causal impact of a sequence of
actions and establish an opportunity to alter a corporate actor's routines and alter
goals (Griffin & Korstad, 1995). ESA diagrams can show the convergence on key
events and diagrammatically clarify what leads to a turning point in an event
sequence.
It is important to note that ETHNO does not discover causality. ETHNO
does not have built in algorithms or the inherent logic to determine causal connections between events. The analyst, not the computer program, possesses the
knowledge to structure and interpret the narrative events (Griffin, 1993, Isaac et
al., 1994). Through the use of probes, ETHNO forces the analyst to be precise and
meticulous in his/her judgments about the relationship between particular events
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W.B. STEVENSON AND D.N. GREENBERG
and to reason about these events causally, rather than chronologically (Griffin,
1993).
The diagram that ETHNO produces enables the researcher to sharpen his/her
insight into the causal relationships between the different events. The researcher
can determine which events have no consequences and how certain events may
not lead to anything in the present, but have implications for the future. For
change researchers, this means one can decompose organizational changes into a
series of events such that change agents and their actions are identified, parallel
sets of efforts by different groups of actors can easily be determined, and the
enabling and constraining properties of structural resources on individual efforts
are made clear.
An Event-Structure Analysis of Organizational Mobilization Around
an Environmental Issue
A Narrative of the Events
We are in the process of studying how organizations take joint actions at the
local level to influence environmental policies. We are concerned in this study
with the processes used by environmental actors, development interests, and
government officials to influence environmental policies. In the larger study, we
consider who gets involved in the change process from the perspective of resource
mobilization (McCarthy & Zald, 1977). Our purpose here is to discuss a portion
of the study in order to illustrate event structure analysis as a technique for the
analysis of organizational change. Here, we focus on a series of events that led to
a change in the policy for the use of parks in a small city near Boston, Massachusetts. The names of all the actors and some of the organizations involved have
been altered to preserve anonymity.
The problem. The environmental issue was the use of public parks by
private groups. Due to budget constraints, the city government had been making
agreements with private groups, such as the local baseball little leagues and soccer
leagues, by which the private groups would be allowed to use and improve
athletic fields. In return, the private groups would maintain the athletic fields.
These developments created a reaction from local residents. Some neighbors
had become angry at what they perceived as excessive development for limited
uses. A local environmental organization with a mandate to preserve the open
spaces of the city was concerned that the environmental quality of public open
spaces was being curtailed by the development of the parks for limited uses.
These concerns provoked a series of events that led the city government to reexamine its policies and rewrite its regulations for the use of parks. We will focus on
the series of events leading to the change in regulations.
The players. A number of groups were involved in this issue. The city's
Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC) was the body which ruled on the private
group's requests to modify the parks. The executive level of the city government
consisted of an elected mayor and 24 elected aldermen. The mayor had been in
office for over 16 years and had very strong control over the city departments. The
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aldermen oversaw the PRC through the Programs and Services Committee (PS
Committee).
Environmental concerns were represented by a number of environmental
groups in the city. We will refer to the prominent environmental group in this
narrative as the Conservation Organization (CO). This organization is a nongovernmental nonprofit environmental organization with approximately 400
members. A second environmental organization appeared briefly in the narrative,
but took no action. The local branch of the League of Women Voters (LWV) also
had an interest in the regulations of the PRC.
The narrative. We begin the narrative in late 1992. A number of incidents
had happened before this time, but events seemed to precipitate action beginning
at the end of 1992. The LWV had conducted a study of city boards and commissions that was finished in September, 1992. As part of the study, the LWV looked
at the PRC. The LWV noted that commission members were appointed by the
mayor for three year terms, and, once in office, commission members were likely
to be reappointed. As a consequence, five of the eight members had been serving
between 13 and 19 years.
The LWV expressed concern that park issues were sometimes neglected in
favor of recreation issues. Partly, this may have been caused by the composition
of the board. The five oldest serving members had been members of the former
Recreation Commission that was merged with the Parks Commission in 1982. As
stated in the LWV report: "The primary emphasis in the minutes tends to be recreation with little discussion of parks except maintenance issues. At times, petitions
and minutes of the Commission continue to bear the heading 'Recreation
Commission.'"
In December, the alderman who chaired the PS committee requested a
review of the regulations governing the PRC. As justification for this request, the
chair noted that increasingly serious and complicated parks and recreation issues
had arisen in the last five years. She felt that issues such as private organizations
funding improvements to public parks raised public policy issues, and the
members of the board should reflect a "real balance of the viewpoints held by citizens within the city, and further that it include members with background and
expertise in issues of public policy," according to the minutes of the meeting.
Further, there was not a public policy concerning public/private partnerships and
when private interests could build structures on parkland. The PS committee
voted unanimously to review the regulations.
The PRC met in December and agreed with many of the recommendations
that had been made in the PS meeting. According to a letter sent to the chair of the
PS committee on January 4, they agreed to submit structures to a design review,
they agreed that greater efforts should be made to notify neighbors about
proposed changes to parks, and they agreed that controversial issues should be
decided over the course of two meetings, so that maximum public discussion
could take place. However, the commission opposed proposals to increase the size
of the board or change the composition of the board. The commissioner who
authored the letter maintained that the commission was very sensitive to park
issues and detailed their involvement in creating new parks and rehabilitating
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W.B. STEVENSON AND D.N. GREENBERG
neglected open spaces. However, this commissioner, one of the original Recreation Commission members, did state in the letter that "we have asked the Recreation Department to honor such requests in the future" (emphasis added), rather
than the Parks and Recreation Department.
As the new year began the PRC was writing proposed changes to the regulations in response to criticism from the PS Committee, and the CO became increasingly concerned about the issue. Frank of the CO called another city-based
environmental group to garner their support. The group expressed support but
declined to become actively involved. The PS Committee met again in January,
and continued to debate changes in the PRC structure. The chair of the PS
Committee recommending adding four at-large representatives to the PRC and the
head of the Parks and Recreation Department opposed this suggestion at the meeting. Michael, the president of the CO, wrote a letter to the mayor on an unrelated
issue. The mayor became angry because Michael suggested he would send the
letter to the local newspaper. In April, the PRC met and began to discuss a soccer
league proposal to conduct a $43,000 expansion of a playing field. This expansion
involved the clearing of trees.
This soccer league proposal helped to precipitate a series of actions by the
various groups. The CO board met in May and the Open Space Committee of the
CO decided to meet in June to consider action. Jim of the CO met with the PRC
subcommittee and gave them a set of suggestions for modification to their open
space ordinance. This committee drafted a set of procedures for approving structures on parklands. In late June, the PRC approved the expansion of the soccer
field. The LWV sent a letter to the PRC criticizing the subcommittee's procedures
for the approval of structures. They proposed an alternative set of procedures. The
PRC postponed consideration of this proposal until a special meeting that was
planned for July. A delegation from the CO met with the mayor on June 30 and
showed him pictures of park development. That night the CO's Open Space
Committee met and began work on a proposal for PRC regulation changes based
on proposals from the LWV, Jim of the CO, and the PRC.
Once the CO proposal was finished, Jim, the chair of the CO's Open Space
Committee, sent the proposal to the heads of PS, PRC, the planning commissioner
who supervises the work of the PRC, and the mayor. The CO proposal led to a
meeting of the head of planning, the head of Parks and Recreation Department,
and representatives of the CO on July 19. The PRC agreed on most points of the
proposal, but still opposed expanding the number of members on the board. On
July 20, the PRC met to draft a new policy for approving alterations of park and
recreation land. Members of the CO and LWV and representatives of the private
organizations debated the new policy at this meeting. The compromises largely
favored the open space perspective.
On July 21, the PS Committee had a special meeting to deal with the PRC
draft of proposed changes. The head of the PRC had a draft of a new policy
prepared based on the July 20th meeting of the PRC. The CO met and voted to
support the change in regulations recommended by the PS Committee. The CO's
Open Space Committee then sent a letter to the PRC suggesting minor changes to
their new procedures. The PRC failed to formally ratify the new changes at their
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September meeting, but acted as if the new regulations were in effect. The new
regulations were adopted by the PRC by December.
To this point, we have constructed a narrative with some causal imagery
based on our data sources. Nonetheless, the narrative reads like a somewhat
disconnected series of events. Two different organizations (LWV,CO) became
upset at the parks policy in the city. Various officials of the CO took a variety of
actions. At the same time the PRC was expanding active uses of the parks while
writing regulations to govern the expansion of uses. For reasons that are not yet
clear, the PRC developed a new policy for park uses.
Event Structure Analysis of the Narrative
We applied event-structure analysis to this narrative in order to clarify our
understanding of the sequence of events. A series of steps are necessary in order
to perform ESA. First, the analyst must reduce the narrative to a chronological
series of events. Then, the analyst must enter each event in the program. As an
event is entered into the program, the analyst is asked a series of questions about
the causal connections between this event and previous events. The computer
program ETHNO produces a diagram that displays the analyst's understanding of
the relationships among the events.
Once all the events are entered and diagrammed, the researcher can invoke
the ESA Analyze Program. This program asks questions about the relationships
between the events based on the causal premises of ESA. The analyst has to
decide if any deviations from the causal premises of the program are misunderstandings in the analyst's assumptions about the causal relationships among
events. For example, the program will question the analyst if an event leads to two
subsequent events rather than one event in a simple causal chain, and the analyst
has to decide if this causal sequence is justified. Finally, the researcher can
develop abstract concepts that describe specific events and link specific events to
a causal representation among the abstract concepts using the ESA Instantiation
Program. Once again, the analyst can invokethe Analyze Program to determine if
the causal relationships between the abstract concepts and the causal relationships
between specific events are logically consistent.
A Method for the Formal Narrative Analysis of Organizational Events
None of this analysis is as simple as it may first appear because accurate
usage of ESA is largely dependent on the accuracy of the interpretive judgements
made by the researchers. We began our analysis by constructing a series of events
based on interviews and archival records. We then used a number of techniques to
increase our confidence in our interpretations of which events to include and how
events are linked together. Here, we briefly discuss the techniques before presenting a detailed discussion of their application using ESA.
Auditing. Miles and Huberman (1994) suggest an auditor can go over an
account and question the connections between events as a way of verifying the
accuracy of an account of events. In this research, the second author acted as an
auditor and constructed the causal networks of events independently of the first
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author. The two researchers then met, argued, and clarified their assumptions
about causal connections until agreement was reached.
Insider-Outsiderperspectives.
This information was supplemented by the
"insider" (Louis & Bartunek, 1992) knowledge of the first author. The first author
was a member of one of the organizations studied during this sequence of events.
This was helpful in assessing causality. However, the insider could be more
biased than the outsider, so the second author was used as an auditor to counter
any bias.
Multiple data sources. Using an auditor can be considered a form of triangulation by using different data sources to assure that one source of data is not
biasing inferences. In addition, we gathered multiple information on our events
from minutes of government agency meetings, government documents, organizational newsletters, files of correspondence from actors in these events, and
personal interviews with the relevant actors.
Identifying important events. The researcher must consider which events
to include in an analysis as well as how events are causally linked. As Abrams
states, an event is a "portentous outcome" (Abrams, 1982: 191) that represents the
transformation from the past to the future and "an indispensable prism through
which social structure and process may be seen" (Abrams, 1982: 192). Based
upon the analytical techniques discussed here, we considered actions taken that
either altered the flow of events, or attempted but failed to alter the flow of events,
to be important and excluded actions that lacked any future impact on outcomes.
Thus, we edited out events such as "Jim received park regulation changes from
several organizations," but considered the resulting event as important: "Jim and a
subcommittee of the Conservation Organization met and developed a synthesis of
proposals".
We were concerned that we might miss an important event. Miles and
Huberman (1994) advocate drawing causal diagrams of events and having the
participants evaluate the diagrams with a feedback form. We attempted a form of
feedback by interviewing the main participants after creating the initial sequence
of events. As part of the interviews, we presented the list of events to the participants and asking them to comment. The participants were overwhelmed with the
detail and had knowledge of only a portion of the events. We modified our
approach and verbally explained the series of events and asked them if they had
anything to add. We also asked their opinion on the causal connections between
certain events.
Counter-factual argument. The importance of events can also be assessed
by posing "counter-factual" arguments. That is, researchers can consider "what
if" an event did not occur or led to a different outcome. Relying on a detailed
understanding of the historical context or on counter-examples of other instances
when the event led to alternative outcomes, researchers can attempt to answer
counterfactual "what if' questions (Griffin, 1993). The contrast in outcomes
between similar actions in different situations provides some credence to the
analyst's assumptions about the importance of the event.
Revisiting the data. One strength of constructing an event structure analysis from a chronology of events is to indicate which causal linkages between
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NARRATIVESOF ORGANIZATIONALCHANGE
Table 1.
ETHNO
code
751
Events Leading to the Changing of Park Regulations
Description of Action
General Meaning
Late 1992
Mee
PS (Program and Services Committee) meets
to discuss concerns
Precipitating events occur (Eve)
Hol
PS holds public hearings about park usage
Groups discuss problem (Dis)
Stu*
LWV (League of Women Voters) studies
government departments
LWV talks about park program
LWV proposes changes to PRC regulations
Early 1993
Precipitating events occur (Eve)
PRC (Parks and Recreation Commission)
writes changes to regulations b/c of
criticism from PS in December
Frank from the Conservation Organization
calls Conservation Organization 2
Michael, president of the CO, writes letter to
the mayor
PRC votes to expand playing field
CO board meets
Groups propose regulations (P l o)
Tal*
Pro
Wli
Cal
Wri
Vot
Boa
Groups discuss problem (Dis)
Groups propose regulations (Plo)
Precipitating events occur (Eve)
Precipitating events occur (Eve)
Precipitating events occur (Eve)
June to December 1993
Giv
Mle
Dev
Sen
Pre
Jim from the CO gives suggestions to PRC
CO meets with mayor
CO develops a synthesis of LWV, Jim, and
PRC proposals
CO sends proposal to PS, PRC, planning
commission and mayor
Proposal precipitates meeting of heads of
PRC, planning and CO
Groups propose regulations (P 1o)
Groups discuss problem (Dis)
Groups propose regulations (P 1o)
Groups jointly draft regulations (Joi)
PRC drafts procedures with other groups in
attendance
PS meets to discuss and recommend changes
M2e
to the regulations
CO votes to support PS legislation
Vlt
CO sends letter to PRC suggesting additional
Sin
changes
Act occurs (Occ)
PRC adopts regulations
Act
Notes: * not includedin first analysis,added after inconsistenciesin generalization
Dra
events need to be rigorously questioned. Some sequences such as the approval
process within the government are officially mandated and easily confirmed by
government records. However, points where streams of events converge and
diverge, and points where the outcome of events are altered need to be confirmed
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W.B. STEVENSONAND D.N. GREENBERG
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Events Leading to Changes in Park Regulations
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NARRATIVES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
753
by multiple sources. In these situations, we reinterviewed the participants. We
also consulted the written records of events.
The methods outlined above give us some confidence in our interpretation of
events. However, in the end, we must be modest in our claims of accuracy and
bear in mind Huberman and Miles' admonition that "more than one causal
network may be valid..." but "... some solutions are more compelling and robust
than others" (Huberman & Miles, 1985: 376).
The ESA Analysis of the Narrative
In order to begin the analysis of events, we constructed a chronological
series of events we judged important as shown in Table 1. When beginning the
ETHNO analysis, the program asks for a name for the series of events. We gave
the series the title "Reg" to symbolize the change in regulations. The program will
then prompt the analyst for an event. All events are replaced by the first three
letters of the second word in the phrase describing the event that is entered into
the ETHNO program. Thus, the analyst tries to use a descriptive verb as the
second word describing the events.
Figure 1 shows the initial attempt to analyze the narrative. Reg appears at the
top as the label of the sequence. The current discussion only concerns level 000 as
shown on the right side of the diagram. Level 010, showing links among abstract
concepts, as well as the highlighting of certain concepts, will be discussed below.
When an event is entered, the program asks how this event is related to previous
events. Note that the program does not make decisions about what events are
causal prerequisites for the current event. The analyst has to make this decision
based on the information at hand.
We began the analysis by entering initial events in the chronology of events
into the program. The CO took a number of actions that can be regarded as potentially precipitating events. Frank volunteered at a board meeting to call another
conservation organization (Cal). This is a potentially significant precipitating
event that did not precipitate anything. The other organization did not choose to
get involved. A subsequent interview with the leader of the other organization did
not produce any explicit justification for lack of involvement. The head of the
other organization remembered the telephone call but never acted upon it. This is
an instance of attempted coalition building that failed.
This lack of coordinated action could be attributed to a lack of a shared
frame. Diani (1995), among others, has found that environmental organizations
that share a common frame or definition of environmental problems are more
likely than others to take joint actions. The other organization was interested in
recycling and toxic chemicals in the environment. They had never shown any
interest in park usage.
The importance of this event can be confirmed by the use of a counterfactual argument: What if the CO was successful in forming a coalition with
another group? In this case we have counter-examples to answer our counterfactual question. From data on other issues in which environmental groups in this
city tried to accomplish their objectives, we know that in 8 out of 9 situations
environmental groups used a strategy of coalition building to try and influence
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W.B. STEVENSON AND D.N. GREENBERG
government officials, and this strategy was successful in influencing decisions 7
out of 8 times. Thus, we have further evidence that this attempt at failed coalition
building is a significant event.
One could also wonder why the CO did not call the LWV. In fact, a call
would have been unnecessary because several board members of the CO were
also active members of the LWV. However, the two organizations viewed the
problem from slightly different frameworks. The CO regarded the problem as a
procedural issue. That is, they thought that changing park regulations would make
it more difficult to build structures in the parks and would limit athletic organizations development of parkland. The LWV believed that the many appointed
commissions of the city were sometimes inefficient and did not adequately represent citizen interests according to their study. In terms of our analysis, the
outcome that is relevant here is that the LWV proposed changes to the composition of the PRC (Pro).
Continuing the analysis, Michael wrote a letter about an unrelated issue to
the local newspaper (Wri). This letter provoked the anger of the mayor as will be
discussed below. The CO board also met (Boa) to discuss strategy. Meanwhile, on
the government side of the issue, the PS board met (Mee) to discuss concerns
about parks and subsequently held hearings about park usage (Hol).
A key divergence. To this point, the discussion of the events have roughly
followed the chronological sequence. With the significant exception of the CO
call that did not produce results (Cal), these events can be traced to one subsequent event. Events that lead to multiple subsequent events can be the key events
in a narrative in the sense that they represent a convergence of prior events and
provide motivation and opportunities for action (Griffin & Korstad, 1995). In this
case, the decision of the PRC to expand a playing field (Vot) led to one event
(Giv) and combined with another event (Wri) to lead to a crucial meeting with the
mayor (M le).
The vote to expand the field was viewed by the CO as an important precipitating event that led them to request a meeting with the mayor (Mle). This was
confirmed in an interview with Frank and Michael. In addition, Jim of the CO had
been working on his own version of suggested changes to the open space regulations and decided to give these suggestions to the PRC (Giv).
Deciding that the two events M l e and Giv are the outcomes of Vot is not a
trivial decision for the analyst using ETHNO. ETHNO will question the analyst
about the dual outcomes, because the program initially assumes that a single
subsequent event "depletes" (Heise, 1989) an event. The analyst may realize that
the program is correct and change the causal structure or consider other alternatives such as maintaining this dual outcome. We chose to consider both M l e and
Giv to be outcomes of VOT based on interviews with members of the CO. In
other words, we considered Vot to symbolize a number of actions taken by the
PRC that were leading to these specific outcomes.
Contradicting the queries of ETHNO is not to be undertaken lightly. Our
hypothesis that Vot led to two events was confirmed by interviewing Frank and
Jim. Herein lies a strength of this computer-assisted form of narrative analysis.
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The analyst is forced to make decisions about causality and substantiate decisions
that might otherwise be implicit in a narrative analysis of events.
A key convergence. The CO met with the mayor (Mle) and showed him
pictures of park development. In an informal meeting with Frank before this meeting, the mayor expressed dismay that Michael had written a letter (Wri) that could
have gone to the newspaper that was critical of his decisions without In'st contacting him. A subsequent interview with one of his immediate subordinates revealed
that the mayor was initially baffled with the conduct of the CO. He thought that
their concerns were a personal attack on him. Thus, the writing of the letter (Wri)
is considered as one event leading to the meeting with the mayor. The subordinate
assured the mayor that the CO was only representing a legitimate set of interests
in the community, and the meeting with the CO confirmed this fact to the mayor.
(The mayor was deceased by the time this study was conducted. His reasoning
was inferred from other interviews.)
It is interesting to note that several events converge on the meeting with the
mayor. This is not surprising because the CO did not really know how to directly
influence the city government. There are a number of actors involved in the CO:
Frank, Michael, and Jim. They form a loose coalition rather than a set of organizational officials executing a strategy of influence. A call is made to another group,
a letter is written to the newspaper, pictures of park development are taken, partly
because Frank is an amateur photographer, and Jim drafts changes to the PRC
regulations. These were not actions taken as part of an orchestrated strategy, and
reflect the type of action taken by volunteers donating their free time to a voluntary organization. These actions also reflect a series of attempts by one organization trying to influence another. It was unclear to the CO how they could influence
the much larger and potentially powerful city bureaucracy, so a number of initiatives were undertaken.
By contrast, events within the city government look much more predictable
and orderly because bureaucratic routines can be invoked to deal with problems.
As an example, the PS meeting (Mee) led to holding a public hearing (Hol) which
led to the PRC writing a proposed changes to the regulations (Wli). This
sequence was confirmed by the head of the Parks and Recreation Department who
sits on the PRC Commission.
Two added convergences. At the CO board meeting (Boa), the actions of
the PRC such as the expansion of the playing field (Vot) that had prompted Jim to
give his version of the regulations to the PRC (Giv), the proposed PRC regulations (Wli), and the LWV proposed regulations (Pro) were discussed. Jim volunteered to lead a subcommittee to develop a synthesis of the PRC, LWV, and CO
proposals (Dev). This is another example of convergent causality and indicates
another key event in the sequence. The full significance of Dev did not become
clear until further ETHNO analysis as discussed below. This new proposal was
sent to the PS committee, PRC, the planning department and the mayor (Sen). The
combination of the sending of this proposal and the meeting with the mayor led to
a meeting of the heads of PRC, planning, and the mayor (Pre). These assumptions
were confirmed by the key players.
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W.B. STEVENSON AND D.N. GREENBERG
This joint meeting (Pre) led to a rapid sequence of events in which the PRC
drafted procedures (Dra), the PS committee met to consider the draft (M2e), and
the CO voted to support the new regulations (Vlt) and sent proposed changes to
the PRC (Sln). The combination of the CO sending the changes (Sln) and the PS
meeting to consider the draft (M2e) led the PRC to adopt the regulations (Act).
This description is a simplification of the analysis. ETHNO queries the
analyst at every step as to which events should be connected to each other. The
analyst then invokes the Analyze Program which questions the researcher about
departures from a strict interpretation of the production system logic of ESA. It is
incumbent upon the analyst to determine why these sequences are correct. In this
case, some events were simply the outcome of government procedures. However,
the connections between some events are more controversial, and triangulation
through interviews and documents is necessary to assure the accuracy of these
sequences.
The analysis as shown in Figure 1 reveals certain features of the series of
events that were not obvious to us when examining the narrative. It becomes clear
that several streams of actions converged on three crucial events: the CO meeting
with the mayor (Mle), the CO development of a synthesized proposal (Dev), and
the meeting of the heads of PRC, planning and the CO (Pre).
Abstracting from concrete events. Once we were satisfied with the existing diagram, we considered whether the sequences of events represented more
abstract concepts. We invoked the Instantiation Program which allows the
researcher to specify more abstract concepts and link them to concrete manifestations. These abstract concepts are diagrammed as level 010 on the left side of
Figure 1. (The program is capable of abstracting up to nine levels.) Initially it
appeared to us that a number of actions were precipitating events (Eve) that led to
various organizations discussing the problem (Dis). Discussion led the groups to
develop proposed changes to the regulations (Plo). The proliferation of changes
led to a joint drafting of regulations (Joi). Finally, the PRC adopts the regulations
(Occ).
The specific events that represent the abstract concepts are shown in Table 1.
The events representing concepts are highlighted in Figure 1. Note that not every
specific event must represent an abstract concept. We envisioned the causal relationships between abstract concepts to follow each other in a direct sequence, but
this is not required by the program. An abstract event can give rise to multiple
abstractions, and these abstractions can interweave just as on the right side of the
diagram.
Reanalyzing the events. Once the abstraction level is specified, then the
analyst needs to rerun the Analyze Program. The program now considers whether
the logical steps between the concrete events are consistent with each other as
described by the abstract ordering of events.
We immediately realized that our construction of abstractions had caused
logical problems. For example, we had begun the sequence of events concerning
the LWV with the League proposing regulations (Pro). We considered Pro to be a
concrete manifestation of groups proposing regulations (Plo). In the Analysis
Program ETHNO steps through the sequence of events to determine if there is a
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Figure 2.
Reanalysis of the Events Leading to Changes in Park Regulations
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W.B. STEVENSON AND D.N. GREENBERG
congruence between the concrete events and the abstract events. We had created a
concrete sequence that began with a group proposing regulations (Plo) without
the prerequisite precipitating event (Eve) or the following group discussion (Dis).
One possible solution would have been to alter the abstract sequence of
events so that Plo could either occur immediately or after Eve and Dis. It seemed
illogical to us that groups would propose regulations without precipitating events
or discussion, so we rejected this alternative. The first author was reminded from
his involvement in the issue that the LWV had conducted a study of the city's
boards and commissions in the last year. This was confirmed with documentation
from the LWV. We added an event: LWV studies government departments (Stu).
We considered Stu to be a manifestation of a precipitating event (Eve).
Further, it was reasonable to assume that the League proceeded to discuss
this report and become concerned with the conduct of the PRC, so we added that
the LWV talked about the parks problem (Tal). This discussion was confirmed by
examining the files of a prominent member of the LWV and uncovering a number
of letters sent by the LWV to various government officials criticizing the conduct
of the PRC. We considered this concrete event to be an example of the general
event of group discussion (Dis). These additions are reflected in Figure 2. Now
the program does not object to this sequence of events which reflect the abstract
ordering of Eve to Dis to Plo.
A potentially more serious problem in terms of the meaning of the events is
the lack of connection between the CO's meeting with the mayor (Mle) and the
CO's development of the synthesized proposal (Dev). This sequence did not
follow the abstract logic of the diagrammed causal sequence because the sequence
from "CO meets with the mayor" (Mle) to "Proposal precipitates meeting..."
(Pre) jumps on the abstract level from group discussion (Dis), as represented by
M l e to groups jointly drafting regulations (Joi) as represented by the meeting of
the PRC, planning, and the CO (Pre).
Once again, a possible solution would be to have two alternative causal paths
at the abstraction level. One path could go directly from discussion (Dis) to joint
efforts (Joi), and another path could go from discussion (Dis) to groups proposing
regulations (Plo) to joint efforts (Joi). This alternative has some appeal. It would
seem possible that a group could discuss the problem and then engage in joint
action with other groups without advancing its own proposal. However, the first
author knew in this instance that some members of the Open Space Committee of
the CO that drafted the synthesized regulations were at the meeting with the
mayor, and it seemed reasonable to assume that the successful meeting with the
mayor encouraged the drafting of the synthesized proposal.
Further, the first author knew of the importance of the support of the mayor
to affect any change in this city government. The PS Committee composed of
aldermen oversees the PRC, but there are many aldermen representing the city
which has the tendency to diffuse their power. They were sometimes unable to
agree on joint actions, leaving the mayor in charge. Subsequent interviews and
other data made it clear that the mayor had strong control over the government.
One top government official interviewed repeatedly referred to the mayor as "The
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Boss," and a subsequent management study by outside consultants indicated that
all 22 department heads reported directly to the mayor.
Therefore, it was important for the CO to gain the support of the mayor who
was initially suspicious of the motives of the CO. A reinterview with Michael, the
head of the CO, revealed that the mayor was very unhappy that Michael had
considered sending a letter to the local newspaper (Wri) without first talking to
him. In a reinterview, Frank stated that the mayor was sensitive to any criticism.
However, the mayor's meeting with the CO convinced the mayor that they should
be supported. His support included having the legal department assist Jim with his
draft of the regulations and calling a joint meeting of government officials and the
CO (Pre). Thus, our initial title for this event: "Proposal precipitates meeting..."
should be changed to "Mayor precipitates meeting .... " showing the emphasis on
actions taken by individuals in this form of narrative analysis. Our reinterviewing
to clarify the inconsistencies in our interpretation revealed by ETHNO had illuminated the mayor's involvement as a turning point in this sequence of events. In
Frank's opinion, the meeting "gave us credibility." This is clearly a turning point
in the sense that the opportunity to propose the new policy had shifted from the
government to the CO. Hence, a causal path was added from the meeting with the
mayor (Mle) to the CO's development of a proposal (Dev).
Figure 2 now shows more clearly how events converge on the CO's meeting
with the mayor (Mle), and how the meeting with the mayor diverges into two
streams of activities: a synthesized proposal (Dev), and a joint meeting of the
PRC, the planning department head and the CO (Pre). Thus, the meeting with the
mayor becomes an important event of causal convergence and divergence.
Discussion
The concrete events diagrammed in Figure 2 (level 000) illustrate that there
was not an orderly progression of steps in decision making. Some policy analysts
have suggested that the policy process follows a set of stages: problem formation,
getting on the policy agenda, forming policy, adopting policy, implementing
policy, and evaluation of the policy (Buckholz, 1993). The abstract sequence of
events in Figure 2 (level 010) resembles a stage model of public policy making.
However, the concrete events of Figure 2 illustrates what others (Wood, 1994)
have discovered in case studies of public policy making: behind the steps of
policy making is a nonlinear sequence of parallel overlapping events. Some of
these events lead to dead ends and others lead to changes in policy.
Assuming a simple linear stage model of change such as the abstract model
of decision making diagrammed at level 010 would lead the analyst to miss the
dynamics of this organizational change. By contrast, the detailed narrative of
change reveals the concrete dynamics of change. First, it can be seen that corporate activities are not always rational goal-directed actions. For example, the environmental group's side of the policy network is not well coordinated. There is a
failure to coordinate actions among local groups when Frank calls for help (Cal).
There is a failure to coordinate between the CO and the LWV, resulting in the
parallel stream of events Stu-Tal-Pro and Boa-Dev.
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Second, actions within the organizations are not well coordinated. For example, there is a failure to coordinate efforts within the Conservation Organization.
Frank's calling of another conservation organization (Cal), Michael's writing to
the mayor (Wri), the CO meeting with the mayor and showing pictures of park
development (M le), and Jim of the CO giving suggestions for regulation changes
to the PRC (Giv) were not part of an orchestrated plan, but were the initiatives of
individuals and small groups acting in the name of the Conservation Organization.
Third, this ETHNO analysis is useful for highlighting processes of convergence and divergence of causal streams, as well as dead ends. An ETHNO analysis graphically shows how organizational routines are disrupted and possibly
restored during the change process. A simplified rational model of organizational
decision making could argue that these entangled streams of action are not relevant to organizations. The nature of organizational routine is to produce linear
sequences of action. The rational model of decision making posits that managers
create routines to reduce uncertainty to allow individuals to manage in a complex
world (March & Simon, 1958). These linear sequential processes can be seen in
the sequences Mee - Hol - Wli and Pre - Dra - M2e -Act, or in the linear sequence
of policy making steps produced by abstracting from events. From a narrative
analysis perspective, the actions of corporate actors are assumed to be path dependent. Routines lead to predictable sequences of actions that constrain actors to
certain goal-seeking actions.
However, theorists of organizations over the last 25 years or more have
pointed out that the routine processes of organizations do not capture much of the
relevant details of organizational life. Organizational routines are affected by
"environmental" pressures that alter organizational processes according to contingency theorists, and organizations have a difficult time adjusting to the environment because differences in cognitive frameworks within the organization and
between actors in the organization and the environment lead to different definitions of the situation.
Lacking a common framework for the definition of problems and solutions,
individuals find it difficult to take collective action in organizations or to engage
in cooperative activity between organizations. From this narrative analysis of
change, it can be seen that the constraints of organizational routines are not
entirely constraining, and opportunities for change can be created. Change may
involve parallel streams of action that converge at key turning points and provide
opportunities for change.
This ETHNO analysis has shown how the city government's routine action
(Vot) set off a chain of events. Action was taken by several individuals acting in
the name of the conservation organization, the government engaged in a parallel
stream of problem-solving activities, and a key government decision maker, the
mayor, became engaged in the process. During this process the CO attempted to
mobilize support and failed, and worked in parallel with the LWV. Thus, differences in perspectives led to slightly different definitions of the problem and
prevented organizations from working together. Once the mayor defined this issue
as important and not threatening, he provided important support for the change in
regulations.
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These processes were not obvious from the initial construction of the chronology of events. ETHNO queries prompted reflection, reanalysis of the data,
revisitation to the data sources, reformulation of concrete causal connections
based on assumptions about relationships between abstract events, and the formation of counter-factuals to strengthen arguments. By providing a formal model of
causal relations, the ETHNO program guided the researchers' efforts.
Narrative positivism provides a framework for the analysis of organizational
change. Routines can be diagrammed, and disruptions of the routine can also be
analytically constructed to reveal the process of change. These techniques provide
a powerful combination of the interpretive and the formally analytical and should
prove very useful for organizational researchers in future studies of organizational
change.
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