Organizational Metaphors of the Future

Abstract

Abstract This chapter suggests a handful of types of studies within the area of organization studies in which metaphor and metaphors could play a central role: first, to construct a reflective overview of previously and presently used metaphors of organization; second, to construct sets of metaphors for organization for particular cultures, which would therefore make better sense to the cultural inhabitants than any existing set of metaphors; third, to create overviews of existing and/or alternative metaphors for certain aspects of organization, in terms of “metaphors we X by,” where X could stand for “recruit” or “work,” for example; fourth, to explore any metaphor for organization, or any aspect thereof, as a “root metaphor,” in which everything would be colored by the chosen metaphor; fifth, to consider how the use of metaphor could be reflected upon through the use of metaphors itself—that is, metaphors we metaphorize by, or “meta-metaphors.”