Sociology Seminar 
Time: :12:00 pm – 13:30 pm

Date: 27th of November
Room : 3049

Oscar STUHLER (Northwestern University) – “Coordinating futures in organizational communication”

Abstract :

“Future projections are critical devices for the coordination of organizational action. Yet while scholars have studied high-level, institutionalized forms of planning (five-year plans, strategic visions, R&D roadmaps, decarbonization targets), little attention has been paid to how individuals project futures to construct social order in everyday interaction. Building on theories of temporality and action, this paper presents the first systematic empirical analysis of how futures are coordinated in inner-organizational communication. We introduce a novel computational framework for detecting and interpreting temporal expressions. This allows us to measure the future horizons expressed in 17 million internal messages exchanged in a mid-sized non-profit organization. Our analysis first maps out core distributional properties of future horizons, finding that they are heavily right-skewed (with a mean and median of 51 and 4.2 days, respectively). We then investigate four structuring principles of horizons: First, organizational rhythms dictate contractions and expansions in horizons. Second, individuals differ in how far they typically project into the future, with senior leaders having longer-term horizons. Third, networks structure horizons, with hierarchical and personal communication being prone to constructing shorter-term futures. Fourth, events, at both the individual and organizational levels, provoke shifts in individuals’ future horizons. By uncovering these principles, our study lays empirical foundations for the study of how futures are coordinated in organizations..”

Lien Zoom : https://zoom.us/j/97795024459?pwd=eejToJkXjUiBsa6kWUF19mlbVe7GLz.1

Organizers:
Paola TUBARO (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Patrick PRÄG (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Julia NICOLAS  (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Sponsors:
CREST