Explanations of Success and Failure in Management Learning: What Can We Learn From Nokia’s Rise and Fall?
Journal
Academy of Management learning & education : AMLE
ISSN
1537-260X
ISSN-Digital
1944-9585
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2015-11-01
Author(s)
Abstract
We study the changing explanations of success and failure over the course of a firm’s history, building on a discursive approach that highlights the role of narrative attributions in making sense of corporate performance. Specifically, we analyze how the Nokia Corporation was framed first as a success and later as a failure and how these dimensions of performance were explained in various actors’ narrative accounts. In both the success and failure accounts, our analysis revealed a striking black-and-white picture that resulted in the institutionalization of Nokia’s metanarratives of success and failure. Our findings also reveal a number of discursive attributional tendencies, and thus, warn of the cognitive and politically motivated biases that are likely to characterize management literature.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
None
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Academy of Management
Publisher place
Briarcliff Manor, NY
Volume
15
Number
1
Start page
2
End page
25
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
253777