The dynamics of power and discourse and its
impact on organizational change
Earlier we suggested that while New OD seems to
implicitly recognize the role of power and
political processes in organizational change, it
needs to go further and explicitly recognize and
engage with these important factors. Achieving
this will involve an appreciation of the relationship
between power and discourse and integrating
this into New OD practices.
Several scholars have sought to examine the
relationship between power and discourse in
some detail (e.g. Fairclough, 1995; Hall, 2001).
In doing so, they have drawn heavily on
Foucault’s (e.g. 1980) conception of discourse.
However, perhaps one of the most informative
ways of understanding the dynamics of this
relationship and its effects on organizational
change is to utilize a framework of analysis
proposed by Hardy and Phillips (2004, p. 299):