Intro to Org Psychodynamics

Objectives:

  1. Understand history and scope of psychoanalytic approaches to organizations.
  2. Describe and define key psychoanalytic concepts as applied in analysing organizations.
  3. Describe how psychoanalytic thinking is used to conceptualize organizational culture, leadership, and change.

Readings

History + overview

    • Kernberg, O. F. (1984). The couch at sea: Psychoanalytic studies of group and organizational leadership. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 34(1), 5-23. Link
    • Fraher, A. L. (2004). Systems psychodynamics: the formative years of an interdisciplinary field at the Tavistock Institute. History of Psychology, 7(1), 65-83. Link
    • Gabriel, Y., & Carr, A. (2002). Organizations, management and psychoanalysis: An overview. Journal of managerial psychology, 17(5), 348-365. Link

Key psychoanalytic ideas

    • Petriglieri, G., & Petriglieri, J. L. (2020). The return of the oppressed: A systems psychodynamic approach to organization studies. Academy of Management Annals, 14(1), 411-449. Link (Foundational concepts)
    • Diamond, M.A. (1993). The unconscious life of organizations. Quorum Books, Greenwood Publishing Group. (Introduction – Psychological defenses)
    • Czander, W.M. (1993). The Psychodynamics of Work and Organizations. Guilford Press, New York. (Chapter 3 – Self Psychology)

Group dynamics / organizational culture

    • Diamond, M. A., & Allcorn, S. (1987). The psychodynamics of regression in work groups. Human Relations, 40(8), 525-543. Link
    • Diamond, M., Allcorn, S., & Stein, H. (2004). The surface of organizational boundaries: A view from psychoanalytic object relations theory. Human Relations, 57(1), 31-53. Link
    • Kets de Vries, M. F., & Miller, D. (1986). Personality, culture, and organization. The Academy of Management Review, 11(2), 266-279. Link

Leaders and followers

    • Gabriel, Y. (2011). Psychoanalytic approaches to leadership. The SAGE Handbook of Leadership. London: Sage, 393-405. Link
    • Kets de Vries, M. (2004). Organizations on the Couch: A clinical perspective on organizational dynamics. European Management Journal, 22(2), 183-200. Link
    • Allcorn, S., & Diamond, M. A. (1997). Managing people during stressful times: The psychologically defensive workplace. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. (Chapter 3)

Change / resistance to change

    • Social defenses – Menzies, I. E. (1960). A case-study in the functioning of social systems as a defence against anxiety: A report on a study of the nursing service of a general hospital. Human relations, 13(2), 95-121. Link
    • Diamond, M. A. (2013). Repetition and the compulsion to repeat: psychodynamic challenges in organizational learning and change. Administration & Society, 45(5), 499-521. Link
    • Antonacopoulou, E. P., & Gabriel, Y. (2001). Emotion, learning and organizational change: Towards an integration of psychoanalytic and other perspectives. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 14(5), 435-451. Link

Critiques

    • Zaleznik, A. (1995). Review of Czander, WM, The Psychodynamics of Work Organizations. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 64, 815-819.
    • Jaques, E. (1995). Why the psychoanalytical approach to understanding organizations is dysfunctional. Human Relations, 48(4), 343-349.
    • TBD