Organizational change is experienced in a subjective way. When a merger or acquisition happens, as is currently happening on a large scale in the Polytechnic sector in New Zealand, the human impact is huge. Many staff struggle to cope with the change.
Vikki Roadley is both an experienced polytechnic senior manager and a student at Massey University studying leadership for her Masters. Whilst she was researching polytech staff's stories of mergers, she also did an art project as part of her methodology. Photographs of the mannequin-head sculptures she created were included in an Appendices to her research report. In 2019 the School of Management enabled us to engage a professional photographer to take good quality images of Vikki's sculptures and these were published in the journal Organisational Aesthetics along with an explanation of how they came about and some text explaining their significance. The sculptures communicate in a visceral way the personal costs of mergers. In a forthcoming paper, we explore stories the participants told about mergers they had experienced. Our intention is to help staff re-story their stories of change so they are more hopeful. You can see all of the awesome sculptures here.
Vikki Roadley is both an experienced polytechnic senior manager and a student at Massey University studying leadership for her Masters. Whilst she was researching polytech staff's stories of mergers, she also did an art project as part of her methodology. Photographs of the mannequin-head sculptures she created were included in an Appendices to her research report. In 2019 the School of Management enabled us to engage a professional photographer to take good quality images of Vikki's sculptures and these were published in the journal Organisational Aesthetics along with an explanation of how they came about and some text explaining their significance. The sculptures communicate in a visceral way the personal costs of mergers. In a forthcoming paper, we explore stories the participants told about mergers they had experienced. Our intention is to help staff re-story their stories of change so they are more hopeful. You can see all of the awesome sculptures here.
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