Narrative as a Research method - workshop at TAR College 2nd May 2012

1. Narrative
as a research method
Murray Hunter
University Malaysia Perlis

2. Holistic Spatial Conceptual
Music
Intuitive
Precise
Imagination Time
Orientated
Emotional
Empathy Mathematical Language
Logical Reasoned

3. This gives us two views of the world

4. We view the world through field dependence or independence
(Witkin 1954, 1973, 1977)

5. Left Hand Side
Sequential processing, A to b to C Right Hand Side
Looks at facts and detailed information
Splits the world into concrete and Holistic processing, big picture
identifiable categories orientated
Logical cause and effect reasoning Visual and spatial
Linear thinking from task to task Looks at the whole rather than pieces
Follows on pre-existing fixed rules Analogic: sees similarities and
Maths and science resemblances
Statistically inclined Feelings and emotional thought
Systematic appraisal Philosophy and religion
Thinks in words and language Thinks in images
Utilizes the concept of time, past and Transformative
present Intuitive
Objective reality based Looks for relationships, patterns, makes
Logically strategizes associations
Splits things apart Looks for unbounded connections
Knows Lumps things together: connector
Acknowledges Imagination
Reality based Present and future orientated
Realistic Looks at possibilities
Safety, risk adverse Uses symbols and images
Believes
Appreciates
Fantasy based
Impetuous
Adventurous, risk taker

7. Please say the colours
Yellow Blue Orange
Black Red Green
Purple Yellow Red
Orange Green Black
Blue Red Purple
Green Blue Orange
An example of hemisphere conflict

8. The Prefrontal Cortex
The ability to manipulate The ability to imagine

9. The Fourth Factor
Emotions influence our decisions before
reasoning, a leftover from our primal existence.

10. Is it rationality or emotion you that
makes you decide to buy a car like
this?

11. Groups have primal narratives

12. Why do we buy fine
fragrances?

13. A cat also has consciousness

14. Communicate
Cats can solve problems and
learn

15. Cats can act socially
Have mental maps

16. Many apes have empathy

17. The dawn of man

18. Consciousness is partly a social
phenomena
Narrative is the heart of
consciousness

19. Narrative expresses ……………..
Hopes Feelings
Ethical & spiritual codes
Social hierarchies
Empathy Imagination
Self identity Fears
Our introspections Sharing values
Sharing beliefs
Means of transferring ideas
Problem solving Our projections
Our relational position to society Meaning

20. The Four Part Brain
3. Empathic/Imaginative
2. Holistic
1. Rational
4. Emotional

21. We live in a quantitative World

23. Scientific Management

24. Newtonian Physics

26. So when research is considered

28. Causation, correlation or even reverse
causation?
White, Roderick E. , Thornhill, Stewart and
Hampson, Elizabeth, Entrepreneurs and
Evolutionary Biology: The Relationship
High-testosterone
between Testosterone and New Venture entrepreneurs lead
Creation (2003). Babson College, Babson
Kauffman Entrepreneurship Research bigger--but less
Conference (BKERC), 2002-2006
profitable--firms
ENTREPRENEURS AND
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY:
THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN TESTOSTERONE
AND NEW VENTURE What drives women out of
entrepreneurship? The joint role
of testosterone and culture

29. The fallacy of factors leading to
success
Factors contributing to
the growth of small
manufacturing firms:
data from Australia
The key success
factors, distinctive
capabilities, and strategic
thrusts of top SMEs in

34. New Economic Pollution
Paradigms Growth Fossil Fuels
Export/Import
Transport
Farm
Raw materials
Transport
Government
Power
Production Transport
Diversity generation
Warehouse
Management
Supermarket
Conflict
Research & Community
Development
Consumption Education
Regulation
Competition &
Tension
Air Transport
Poverty &
Unhappiness Development Waste
Health
Uncertainty A simplified environment

35. More Complex Problems

36. Losing sight of variables
Location Climate Genetic Material
Humidity
Collection
Temperature Purchase
Sunshine hours
Topography UV radiation Plant physiology
Seasons
Slope & drainage Propagation Yield and
Rainfall characteristics Chemical
Constituents
of the
Humus Nutrients Method of extraction Essential Oil
Extraction time
Compactness Drainage & water
holding qualities
Pest & weed
pH control Pre-harvest handling
Mineral residuals Irrigation & preparation
Plant
densities
Soil type Time & method of
harvest
Agronomic Harvest &
Soil Practices Extraction
Practices

37. Does quantitative research give
meaning?

38. Reductionist Quantitative
Research
You might learn a lot about a
little bit
But what is it Holistic Qualitative
Research
really?

39. What is Meaning?

40. Situational and contextual
meaning does not make for
good quantitative research

41. Can quantitative research clear up
ambiguity?

42. Even simple environments are complex and have multiple
perspectives

44. Attempt to Deny an unhappy
impress listener Keeping Face family life
Keeping up with the
Narrative device of “Jones”
optimism
“We would be very
happy if our
children undertook
higher education”
Cultural
Could be the truth
expectations
Showing off
Peoples statements can have
multiple meanings

45. Narrative as
Truth
Narrative as hope
Narrative as we want
others to see us
Narrative as we see our
self
Narrative as we want to
suppress
Reality

46. What is the
truth anyway?

48. All such notions as causation,
succession and primary agent
relationships are all figments of the
imagination which can have multiple
explanations. Narrative lets us see
the explanation from the actor’s
point of view.

50. A descriptive theory is a narrative

51. A descriptive theory is “the way things are” which in most disciplines we rarely get right.

52. Normative theories are common
narratives

53. A normative theory
is a
predictive, instrumenta
l, or positivist theory

54. All great normative theories? Which one works?

55. Is there such thing as a positivist theory
that actually works?

56. The truth keeps
changing as we see new
things

57. Narrative can accommodate ambiguity much
better than qualitative research

58. Isn’t
management
ambiguous?
Chaotic environment
Stakeholder wants
Power
The environment Negotiations
Competitors
Motivations
Politics Management prerogative
Labour relations
Paradoxes, cost- Personalities
quality, sales-
profit, hierarchy-
knowledge etc

59. Narrative is empirical research just
as quantitative research is

61. Ricoeur argues that there is an integral
connection between narrative and action.
Narratives lead individuals to intervene in the
course of things. The action derives from
intention or motivation, based on the
particular narratives of an
individual, irrespective of whether these are
self generated, after appropriation from a
culture.

62. Drummond argues ‘that narrative is the
fundamental scheme for linking individual
human action and events into interrelated
aspects of an understandable composite’.

63. Drummond argues organisation culture, leadership, conflict
and change are narratives. One way of framing this is that
organisation culture is composed of many narratives with
enough coherence between them to give a sense of the
whole’.36 Change occurs when new narratives replace old
narratives. If the change is superficial, then the narratives
could be described as morphostatic; (changing the chairs on
the Titanic would not stop the ship sinking); or morphogenic;
where things will never be the same again’.37 Hence, it can be
argued that the linking of strategy and complexity through
narrative theory collectively extends each theory and provides
a theoretical underpinning to understand better these
concepts and the linkages between them.

64. A theoretical link must now be made between
narrative and strategy and again the work of
Ricoeur is instructive, beginning with narrative
and the individual. This will lead us to make the
connection between narrative and organisational
strategy which in turn leads to the concept of
identification since an organisation’s strategy
requires individuals (members of the
organisation) it identify with it, or support it, at
least in some minimal ways.

65. Narrative as a story
• The way that stories are told, how meaning is
constructed to achieve the understanding of the
audience.
• Groups events into cause and effect – action and
inaction.
• Organises time and space in very compressed form.
• The voice of the narrative can vary; whose story is
being told and from whose perspective?
• Narrative plot refers to everything audibly or visibly
present, i.e. selective.
• Narrative story refers to all the events, explicitly
presented or referred.

66. We use narratives or stories to make sense of our lives and the
world around us. There different ways in which we use the
narrative form:
• As children we listen to fairytales and
myths/legends. As we grow older, we read short
stories, novels, history and biographies.
• Religion is often presented through a collection of
“stories/moral tales” e.g. the Bible, the
Ramayana, etc.
• Scientific breakthrough is often presented as
stories of an experimenter/scientist’s trials.
• Cultural phenomena such as plays, films, dance
and paintings tell stories.
• News events are told as stories.
• Dreams are retold as stories.

67. The world is seen from our own perspective – our narrative

68. Memory is in “I” & “Me” Mode

69. Memory
Truth Knowledge Belief
Imagination

70. How many
Chalices are in
Leonardo da
Vinci’s painting
of the Last
Supper?

71. We see what we want to see

72. Experience introduces feeling & emotion
to learning

74. Meaning
• Dear Honorable Dato'/Prof./Assoc.Prof./Dr./Mr/Mrs/Miss,
Kindly be informed that there will be a talk on "Science of
Knowledge", scheduled as follows :
Date : 9th September 2011 (Friday)
Time : 3.00 pm ~ 4.30 pm
Venue : PPIPT Meeting Room, Block A
Attendance : Compulsory to all academic staffs
Speaker : Honorable Prof. Dato' Wira Dr. Mohd Salleh Bin Hj Din
Your commitment and attendance is deeply appreciated.
Thanking in advance.
Confidence?

75. The Things we think
The things we do
The intentions we have
The things we buy
Are all governed by our own stories

76. Meaning
We give symbols common meaning to form society’s narrative

82. Heaven Strategy (Dan Hill 2010)
High
More More
negative/high positive/highe
response r response
Response
Rate
More
More
negative/lower
positive/lower
response
Low response
Negative Positive
Emotional Response

84. Stories we construct

85. Stories we construct shape our
assumptions, beliefs and values

86. How do you know?

87. Archetypes
Our different selves can be considered archetypes
• The hero (seeking something)
• The Villain (opposing the hero)
• The donor/benefactor/provider (a helper)
•The dispatcher (sends the hero on his/her way)
•The false hero (falsely assuming the role of the hero)
•The helper (assisting the hero)
•The princess (seeking protection of the hero)

89. How many stories are there here?

94. Narrative gives meaning – without
narrative there is no meaning

102. Most of the time
we project our
meanings onto
others

103. Who is the successful person here?
Stereotyping

104. Who is the
most
successful
here?

105. Value is socially
constructed

108. Meaning is relative

111. Gender is a relative
concept

113. Building
Frameworks or
our own Meta-
Theories

114. Narrative integrates subjectivity
and objectivity through
storytelling to produce scientific
explanations (i.e., meaning) of
the world

115. Narrative deals with the development of
stories over time (a longitudinal study)

116. Narrative creates our identity

117. Narrative is a form of ‘meaning making’. It is a complex form
which expresses itself by drawing together descriptions of states
of affairs contained in individual sentences into particular types of
discourse. This drawing together creates a higher order of
meaning that discloses relationships among states of affairs.
Narrative recognizes the meaningfulness of individual experiences
by noting how they function as parts of a whole. Its particular
subject matter is human actions and events that affect human
beings, which it configures into wholes according to the roles
these actions and events play in bringing about a conclusion.
Because narrative is particularly sensitive to the temporal
dimension of human existence, it pays special attention to the
sequence of actions and events occur.
Poklinghorne, D. E. (1988) Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences, Albany, NY State University of New York
Press.

118. Narratives come into existence……Events happen and we
observe and participate in them and we make conscious
(and unconscious) note of what is happening. Narrative
puts these events into our own context of understanding
and feeling.
Narrative is about how we make sense of the
world
Narrative is unique to a situation, bit similar
situations may have similar narratives by different
people.

120. A Meta-Theory Trap & Filter
Emotions
Transactional Analysis and/or Field
Theory
Culture (Values, Beliefs & Assumptions)
Narrative

121. Narrative Theory

122. Narrative Theory
Paul Ricoeur

123. Emplotment is integral to narrative. Narrative
should consider a plot, with goals, causes, and
chance being brought together within the
temporal unity of a whole and complete action.
However the plot may avoid a chronological
listing of events and transforms isolated vents
into a schematic whole by highlighting and
recognizing the contribution that each event
makes to the development and outcome of the
story.

124. Human experiences are held in the mind as
pre-concepts (narratives in the making which
Ricoeur calls mimesis 1, or pre-configuration.
The articulation of an experience or the
narration of an experience (its emplotment)
is called mimesis 2, or configuration.
Sometimes experiences are re-authored to
make sense of the situation, which Ricoeur
calls mimesis 3.

125. Images and
Connections Vision Platform - Perception
Mimesis 1
Time & Space Potential
Concept Generator –
Making Connections
Concepts
Learning:
Conceptual World Real World
Sources of Opportunity
Identifying Experimentation
concepts & Testing
Evaluation after
experience “A Narrative”
Ideas
Complete re-
evaluation (seek
Mimesis 2
further
information)
Structure common to all Evaluated and
opportunities Elaborated Upon
Vision – Outcomes
Time & Space Opportunity
Resources
Networks Mimesis 3
Skills, Competencies & Capabilities
Competitive Environment
Strategy – scope & depth

126. Articulated Narratives: Those that we are
part, work, school, club, religion, nation, etc.
Embedded Narratives: Specific narratives within a
person’s consciousness from preconfigured
experiences, etc.

127. Dominant Logic (Prahalad)
The way people deal with events and situations
in life. Dominant logic consists of a mental
map which orientates a person. It can either
inhibit or enhance learning, growth and
fulfillment.
I would like to reframe this
as the dominant narrative

128. Dominant Logic
• Our behaviour, focus and the way people act
• A set of ideas about ourselves and the world
• Personal rules and experiences
• A reflection of our success, failure, and
indifference
• Something that is invisible, internal
• An organisation's genetic code
• An organisation's operating system

129. Paradoxes
Innovate Avoid mistakes
Live for today Think long term
Save money Spend for the future
Work by oneself Work as a group
Collaborate Compete
Conflict Harmony
Be flexible Follow rules and norms
Make your own decisions Make joint decisions

130. Metaphor

132. Typologies

133. Listening Exercise
• The simple act of listening shows how we sometimes wander through life with a
low level of awareness. How many times when someone is speaking to you, are
you preoccupied with other things? How often do we daydream when others are
speaking? How often do you believe that what you think is right and what the
other has to say is not worth listening to? How often are you just waiting for an
opportunity to espouse what you think? How often are you just thinking of
rebuttals, arguments against what a person is saying rather than actually listening
to the content of what they are actually saying? How often are you making
judgments about the person speaking or what they are saying? How often are you
looking for an opportunity to disagree, agree, or run away? How often are you
evaluating and comparing what a person is saying against what you believe? How
often do you fail to seek clarification about something you don’t understand? Do
you try and control the interaction by trying to dominate the conversation? Our
listening habits usually show that our level of personal awareness is low and we
are influenced by so much of our own emotion just in the act of listening to
someone. This is at the cost of seeing new perspectives and exercising our ability
to empathize with others.
One member of the group should tell the rest of the group about what they did
over the weekend un-interrupted. The rest of the group should take notes about
what they were thinking about while they were listening to the story.

134. • The ability to listen effectively is a powerful tool in developing
awareness, empathy, humility, and consequently understand new
perspectives. Listening is much more than hearing, it involves being
attentive to what others say, observing emotion, behaviour and
body language, facial expressions, and fighting off our own internal
distractions that lessen of ability to listen. Listening requires much
more discipline, attention, and concentration than we expect. Think
about it, how much self discipline do we need to really effectively
listen to someone? Once we have achieved the
discipline, attention, and concentration really needed to listen, we
realize how powerful a tool listening is in understanding what a
person has to say, and from where emotionally a person is saying it.
Listening skills can be developed and refined through active and
reflective listening techniques, where the listener
repeats, paraphrases and reflects upon what the speaker is saying
as a means of clarifying the message that the speaker is intending
to convey to us [92].

135. Select the correct tools for a mission

137. Edgar Schein’s Approach to
Organizational Culture

138. Culture is a story
Theories in action Stories, myths, heroes, artifacts, informal
behaviours
verses Espoused
Norms and group
behaviour Productivity &Values Organisational
effectiveness learning (single or
double looped
Leadership
Beliefs
Assumptions

140. Assumptions

141. Look for the values

142. The Emotional Vista

143. We have multiple narratives in
Physical Sensations
ourselves
Physical Awareness
Material Awareness
Social Awareness
Ego Awareness
Spiritual Awareness
True Self
(Universal awareness)
Spiritual Self
Ego Self
Social Self
Material Self
Primal Self
Perception
Society

144. Imagination Heuristics
Action adverse Reckless overconfidence
Negative emotions Future Orientation Positive emotions
Optimal drive
Value sets
Optimal learning
Sense of Present Sense of
low self high self
efficacy Orientation
efficacy
Patterning
Past Orientation
Bad memories Good memories
Memory
Imagination
Belief System
All narrative comes from our emotional orientation

147. Perceived Reality Object/Event The Hierarchy of Emotions
Affected
Perception/ Emotions
Recognition
Socially Related
Emotions Varied
(Socially Constructed) Mix of
Complex Emotions Emotions
Loyalty, Sympathy,
Pride, Humility,
Confident, Achievement,
Embarrassment,
Indignation,
Bewilderment, Pity,
Elation, Satisfaction,
Boredom, Shame,
Disgust, Frustration,
Conscious
Surprise, etc.
Unconscious Core
Emotions
Core Emotions
Anxious, Happiness,
Guilt, Greed, Envy,
Depression, Hope,
Interest, etc.
Primal Emotions
Deep Inner Self
Fear, Anger Sadness, Pleasant Unpleasant
Loss, Hate, Joy, Pain,
Pleasure, Curiosity, Deep Subconscious: Self-esteem, self-efficacy,
Feeling of hopelessness, Low Frustration tolerance,
Sexual Desire, etc.
Awfulness, etc.
Leftover from Primal Emotions
Evolution

148. Our personality is a mix of emotions just like Milton the
Monster

149. What Emotions are they feeling?
Courage
Passionate
intimidated
Nervous Energetic Determined
Excited Anxious
Overwhelmed Competitive Challenging
Green are positive, Red are negative and yellow emotions can go either way

150. Courage The different sets of
emotions will heavily
influence performance.
Passionate
intimidated
Determined
Energetic
Overwhelmed
Anxious
Challenging

151. Different weight and balance of emotions may
“Big-headed” produce different behaviour & performance
Confused
Awkward
Tense
Scared
Overwhelmed
Shy
Passionate
Confident
Excited

153. Level of Awareness
In control of
The anxiety line
emotion
Individual
Overwhelmed
Sea of Emotion in emotion

154. Exercise
Relax, breath in and
out, remove all your
thoughts, relax your
muscles
Where am “I”?

155. Is this what you found?

156. Our true self is like a computer without any operating system or
software

157. Here is our personal operating system

158. Empathy Exercise
Some people don’t realize we are doing destructive things that hurt
others [67]. Sometimes this hurt can lead to grave and serious
illness. If we switch our self from the usual “I am” to a different
viewpoint, i.e., the feeling of being superior, equal, or inferior to
another, from one of these viewpoints we can generate new sets of
emotions. For example, if we take a superior view point to others
we may generate intensive highhandedness. If we view others as
equals we may generate feelings of jealousy and
competitiveness, and if we view others from an inferior
position, we may generate feelings of jealousy and envy. This helps
us see the perspectives of our false sense of ourselves and the
source of our behaviours. If we can substitute humility for our
emotions (humility does not mean subservience or inferiority), we
can see our relationships without the emotional intensities that
existed before. We can see our inter-connectiveness, how our
actions hurt people, and how we stray from our innate morality.
In a group one person share a story where emotions have dominated their
judgments and with the group come up with alternative sets of thoughts that may
lead to new sets of emotions.

159. Traps & Filters

160. Interpersonal
Communication
A brief look at
Transactional Analysis
Murray Hunter
(with the narratives supplied
by my organization behaviour
students at University
Malaysia Perlis

161. Parent
Parent Ego State
Behaviours, thoughts and feelings copied from parents
and parent figures.
Adult Ego State
Adult Behaviours, thoughts and feelings are direct responses to
here and now.
Child Ego State
Child Behaviours, thoughts and feelings are replayed from
childhood.

162. You Me
Parent Parent
Adult Adult
Child Child
Transactional Analysis relationship
Dynamics

163. Controlling Parent Parent Nurturing Parent
Controlling Adult Adult Nurturing Adult
Immature Child Child Creative Child

164. Okay my dear son, let
mummy tell you the story.
(Nurturing mother)
Mummy, what is this? Can you
tell me the story about this.
(creative child)

165. Hey , who is that guy
you were with!!!?
(controlling mother )

166. Stop, I don’t want to go
to school today
(immature child )

167. I don’t have money
anymore!!!!!!!!
(controlling adult)

168. Congratulations on
your graduation.
Good luck.
(nurturing adult)

169. Honey, Can you cook for me
today.perhaps, some tom yum honey.
(nurturing adult)
Altenative: I love U Sayang (darling)
(Creative child)

170. @#$&%%$!!!!!!! Ya
(immature child )

171. Lalalalallalaalala
(Creative child)

172. Watch the following conversation
between two students (or film clip) and
determine the transactional dynamics of
the conversation (i.e., parent-
parent, Adult-Adult, Child-Child, Parent-
Adult, or Parent-child).

173. Pierre Bourdieu’s Field Theory

175. The field is a sphere or plain of social life where each person or agent is
operating within it according to a practical logic with the objective of
achieving some end. The field can be a society, a village, a market, an
industry, an organization or any other social structure.
A person’s power to influence or dominate the field depends upon the
amount and type of capital they possess in relation to other agents. To
Bourdieu the concept of capital was much wider than financial resources.
Four types of capital exist;
Economic capital – access to money, buildings, plant and equipment, etc,
Cultural capital – knowledge which equips the social agent with empathy
toward for, or appreciation for, or competence working within the cultural
rules and norms within the field,
Social capital – consisting of resources obtainable through connections
and group networks, and
Symbolic capital – which include socially derived symbols like university
degrees, or acceptance by social institutions within the field (Drummond
1998, P. 104).

176. The field as a social sphere has its own set of practical logic, producing a habitus
embodied with the logic making it uniquely suited to operate within it. Due to
social background and social grounding through families and education, a
habitus will be more predisposed to operate in certain fields rather than others
or the field will draw the person with the appropriate habitus to play the game
in that field. This is an explanation of why it is difficult for people to move into
businesses outside fields their habitus is not conditioned to. The modus
operandi of the field is foreign and the agent does not have the necessary
practical logic within their habitus, or the necessary capital to gain any influence
within the field.
Given the relationship between the habitus and the field, it can be seen that
the social structure (field) produces the mental structure (habitus), that
produce social structure (field), that produce mental structure (habitus), that
produce social structure (field). Everybody is unaware of this process as they
are within it. Therefore the individual’s rationality is a social bounded
phenomenon where our practical logic, disposition towards to
perceptions, appreciation, view of the world, and action content is created
through experience within a social structure.

177. The habitus can generate new principals of strategy and practice that flow
from experiences that produce it, taking into account of specific social content
within the field the individual is playing in (Boudieu 1991, P.14).
When the habitus is in line with the field and vice versa, a coherent logic of
practice develops. This logic is called doxa. Doxa is the basic belief and value
system of the habitus where it accepts its social position and place in the
world. Doxa operates at the pre-conscious level.

178. Alan Fiske
The Four Elementary
Types of Relationships

180. The explicit & Implicit

181. Body
Language

183. On being emergent or reflective?

184. Emergent In a stance of anticipation
A narrative of action and forming meaning

185. Compresses time
In a stance of learning
Reflective A narrative of significance of the meaning
involved

186. Emergent there maybe
emphasis on anxiety and
the significance of making
an important
commitment.
In a reflective mode there
maybe an emphasis on
the joy of the occasion.
Different modes will
produce different sets of
meanings.
In reflective narrative
many people try to justify
their past decisions. In The emergent version
emergent analysis more of The reflective version
may be full of anxiety
the uncertainty of the may be about the joy of
and uncertainty about
situations are apparent. the occassion
commitment

187. Through Narrative we can see:
Values
The types of Construction of
relationships ethics
Influences Beliefs
Intentions
Motivations
What they see
& how they see
Thinking A Person’s View if the things
Processes world
Assumptions
What they
Self efficacy Self View espouse/wh
& esteem at they do
Biases
Emotions How
Sequences
Level of decisions are
awareness made
Past or
What they
respect
future
orientation
Through their stories

188. Where can we use Narrative?
• In the classroom – aid to learning/understanding
• Research – developing descriptive theory
• Marketing – Branding & advertising
• Entrepreneurship research (The Republic of Tea)
• Organizational Analysis
• Political analysis
• Social analysis
• Self & Identity
• Cognition & Creativity Research

189. Field Research

190. Documentation as a prime source
(Historical or Contemporary)

192. Live

193. A Narrative Meta-Theory
NARRATIVE The Theory of Action by
Ricouer
EMOTION
Self Awareness Mode
Murray Hunter
TRANSACTIONAL
ANALYSIS
The Transactional Theory by
Eric Berne
ARTIFACT
The Model of Organizational
VALUE Culture by Edgar Schein
ASSUMPTION

194. Map Out the Big Picture of the
Research Phenomena

195. Making Sense of Narrative is Very Similar to Undertaking English
Comprehension Exercises (with extra “meaning tools”)

199. Emotional orientation
Suspicious
No distribution of information
Centralized decision making
Lack of definite strategy
Centralized decisions
Rigid
Unplanned strategy Paranoid Narrow Vision
Shallowness Traditional
Narcissistic Obsessive-
Recklessness
Compulsive
Balanced
Organization
Excessive risk taking
Attention-
Inconsistent strategy
Schizoid Seeking
Inconsistent Centralized decisions
Political decisions (Dramatic) Unplanned expansion
Poor leadership
Climate of suspicion
Depressive
Potential
Leaderless & apathetic
Behaviour
Excessive caution & conservatism
Rigidity
Lack of vision & strategy
Weak competitiveness

201. Transactional Analysis
(A framework to communicate)

202. Person “A” “I” & “Me” Words, phrases, met Person “B” “I” & “Me”
View of the world aphors, analogies View of the world
Dominant
Narrative
Values
Emotions
Beliefs
Similarity Assumptions
The Dialogue or conflict

203. Film & Drama

204. Analysis of a Khmer Tale
This story is extracted from Collection of Folk Story, vol. 4, published by Buddhist Institute, Phnom Penh, 1966,p.1-10, and is translated to English by David
Chandler, Facing the Cambodian Past,1996, First ed. Silkworm Books Chang Mai,p.79-81

206. Yama Buddha
The organization
The basic ambiguity,
development tools required
complexity, & uncertainty
Death to leave the influence of the
of the environment
Require realms
innovation &
Existence Ignorance
adaptation
necessary Organization
capabilities to start-up
change
The realm of the Deva
Success in the past, arrogant, in
denial, blind to the environment,
Rebirth Karma
irrelevant to the market, Usually
learning is Setting
large companies in stable
paramount to organization
The realm of the Preta environments The realm of the Azura
change trajectory
High growth high profit Realms or “states of mind” Ambitious, aggressive,
orientation, trend setters, of an organization outwardly pious, win-lose
compulsive, can lose focus on strategies, suspicious, vigilant,
long term strategies, usually suits organizations in
conglomerates. dynamic environments.
Consciousness
Physical,
Craving emotion &
The firming of
intellectual values, beliefs
Self interest The realm of the Triyangyoni The realm of the Manusya
energy and perception
Short-term orientation, rent Paradoxical, hope yet doubt, high
seeking, no innovation, The basic paradoxes an aspirations, willing to experiment
but get lost in process, able to
no investment, impulsive organization faces learn, can be non-conformist,
decision making, nepotistic,
suitable for organizations
usually production The realm of Naraka engaged in highly
Attachment
orientated Sense of low self-efficacy and technical tasks. Name &
To the past or
organizations. failure, depression, hopelessness, Form
the future
little control over environment, not Paths &
much interest in anything, no market rigidities
orientation, usually firms in declining
industries.
Perception Senses
Evaluation & The ability to The “cognitive
action adapt
Contact processes” of an
Awareness of
organization
potential
opportunities

207. Little by little, the girls take to eating their food raw. Upset by this, they try to go
back to her mother, but she thinks they are lying to her. She chases them back to
the forest.
At the pond when they return, the smouldering wood has gone out but some of
the corn has begun to grow. The girls eat it raw, along with shellfish, as the
guardian spirit has directed them to do. For three months, the spirit keeps wild
animals away from the children and the pond, and after six months, the girls had
grown downy feathers all over their bodies, and their arms had turned into wings.
They could fly onto branches now, and their new claws could grip the branches or
pluck fruit…Their lips narrowed into beaks, and they lost their ability to talk. In
their hearts, all the same, they knew they were people, not animals, even if when
they tried to talk, they had animals’ voices.
Meanwhile their mother’s second husband had been sent to prison. The mother
repents and comes to redeem her daughters. Even though they are birds, she can
still recognize them, and she follows them deeper and deeper into the
forest, while they call out to her, “We are released from our humanity; we have
turned into animals, and we are far more beautiful. Don’t come near us!” the
mother hears only the phrase koun lok (“child of the world,” translated as
“humanity”). She runs on after them, runs out of breath and dies.

208. This story metaphorically reveals the mysteries of life, our
real selves and social interaction. Key words, which could
be used to convey these meanings include:
mind/body, interaction, clinging/repelling, order/disorder,
pleasant/unpleasant, and some-thing more, associated
with terms like process, change, contiguity, and adaptive
ability, etc. This story shows us the possibility of conflict
within each individual, conflict between individual and
individual, and also social conflicts, as well as the engine
that produces reality for each individual and society, and
the way this engine works. Through this story, we can see
how the dynamics of interaction plays a critical role in
shaping our reality.

209. While Charles Darwin tried to explain how animals evolved to be
humans, this story explains how humans can evolve to be animals.
1. In row 1 the girls are touched by the bonding relationship between
themselves and their parents. They experience a bonding relationship when
both mother and father are favoured parents, providing them with
love, care, and support that they are attached to. This bonding provides
meaning to the girls’ lives, which determine realities for them.
2. In row 2 the girls are touched by the defective bonding relation between
the girls to their parents. The absence of the father from the family leaves
mother as a widow to struggle with work so that she can feed the family.
There is a break in the bonding relationship between the girls and their
mother. The relationship between the mother and her second husband
mark a serious threat to the bonding relationship between the mother and
her children. Finally the mother decides to abandon the girls since the girls
are considered as obstacles to the bonding relationship between mother
and the second husband. Here is the point that human creature’s
characteristics is thus: when one clings to one thing, one repels another
thing that is an obstacle to his or her clinging.

210. 3. In row 3 the abandoned girls suffer from a defective bonding
relationship. To them life in the forest, in which their bonding
relationship to mother, to their selves, that used to be the shelter
for life, are severed, is like breaking their souls and bodies into
pieces. The more fear of the forest they have the more they recall
their experience at home with parents that used to be their womb
of security. The more they try to repel their situation in the forest
the more they try to restore the bonding relationship, their shelter.
As the result of that attempt the more they suffer from the
conflicts caused by these opposing forces that break their
personalities into pieces. Finally to survive the girls are determined
to adapt to the situation in the forest. They eat raw food. While
their interactions with human culture are severed, little by little
the girls begin to meld themselves to the forest through their
interactions with the forest creatures in a way that little by little
their cultural links to humanness are eroded.

211. 4. In row 4 the fragmentary souls of the girls touched with humanness, are reconfigured
through interactions with the forest. The girls adopt human personalities modified by their
wild life. The girls lose their ability with language, the very medium for human production and
culture transmission. Little by little the girls’s behaviour and personalities change to half-
human-half-animal beings, which are waiting to become completely animal like. When they
become completely animal they repel the state of being human. However, during the time of
evolution the girls suffer from the conflicts between opposing forces that determine their
realities and way of life, such as their struggles against the distinction between humanness
and animality that are modifying their personalities and behaviours.
5. In columns 1, and 2, it is clear that the personalities of the girls and the mother change
according to the context in which they interact. Meanings assigned to every one depend on
the way individuals interact. The reality for the girls changes from happy children to unhappy
children, from unhappy girls to animals. These are determined by social interaction, likewise
personality and behaviour of the mother. Without her relationship to her second husband the
mother would have assigned a good meaning to her daughters. With her relationship to her
second husband, her daughters become obstacles for her. When repelled by the second
husband, she realised that her daughters are important to her.
Extracted from: Hel Rithy (2004) Dependent
Origination: Towards a Theory of Meaning

213. Publishing

215. Any reality is only seen in the
mind and therefore really part
of our imagination

216. Most people have (sources
of) multiple identities where
some are easier than others
to discover and appreciate.

217. Follow the relationships
Types
Conflicts
Shared meanings
Who controls the
narrative?

218. It is impossible for us to see things
untouched by our own view, since the
observer and the observed are within
the same entity
- Margaret Mead

219. It is the theory that determines
what we can observe
- Albert Einstein

220. The Tools of Trade
Syntax
Creative
sensitivity
Comprehension
Skills
Metaphor
Template and Trap
Empathy
Theories

221. Ability to see the environment in different ways
No Sensitivity High Sensitivity
Openness to novelty – the ability to reason with relatively novel forms of stimuli,
Alertness to distinction – the ability to distinguish minute differences in the
details of an object, action, or environment,
Sensitivity to different contexts- tasks and abilities will differ according to the
situational context,
Awareness of multiple perspectives – the ability to think dialectically, and
Orientation in the present- paying attention to here and now.

222. Your research
career should not
be about…..

224. Is Blue Ocean Strategy
a new Marketing theory
or a narrative?

225. Is just a
beginning