Managerial Storytelling

Welcome to the project site of Managerial Storytelling in Practice: Dynamics and Implications, a platform for the latest research findings on the use of storytelling in managerial practice. This three-year research is being funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) under the First Grants Scheme (RES-061-25-0144) and is expected to conclude in August 2011.

The use of storytelling as a management tool is currently being advocated as the missing trick in management and leadership. However, the dynamics of managerial storytelling are largely unknown. While this may matter little to those who use storytelling successfully in their daily work, it is vital to understand in more detail how and why stories are an effective means of communication, knowledge-sharing, change and learning in organisations. This research aims to reveal the dynamics of managerial storytelling with a focus on:

1. the types of stories that are used effectively in different managerial contexts and situations;
2. the factors that support and inhibit the effective use of storytelling in managerial practice;
3. the limits of managerial storytelling.

In short, it is expected to lead to a better understanding of storytelling as a management tool, to evaluate claims about its effectiveness, and to improve storytelling practice in managerial work. The latest research findings will be published on this website as they become available.

Dr. Stefanie Reissner, the Principal Investigator in this research, completed her doctorate studies at the University of Durham in 2004. Her research focused on how organisational actors make sense of change, and her research findings will be published later this year in Narratives of Organisational Change and Learning: Making Sense of Testing Times by Edward Elgar.

Since finishing her doctorate research, Stefanie has worked as a lecturer at Bristol Business School (University of the West of England) and a senior lecturer at Sunderland Business School (University of Sunderland). Stefanie's current research focuses on the purposive use of storytelling in managerial practice. Her work has been presented at national and international conferences, including EGOS, BAM, EURAM and the ESRC-funded seminar series on Organizational Storytelling.

• Reissner, S. C. (2008). Narratives of Organisational Change and Learning: Making Sense of Testing Times. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (forthcoming).
• Reissner, S. C. (2005). “Learning & Innovation: A Narrative Analysis”. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 18 (5): 482-494.
• Reissner, S. C. (2004). “Learning by Storytelling: Narratives in the Study of Work-Based Learning”. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 10 (2): 99-113.

If you wish to be kept informed about this project or would like to participate in the research, please contact the Principal Investigator Dr. Stefanie Reissner on stefanie@managerial-storytelling.com.