Abstract | Gossip has historically been neglected as a subject of research, seen as trivial discourse unworthy of serious academic attention and debate, but the picture is changing. Gossip is now attracting increasing attention in management and organization studies, for example in relation to its constitutive role in organizing and sensemaking. Gossip occurs in the ‘unmanaged spaces’ of organizations and can be theoretically understood using a psychodynamically informed approach which involves (i) careful reflection on one’s practice; and (ii) borrowing concepts from other disciplines. Rather than leaping across paradigms and disciplines it is important to stay and work within the spaces in between, where reflexive and creative thought, fresh ideas, insights and intuition can emerge. The paper presents a framework for advancing the theoretical and practical understandings of organizational gossip and concludes by identifying areas for future research developments. |
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