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Chapter 13 - A Dramaturgical Framework for Strategy as Practice

from Part II - Theoretical Resources: Social Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2025

By
Andrea Whittle  and
Frank Mueller
Edited by
Damon Golsorkhi ,
Linda Rouleau ,
David Seidl  and
Eero Vaara
Damon Golsorkhi
Affiliation:
emlyon Business School
Linda Rouleau
Affiliation:
HEC Montréal
David Seidl
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Eero Vaara
Affiliation:
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
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Summary

Whittle and Mueller offer a dramaturgical perspective on strategy as practice. This approach has its roots in Erving Goffman’s seminal work, and this contribution provides a sorely needed reflection of how the key ideas and concepts of this theoretical perspective can be used to advance our understand of important issues and questions in strategy as practice research. They include disruptive events, front region, dramatic realization, idealization, audience segregation, misrepresentation, back region, teams, team secrets, discrepant roles and defensive practices. However, Whittle and Mueller also encourage scholars to not only use specific ideas or concepts in Goffman’s work but to engage in more comprehensive analyses applying this approach to develop a fuller understanding of strategizing processes. They conclude by identifying avenues for future studies going beyond previous work using dramaturgical lenses in strategy as practice research.

Keywords

strategy as practicepractice approachdramaturgical framework
Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice , pp. 230 - 248
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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