Hi, Baki. I see you already have a good idea of what you want to do. But nobody is helping you!

I think it would help us if you gave us some specifics of the context you are involved in:

Hi Ian,

In fact, I'm writing a theoretical paper, and in one section, I need to explain that different mental models/metaphors of communication or organisation facilitate the emergence of different roles for actors, and different understandings of roles of others, and hence, relationships between them. In other words, this is something I believe is true and at this stage I just want to know if there any research studies dealt with this matter. 

As for the specific points you asked me to clarify:

1. No, it can be related to any field or practice of design.

2. No, in fact, it doesn't have to be taking place in a design context in a traditional sense.  It can be any collaborative activity of 'making'. 

3. No, improving communication is not the main aim. What I am after is a case that demonstrates that the same the actors with the same tasks can generate different sets of relations according to the underlying metaphor.

4. Researcher, designer, developer, user, client, various nonhuman actors or in a more abstract way: leader, follower, mediator, participant etc.

5. Understanding of the task. Understandings of the roles of each member of the team or collective. Understanding of the kinds of possible relations between members. 

6. Yes, you are right. I think a small team/collective would be more suitable for the purposes of decreasing the complexity. 

7. Yes, this model/metaphor should be made explicit to the team/collective.

I hope I could make myself clear.

Yes, that's clear now. Perhaps a theoretician can answer your question now. 

So your subquestion is : "How can different mental models/metaphors of communication and organisation facilitate the emergence of different roles for actors, and different understandings of the roles of the others, and hence, (change? improve?) relationships between them?"

Thanks Ian. Yes, How can different mental models/metaphors of communication and organisation facilitate the emergence of different roles for actors, and different understandings of the roles of the others, and hence, change relationships between them?

I know it is probably too specific a question. In the literature, the research studies generally employ some metaphors to retrospectively analyse and understand how an organisation or a team work and collaborate. In my case, we start with the metaphor itself and then observe how a team gets structured and how various relations within the team are established based on the different metaphors. 

Hello, you could look into psychological studies that investigate the role of metaphors in group development. One paper I am aware of is:

Srivastva & Barret (1988) The Transforming Nature of Metaphors in Group Development; Human Relations, 41(1), p. 31-63.

It is not much but you can use it as a starting point. When you google the title you may find more papers that address this issue. You may also get a few ideas for relevant keywords you could use for your research.

Another issue may be a bit of a long shot, but you could also try papers that deal with the impact metaphors have on organizations. In the end a design team is a part of an organization and the metaphors they use do not stay within the group. They shape the in-group communication as well as the communication of the group with the outside. Here is one paper I know:

Hamburger & Itzhayek (1998) Metaphors and Organizational Conflict; Social Behavior and Personality, 26(4), p. 383-398

Hope this helps, Jan

Hi Jan,

Thank you for your suggestions. 

I found the first article quite relevant to what I look for. As you said, in the paper, there are also some useful keywords that can help accessing some other relevant research studies such as 'generative metaphors'. The keyword, generative, is an important one as it usually refers to the cases in which metaphor is employed in a constructive manner guiding the perceptions and actions of individuals or group, which is something I'm actually looking for.  Moreover, here is useful excerpt from the paper which provides another valuable keyword 'metaphors as paradigms':  "The group's metaphorical constructions act as paradigms, a set of explicit and implicit theories: the basic assumptions, beliefs, and philosophies which the group is continually constructing for itself and which underlie the logic, the perceptions, the judgments, and the selection and sorting of data." 

Yes, there is a large body of work dealing with the relation between metaphors and organisational structures and communication. Although they usually seem to employ metaphors in analytical way, I believe there should be some studies which employ metaphors in a generative way in organisation science literature.

Thanks a lot again, Baki

(Cutlip, Center & Broom, 2006) and internal public relations (Kennan & Hazleton, 2006; Kreps, 1989).

Shannon-Weaver Model (1949),

Berlo’s (1960) S-M-C-R model

downward and upward communications (Cutlip, Center & Broom, 2006)

Thanks Aleimys.

Hello Aleimys, the Shannon-Weaver Model and the SMCR model are rather general theories of communication. Though I find the thought intriguing, I don't really have an idea how we could derive specific predictions concerning metaphors shaping team communication/relations. Would you care to elaborate on this point?

Hi All,

I found the following article that demonstrates how activity scopes, objectives, and member roles change in a team according to five different metaphors: family, sports, military, community, and associates. It's the closest study to what I'm looking for:

Gibson, C. B., & Zellmer-Bruhn, M. E. (2002). Minding your metaphors: Applying the concept of teamwork metaphors to the management of teams in multicultural contexts. Organizational Dynamics, 31, 101-116.

Thanks 

Hi Huayi,

Thanks for the suggestions. I very well know the works of Lakoff and Johnson. I'll check the first reference. As far as I know, the conduit metaphor is one of the most employed metaphors to analyse communication. You possibly know, but Putnam et al. (1996), after examining the roles of different metaphors in understanding the relations between organization and communication, explain how the phenomenon of organizational communication has been conceptualized and studied differently according to seven different underlying metaphors: conduit, lens, linkage, performance, symbol, voice and discourse. It's an excellent article. 

Putnam, L. L., Phillips, N., & Chapman, P. (1996). Metaphors of communication and organizations. In S. R. Cless & W. R. Nord (Eds.), Handbook of organization studies (pp. 375-408). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Best,

Baki

Hi Baki,

You might be interested in the (ongoing) outcomes of this EU FP7 project: http://www.concept-fp7.eu/

Best,

Mathias

Hi Mathias,

A very interesting and relevant project. I think early stages of design process is the most exciting, and as well, most critical. Providing tools and resources for distributed design teams to support collaboration in early stages is really important. Coincidentally, in the paper that I'm currently working on, I illustrate a case in which I discuss various ways to change the connectivity between members of a distributed design team. Thanks for the link. Are you involved in this FP7 project.

Best,

Baki 

Hi Baki,

We are indeed involved in this project with a team from Industrial Design Eindhoven. There are different teams working on different aspects of the collaborative design process, how to support various roles best and how to facilitate innovation and creativity. Your ongoing paper seems to be quite interesting, let me know when it's ready.

Best,

Mathias

Hi Mathias,

I'll be following the outcomes of the project. Thanks again. Sure, I'll let you know when the paper is ready.

Cheers,

Baki