I'm thinking about cultural industries. I'm currently working on a project where we examine the choices of theatres in terms of the play they decide to programme. The same process would occur for cinema owners: they'll have to choose the products they offer, and their tastes and aesthetic judgments would matter.

Dear Thomas,

Thank you for your answer - yes, these kinds of decision clearly will involve consideration of aesthetic criteria, as well as discussion about difficult-to-articulate intuitions. Most of the examples I have thought of are similar to this one - they involve aesthetic judgments of a product or output, and tend to come from the "creative industries", where products are easily distinguished by their focus on aesthetics.

However, regarding the aesthetics of everyday organizational life, I wonder about more mundane examples, that are not product oriented, and do not involve judgments about artistic works?

My question- at bottom - is about the explanatory scope of aesthetic concepts, which are (perhaps unfortunately) discussed most often in in the context of art worlds only.

All the best

Gazi

I see. Sorry I was not exactly answering your question!

Maybe the OT research on the use of powerpoint might be relevant. More generally the aesthetics of knowledge codification and business pitches?

Ewenstein, B., & Whyte, J. (2007). Beyond words: Aesthetic knowledge and knowing in organizations. Organization Studies, 28(5), 689-708.

Gabriel, Y. (2008). Against the tyranny of PowerPoint: technology-in-use and technology abuse. Organization Studies, 29(2), 255-276.

Hope it helps!

Aesthetic judgment is a state of mind where sensory perceptions drive an individual to feel good. I feel, this feeling has immense relevance in organizations. The ambiance, the work place decor, the layout etc. tend to influence human mind which influences an individual to feel either good or bad. This, ultimately is likely to affect individual's output in an organizational setup. Hence aesthetic judgment is an important attribute of management.

Hello all,

Actually, in my research on ethical mindsets - I investigated this phenomenon through spirituality and aesthetics - and the outcome of the research came to be that 'aesthetic spirituality' and 'religious spirituality' are two of the components of the ethical mindsets.

Whereas, the individuals in Australia would consider what were identified in the American literature as the components of spirituality as components of aesthetics - thus the new names of the first two components.

This might not be a direct answer to the question - but it is a recent research involving aesthetic with ethics - rather than aesthetics with art!

All the best

Regards

Theodora has brought out an interesting aspect of spirituality and aesthetics. In this context , I would like to add certain aspects of Indian vedic faith. I have very little knowledge about vedantic philosophy, but I firmly believe that the purest form of morality and ethics is rooted in Indian vedantic philosophy, where the ultimate of spiritualism is in the realization of self, when the individual understands that every soul is part of God. This culminates into highest form of aesthetic judgment, which results in appreciation of God's creation and love for all. This is what the great Indian Saint Swami Vivekananda preached.

Very interesting contribution Jaharkanti - indeed, the highest aesthetic experience lies in beauty and joy that will only be achievable through appreciation of God's creation and being convinced that you are cared for by God!

Hello All,

Very interesting responses - the link between aesthetics, spirituality and ethics is quite interesting in the context of my question. On a more mundane level, can you think of organizational or workplace situation in which people would have to make explicitly aesthetic kinds of judgments and discuss these? Particularly, not about a product's "beauty", but about other aspects of the workplace itself or the work?

Thank you all for your answers!

Gazi

p.s. Jonathan, the Ewenstein & White, and Gabriel articles were exactly the kinds of uses of aesthetic I was looking for - thanks!

Jonathan? :p

Dear GI

In just "walking around" here (in Research Gate) on these issues, I saw your interesting question.

And I also have my simple answer: every Brand is essentially the construction of an aesthetic (/taste) phenomena on itself, both "inside" an organization and/or also including such organization... But it is only my view of it, of course.

The best, DA.

Oh Thomas - apologies ! I had just commented on a point made by "Jonathan" on another forum :) You had fallen into the same cognitive category "people who have given me good advice".

Hello Diogo - yes, brands certainly. Almost invariably, we think of aesthetics as pertaining to brands and products. Perhaps when you say "inside" - you mean organizational processes that are not end products? Could you elaborate on these "inside" aesthetics? Thanks!!!

Hello again :-)

Yes of course, I mean: Brands are certainly a configuration of internal organizational processes too... Or perhaps in a more radical way: There are no Brands, only aesthetic/taste phenomena occuring among internal and external organizational stakeholders. (Sorry for such a risky move, but that's really my central thinking on this...)

The best!

Not a problem - Diogo - it's an interesting view of Brands! I wonder whether branding is less a feature of aesthetic judgment/experience, through, and more of a symbolic marker.

Not that the aesthetic/symbolic distinction is absolute, but I don't think the one could simply be reduced to the other...thoughts?

Great link Bob, thanks a lot! I didn't know about this source. What I'm looking for are discussions of aesthetics within organizations that are not limited to design features and products. Secondarily, sources that explore how people work through aesthetic judgments collectively. not finding as much as I had imagined...

All the best

Gazi

Related to the question of aesthetics, has the recent growth in perspectives on "materiality" informed our knowledge of organizational aesthetics? What is the difference, if any, between the materiality discussions and the aesthetics discussions?

Hi Gazi, see my PhD dissertation on this subject: In search of beauty. Developing beautiful organizations. I found 31 stimuli in eork and rganizations in which employees experience aesthetics