Authors: Annmarie Ryan
In this paper I develop a framework for the study of business relationships through the lens of liminality. This is achieved by discussing the work of Turner in relation to rites and rituals and their role in society. Those dimensions of the concept of liminality and communitas that are important for this study therefore include: that it involves interaction outside everyday lived experience that liminality is constructed and is neither self-evident or naturally occurring involves the transformation re-discovery and re-appropriation of every day spaces, through separation, or divestiture process, and subsequently (re)incorporated into the everyday through processes of investiture and importantly, incorporates a shared experience that can impact on relations between those who share the experience beyond the event itself. The concept of liminality is offered as a way to enable researchers to understand the interactions between managers in relationships in a new way. The focus of this paper is therefore threefold: 1/ to expand upon the concept of creating, holding and intensifying liminal space and 2/consideration of the effect of this on the organisation and 3/ reflection on this on-going entering into and leaving of liminal space as a way of conceptualising relationship development or dynamics.
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Conference: Atlanta, Georgia (2013)