Learning from alternatives and alternative ways of knowing

Organiser

University of Sydney Business School

Location

Room 2050 , Abercrombie Building (H70), The University of Sydney

Presenter

Leanne Cutcher is Professor of Management and Organisation Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. Leanne’s research studies organisational discourses and practices and how they impact equity and inclusion for organisations, the people who work in them and the wider communities in which they are embedded. She has conducted this research in a wide range of organisational contexts including both the for-profit and not-profit sectors. This research has been published in leading, international journals. Leanne was awarded the 2022 International Federation of Scholarly Association of Management, ‘Excellence in Indigenous Management Scholarship’ Award. Leanne’s research into Indigenous-owned community organisations has been funded by a 2023 Australian Research Council Discovery Grant.

Abstract

Indigenous community-owned organisations and cooperatives can both be described as alternative forms of organisation. Co-operatives and mutuals have been described as a sort of communitarianism or collectivism, in which individuals are tied to others through a variety of economic and social links (Parker, Fournier & Reedy, 2007). Indigenous community-owned organisations do not fit neatly into dominant systems of (economic) value as they seek to meet the social and financial needs of their communities while honoring culture and kinship (Altman et al., 2012).

Both forms of organisations cannot be ‘read’ through dominant management concepts because they are seeking to offer an alternative to mainstream, capitalist forms of organisation (Banerjee & Linstead, 2004). It follows then that when we study such organisation, we need to be open to alternative ways of knowing and alternative methodologies (Bartlett, et al 2012). If we can do this our research might inspire novel ideas about organisations and challenge prevailing notions, making way for alternative theories of organisation (Love 2020).

In this presentation, Leanne Cutcher will share her experience of partnering with Traditional Credit Union, Australia’s only Indigenous-owned financial services organisation to reflect on how she needed to recognise the limitations of her prior understanding, be open to new knowledges and alternative ways of theorising.

Register

Find out more and register to attend on the University of Sydney Business School website.