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Nothing serious? Candidates' use of humour in management training

Grugulis, C. Irena
Publication Date
2002
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Keywords
Humour in managment, Management training, Private sector organisations, Misbehaviour, NVQs, National Vocational Qualifications, Methodology
Rights
© 2002 SAGE. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
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Management and Law Publications
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Abstract
This article explores the use made of humour in three different private sector organisations. It draws on observations of managers working towards a management qualification and, from the jokes they exchange, it argues that studying humour may offer insights into sentiments not easily articulated in `serious¿ conversation. Humour¿s ambiguity enables contentious statements to be made without fear of recrimination. Equally, constructing jokes by juxtaposing two different frames of reference provides a glimpse of alternative (and shared) perceptions of `reality¿. This sensitivity to complexity makes humour a particularly appropriate vehicle for conveying ambitions, subversions, triumphs and failures and this article considers some of the `serious¿ messages underlying the jokes.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10454/2209
Version
Accepted manuscript
Citation
Grugulis CI (2002) Nothing serious? Candidates' use of humour in management training. Human Relations. 55(4): 387-406.
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Link to Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726702055004459
Type
Article
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