Problems of growth in a high technology firm: Moving between conscious and unconscious accounts of organizational processes

This paper explores an infrequently discussed methodological divide within qualitative research; that between conscious and unconscious accounts of organizational process. The paper makes use of an empirical case study of problems encountered in the growth of a high-technology company. The conscious accounts of growth treat members of the firm as knowledgeable agents whose understandings are then drawn upon to generate an account of growth in terms of interrelated processes of power, meaning and legitimacy. These conscious accounts are then complemented through an exploration of unconscious dynamics in the personality of the entrepreneur, the work group and the ‘family’ structure of the firm. It is argued that the key shift in moving between conscious and unconscious interpretation involves the bracketing of the reality claims implicit in conscious rationalizations, and a re-listening to research material as a largely unconscious projection of the individuals' ‘inner worlds’. With unconscious interpretations, the character of language, its emotional content and in particular the sources of individual and group anxiety all realize a central importance. Despite the established divide in the literature between these two forms of interpretation, it is argued that the case suggests the value and necessity of their integration, particularly for the understanding ofcreativity.