IMAGES OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Researching in a changing world

Ingrid Kajzer1and Michael Saren
Department of Marketing, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, UK

Work-in-progress

Track: Marketing and the Environment

Ingrid Kajzer, Doctoral Researcher, Department of Marketing, Strathclyde University, Stenhouse Building,
173 Cathedral Street, Glasgow G4 0RQ, United Kingdom, Email: ingrid.kajzer@strath.ac.uk Tel: 0044 141 548
3249 - Fax: 0044 141 552 2802

IMAGES OF THE ENVIRONMENT: RESEARCHING IN A CHANGING WORLD

ABSTRACT
This paper develops a research methodology which utilises the potential of images and
metaphors to explore a new, more sustainable environment. We argue for the importance of
generating new images of the environment in order to reduce the tension between the
alienated poles of marketing and the environment. We propose a novel research design using
experimental workshops as a more appropriate research methodology for examining
changing, dynamic and complex phenomena as opposed to traditional methods based on the
assumptions of mechanistic processes and static equilibria. We argue that the former is a more
appropriate means of enquiry for understanding the relationship between Marketing activities
and the changing environment.

Key words: sustainability, metaphors, methodology, research workshops

INTRODUCTION
In this paper we embark on a journey where we explore how we can utilise the creative power
of images as a device to generate new mindsets in marketing compatible with an uncertain
and changing world and the need for more sustainable societies. Moreover, we aim to take up
the challenge of finding ways of translating more dynamic and organic thinking into
actionable reality. The need for such a journey is grounded in the deficit of current marketing
methods aiming at understanding environmental problems using existing economic and
organisational frameworks. However, sustainability is a search process (Charter and Tischner,
2001) where no one knows what a sustainable society will look like and where we can only
speculate on possibilities from our present standpoint (Walker, 1998). We concur with Reason
(1994) that reliance on our existing repertoire of mechanical images based on the illusion of
certainty and control (the tempting of the rational mind Reason, 1994) have to be contested
and we must learn to 'trust the wisdom of the unknown other'. If we do not contest our old
ways of thinking we risk getting nothing more than 'orthodox experiments disclosing
orthodox novelty' as said by North Whitehead (1861-1949).
For Marketing, as for all disciplines, the images that we project through our research efforts
reflect our relationship to other human beings and to the physical and biological world,
playing a crucial role in reconstructing the environment and shaping our image of reality; our
own, as well as the people participating in our research. As recognised by Morgan (1993,
1997) images and ideas that we hold of ourselves and our world have a fundamental impact
on how our reality unfolds. This paper explores how an understanding of the role of images
and metaphors can be incorporated into our research methods. This is a potentially fruitful
line of enquiry when researching aspects and phenomena of an uncertain, changing, dynamic
environment, where certainties and idea fixes are absent.

The structure of this paper is as follows. Initially, we introduce some of the common
characteristics of images and metaphors. Then, we continue our journey by projecting the
traditional images of the environment. Subsequently, the paper will introduce methods in
which we can use metaphors in the creation of new ways of seeing and doing.
THE ROLE OF IMAGES & METAPHORS
In order to bridge the gap between marketing and the environment we need a new set of
glasses, a different mindset, different images and metaphors that inspire us to look at the
natural world, not through domination but participation. The importance placed upon images,
in particular through the usage of metaphors is grounded in well-documented work by
Morgan (1997,1993). Metaphors offer the potential to see the world from a new perspective,
encouraging different ways of thinking, whilst also facilitating the learning of new
knowledge. They may be used as a creative investigative tool (Grant and Oswick, 1996),
where they may allow the researcher to explore future sustainable 'realities'. Reading
organisational life with the use of metaphors not only allows us to think in new ways, but due
to its organic properties we may also generate modes of understanding that flow with change.
(Organic in the sense that the process is unfolding, where the 'story line' is not fixed, not
absolute but rather changes over time). Metaphors are, we suggest, important because they
signal to us and make explicit that there is no absolute world 'out there', but that we are
actively engaged in constructing meaning from our own frame of reference and experience
(Grant and Oswick, 1996). If it is true that 'people do make and shape their world and have
the ability to do so anew' (Morgan, 1993) what are the images that will encourage marketing
to reach new insights and give space for action? Before we continue this journey we will step
back and examine the consequences of our most prominent metaphors, that of the machine.
IMAGES OF THE ENVIRONMENT
The Western research tradition has predominantly been influenced by the scientific revolution
which brought with it the dominant image of the world as a machine, supported by a
technocratic paradigm where the earth was regarded as inert and passive; therefore
legitimately exploitable (Purser et al., 1995, Gladwin et al., 1995). Understanding was
achievable through reductionism; monological and positivistic modes of reasoning (Gladwin
et al., 1995). Through the image of a machine we have grown accustomed to treat
organisations as the primary object of study. Using such an approach encourages the
researcher to regard organisations as entities, which need to be observed, analysed and
eventually understood (MacKechnie and Donnelly-Cox, 1996). In the past much emphasis has
been placed on what was visible to the eye, in other words, data that has been easily measured
and quantified; domination over nature. Little emphasis has been placed on the actual
experiences of those participating in the system (Purser et al., 1995).
As researchers we have learnt to feel comfortable with dividing life and science (Reason,
1994); animated from inanimate (Lovelock, 1979); understanding and action (Reason, 1994).
The moral dividing line between humanity and nature is mainly a social construction and our
anthropocentric attitude essentially denies that nature has any inherent worth (Purser et al.,
1995). Many argue that theories of nature and society are interlinked and should not be
regarded as separate (Latour, 1991; Jennings and Zandbergen, 1995). Nevertheless, academic
praise in our search for knowledge of nature is often associated with minimum interference
from the observer e.g. the researcher's ability to stand outside the phenomena being studied;
refusing to contaminate the data (Reason, 1994; Purser et al., 1995).

Fundamental to the ecological crises is the 'the way we think and how we separate us from our experiences,
from each other, and from the rhythms and patterns of the natural world' (Reason, 1994). Metaphors
designed upon the principles of living entities (e.g. organisms) are not uncommon, for
example Morgan (1993) and de Geus (1999). However, theories using organism metaphors
seem to be restricted to only human mediated transactions (Broekstra, 1996), ignoring the
diverse ecosystem service transactions that ultimately keep the organisation alive (Gladwin et
al., 1995). We have grown accustomed to view our research in much the same way as we look
at things; set in motion and animated only by the researcher. We have to move beyond
restricting the metaphor to only human elements of the environment and to only human
related exchanges across organisation-environment boundaries (Gladwin et al., 1995). Based
on multidisciplinary research, in particular living systems we have derived a number of
behavioural characteristics such as ability to change, cyclicality and flexibility, put together in
the form of a metaphor: the Living Product (Kajzer and Saren, 2001).
GENERATING IMAGES OF THE FUTURE
Whilst design an inquiry into new images of the environment we argue that creation precedes
understanding, building precedes an extensive coverage. The argument is that limiting our
research effort to merely understand what companies are currently doing, we need to step
forward and explore new ways of doing, using images of the future. Our primary research
objective is no longer finding answers and proving/defending a hypotheses, reaching a certain
level of comparison, rather the focus lies more on the questions asked, what is being found,
emphasis being paid to listening and exploring new possibilities. This can not be achieved
through a static, positivistic approach where i) the researcher is detached from the
organisation and ii) where our exploration is restricted by current organisational practices and
behaviours. In order to be radical different we need to set a context where we can through
joined efforts produce radical and new ways of seeing and doing.
There are a number of requirements for such a research method. Firstly, if we assume that
economic and human activities are linked with the natural environment then, because
dynamism and cyclicality are fundamental in the natural world, it requires synthetic, nonlinear, and intuitive modes of understanding (Galdwin et al., 1995). For this we need a
method that allow transformational change, improvisation, spontaneity, chance, immediate
feedback and that stretches our imagination. Secondly, as a researcher we must create an
environment where we can enrich our capabilities to think, feel and act and where we do not
separate the knower from the known (Reason, 1994).
EXPERIMENTAL WORKSHOPS: RESEARCH ROLE AND DESIGN
In order to explore new images of the environment and ways of translating dynamic thinking
into an actual reality we have to search beyond the Marketing discipline. Action research
methods have been developed involving techniques and processes such as workshops (Eden
and Ackerman, 1998) and action labs (Pascale, 2000) which are now becoming common
feature of organisational life. However, in the field of marketing, in particular academic
research, the utilisation of these techniques is still a novelty. Using workshops as research
design tool allows the respondent to see and understand situations in a new way as well as
creating a shared understanding within the group as a whole. Through participation 'special
times are created, new possibilities are dreamed and brought into reality (Reason, 1994).
In general current research on sustainability seems to have taken two different directions.
Either it is theoretical in nature challenging neo-classical economic paradigms however, with
little empirical evidence or suggestion how it may be empirically researched (Kilbourne et al.

1997). Or it is reductionistic in nature, using conventional research approaches based on

mechanistic assumptions to explain existing phenomena such as green consumerism
(Lefkokk-Hagius and Schuhwerk, 1995). However, in an inherently changing world we need
research approaches that thrive in a connected and turbulent environment, that do not only
provide a snapshot of the phenomena being studied, but help us manage uncertainty and
complexity. Using images in the setting of a workshop provide the potential to accommodate
for this as it may take dynamic and perceptual factors into account.
Within management and social science workshops have mainly been used in the context of
co-operative and participatory inquiry (Reason, 1994). These aim to understand the
organisation, the behaviour of the people as they act them out, experience them, taking the
researcher closer to the unit of analysis; the organisation. However, as noted earlier we need
to focus on how we can create and build a different sustainable reality and in order to achieve
this we need to take the respondents out from the 'normal' organisational setting. This can be
illustrated as in Figure 1 below. This would facilitate the participant of letting go of the old,
and encourage the transition between the 'old' and the 'new'. In this experimental setting they
will be confronted with creative 'paradigm stretching' and 'paradigm breaking' techniques
(McFadzean, 1999) where using images as sources of inspiration are essential. We generate
new images through using tools such as object stimulation, role storming or novel methods of
expression rich in visuals; rich pictures, picture stimulation, collages and scenarios.
Figure 1. Experimental Workshops
Experimental Workshop
where we take the
respondents and the
researcher out from
their usual setting and
explore new frontiers

Organisation
Participative researcher
Collaborative experience
Objective researcher
Observing/detached
from the organisation

The use of the term 'experiment' should not be confused with positivist terminology as here
we use it to represent as a structured attempt to create something new or original. With an
experimental design we can create an environment within which the participants can be
liberated from the constraints of 'everyday', current thinking and explore different ways of
generating and experience new mindset.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
In this paper we have argued that the way we look at the environment is mirrored in the way
we perceive things, further translated into our research design and methodological choices. In
order for new appreciation to emerge, both theorists and practitioners must confront the issue
that their current images about our relationship with the environment may be dysfunctional.
Our argument in this paper is structured around the need for research methods that take into
account change and uncertainty whilst exploring marketing phenomena; moving away from
mechanistic towards more organic thinking. This becomes particularly important when
researching environmental problems, as they are complex and continuously evolving. The
role of images and metaphors are argued to particularly well suited for such a task as they are
well known for their generative qualities and flexible nature. We suggest workshops as means
of translating dynamic and organic thinking into actionable reality as they by allowing
immediate experience increase the generation of new ideas and the likelihood of actions.

There are a number of implications for theory and practice, not only with regard to sustainable
issues but other marketing phenomena as well. Traditional mechanistic research methods
appear to be ill suited for our increasingly multifaceted uncertain marketing environment. The
development of workshop designs of the type postulated in this paper may have potential for
investigating other 'fast-changing' marketing phenomena. In terms of practical implications,
experimental workshops and the use of metaphors may provide managers with skills to 'see'
differently for a 'new world' and generate solutions that are radically innovative. Some of
these techniques are already used in organisational development (e.g. journey making)
At time of writing, design of experimental workshops as described in this paper are being
organised and the first workshops will be carried out with an international company
characterised by their aim to embrace the logic of natural systems principles, proactively
striving towards becoming an sustainable enterprise. The result from this workshop will be
available at the time of the conference
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