Chronigami: Folding and unfolding time

Abstract

Time is a construct or variable that is fundamental to a variety of theories of organizational change and strategic planning, as well as numerous mid-range models such as the product life cycle. In virtually all of these models, time is assumed to be unproblematic, independent, “out there”, and unilinear; time follows its own arrow. In contrast, a long standing tradition of research in the social sciences points out that time is socially constructed and that in any society a repertoire of chronological codes is employed. This paper seeks to build on the constructivist understanding of time by presenting a multi-layered view of time and by attempting to illustrate the processes through which time is constructed. In doing so, it draws heavily on actor-network theory with its emphasis on the heterogeneous processes involved in the construction of nature and society. This use of actor-network theory is illustrated with field material from a longitudinal, ethnographic study of the dynamics of organizing in the context of a construction project associated with the replacement of a control system in a pharmaceutical plant. Five different and interrelated categories of time are introduced to account for the multiple chronological codes we detected in our field study. The chronigami metaphor—a fusion of the Greek word for time, “chronos” and the word for the Japanese art of paper-folding “origami”—is introduced to illustrate our understanding of the processes involved in the construction and deconstruction of different forms of time.