Stewart Clegg
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Stewart Clegg (born 1947,
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
) is a British-born Australian sociologist and organizational theorist, and a professor at th
School of Project Management
University of Sydney. Prior to joining the University of Sydney he was Distinguished Professor of Management and Organization Studies at the University of Technology Sydney.UTS: Professor Stewart Clegg, Business
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Research

Clegg is an Australian professor in the organization studies field and is the author and editor of over forty monographs, textbooks, encyclopaedia, and handbooksClegg, S.R. & Haugaard, M. (eds) 2009, Sage handbook of power, Sage, London, UK. including the ''Sage handbook of power'' (2009) and ''Sage directions in organisation studies'' (2009). Stewart's research interests include organisation and management theory and the theory of power, although he has written on other topics including 'food', 'strategy', 'modernity' and 'gossip'. In 2003, a book listed Clegg as one of the top 200 business gurus in the world and this book has been translated into many languages, including Spanish, Korean, Portuguese and French. He sits on Editorial Boards for research journals and is editor of the AiOS (Advances in Organization Studies) for
Benjamins John Benjamins Publishing Company is an independent academic publisher in social sciences and humanities with its head office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was founded in the 1960s by John and Claire Benjamins and is currently managed ...
, the European and American publishers. Stewart has also acted as consultant to international newspapers, such as the '' British Sunday Times'' and the ''
Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...
'', for whom he has devised the methodology for their "Power Lists", as well as to universities, business firms, and health services.Stewart Clegg – Saxton Speakers Bureau
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Theory of power

Clegg's "circuits of power" theory likens the production and organising of power to an electric circuit board consisting of three distinct interacting circuits: episodic, dispositional, and facilitative. These circuits operate at three levels, two are macro and one is micro. The ''episodic circuit'' is the micro level and is constituted of irregular exercise of power as agents address feelings, communication, conflict, and resistance in day-to-day interrelations. The outcomes of the episodic circuit are both positive and negative. The ''dispositional circuit'' is constituted of macro level rules of practice and socially constructed meanings that inform member relations and legitimate authority. The ''facilitative circuit'' is constituted of macro level technology, environmental contingencies, job design, and networks, which empower or disempower and thus punish or reward, agency in the episodic circuit. All three independent circuits interact at “obligatory passage points” which are channels for empowerment or disempowerment. To give a sense of how this model works, Clegg applies it to Crozier's study of a tobacco factory in France where maintenance workers modified the plant equipment. This action empowered them with exclusive knowledge of the machinery unavailable in the manuals. It also represented taking control of an obligatory passage point, which altered all three circuits of power. The act directly altered the facilitative circuit of technology. The knock-on effect at the dispositional circuit was that it changed what it meant to be a maintenance worker. At the episodic circuit it altered the worker's power in day-to-day interaction and control of resources and outcomes. The overall impact of taking control of an obligatory passage point was that it allowed the workers to negotiate increased freedoms and wage increases.


Academic positions

Before moving to UTS, Clegg was reader at Griffith University (1976–84), professor at the University of New England (1985–89), professor at the University of St. Andrews (1990–1993), and foundation professor at the
University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...
, Macarthur, (1993–96). He has also held positions at universities in Scotland; Australia, England, France,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, Hong Kong,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Canada,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and the United States. He currently also holds visiting professorships at European universities and research centres. In 2010 he spent time as a visiting distinguished fellow in the Institute of Advanced Study,
Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...
, and in 2011 will be the Montezelomo Distinguished Visiting Professor at the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
's
Judge Institute Cambridge Judge Business School is the business school of the University of Cambridge. The School is a provider of management education. It is named after Sir Paul Judge, a founding benefactor of the school. The School is considered to be par ...
.


Honorary Doctor of Philosophy

Stewart is one of the 2017 honorary doctor recipients at
Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2015 ...
. The honorary doctorate was awarded for his scientific output which has far-reaching multidisciplinary content characterized by the ambition to place organization and management theory in a wider social science context all the while setting out from a critical and reflecting view. His research contribution on power mechanisms in organizations is indisputable. Stewart R. Clegg also held an active role as a member of the scientific reference group in the research project funded by the Swedish Riksbank Strategy, Design and Organizing in City Development Processes (Led by Nils Wåhlin at Umeå School of Business and Economics), that greatly dealt with the European Capital of Culture venture in Umeå. Stewart R. Clegg has visited Umeå School of Business and Economics on a number of occasions, the last visit was in February 2017 as an external reviewer for a public defense of a doctoral dissertation on organizational paradoxes
Paradox as the New Normal
– Medhanie Gaim).


Fellowship and honorary memberships

EGOS Honorary Member Fellow of the Academy of Management Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Distinguished Fellow ANZAM Fellow of the British Academy of the Social Sciences Fellow of the Aston Society of Fellows


Recent works

Recently Clegg has been publishing on a broad front that includes contributions to sociology,
organisation studies Organization studies (also called organization science or organizational studies) is the academic field interested in a ''collective activity, and how it relates to organization, organizing, and management''. It is "the examination of how individua ...
and strategy. The latest book on strategy is linked here: http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book234128&#tabview=title. Amongst his most recent interests has been exploration of the theme of liquid modernity and what it means for contemporary organisation and organisations. Presently he is working on two four volume collections of classics in Power and Political Theory and Power and Organization Theory with Mark Haugaard.


Biography

Born in
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, England, Clegg migrated to Australia in 1976, after completing his first degree in Behavioural Science (Sociology) at the
University of Aston Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...
and a doctorate in Management at Bradford University. Apart from a brief period at the
University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...
as professor of organization studies and head of the Department of Management from 1990 to 1993, he has been an Australian resident since that time.


Bibliography

Recent books include: * Clegg, S.R., Skyttermoen, T. and Vaagaasar, A.L. (2020) ''Project Management - a Value Creation Approach''. London:Sage ISBN 9781526494610 *Clegg, S. R., Carter, C, Kornberger, M., and Schweitzer, J. (2011) ''Strategy: Theory & Practice'', London: Sage. * Harris, M., Hopfl, H., and Clegg, S. R. (eds) (2010) ''Managing Modernity: Beyond Bureaucracy'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Clegg. S. R. (ed.) (2010) ''SAGE Directions in Organization Studies'' (Volumes I-IV), London: Sage. * Clegg, S. R., and Haugaard, M. (eds) (2009) ''Handbook of Power'', London: Sage. * Clegg, S. R. and Cooper, C. (eds) (2009) ''Handbook of Macro Organizational Behaviour'', London Sage. * Roe, R, Waller, M, and Clegg, S. R. (eds) (2008
''Time in Organizational Research: Approaches and Methods''
London: Routledge. . * Carter, C., Clegg, S. R., Kornberger, M. (2008) ''A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Strategy'', London: Sage. * Clegg, S. R. & Bailey, J. (eds) (2008) ''International Encyclopaedia of Organization Studies'', (In Four Volumes), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clegg, Stewart 1947 births Living people Australian business theorists Australian sociologists Social constructionism University of Technology Sydney faculty Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia