A Shift in Perceiving Organisational Metaphors among Business Administration Students in an EU Country: A Window into the Current Thinking of Future Employees

Abstract

This article aims to offer an insight into which metaphors future
employees use to perceive an organisation as a concept. The
results of inductive content analysis, based on a sample of 208
business students, show that students offer a varied set of
metaphors that are vivid and provide new perspectives. The
metaphor of the organisation as a machine and a living
organism is still frequently used, although most often an
organisation is understood in terms of linkages among social
entities. Nevertheless, the ability to comprehend multiple
perspectives and use critical judgments is a necessary skill
educators must pass on to future generations living in a world
characterised by rapid, almost unlimited access to information
through the Internet and other media.