A metaphorical analysis of client organizations and the briefing process

Abstract

This paper reviews and critiques the current practice of classifying building clients according to their ‘type’. An alternative approach to understanding organizations is developed in accordance with the principles of naturalistic inquiry. It is contended that the complex pluralistic clients of the 1990s can only really be understood ‘from the inside’. The concept of organizational metaphors is introduced as the basis for a more sophisticated way of thinking about organizations. The various strands of organizational theory are also analysed in terms of their underlying metaphors. Different theories are seen to bring different insights. The implicit metaphors adopted by practitioners are held to be important in that they tend to dictate the adopted approach to client briefing. This contention is illustrated by analysing three different characterizations of the briefing process in terms of their underlying metaphors. Finally, the discussion is placed in a contemporary UK context by comparing the dominant paradigm of practice during the 1980s to that of the 1990s.