Davide Ravasi, a Storyteller of Organizations

One of the big challenges faced by a researcher today is being evaluated by the number of papers he has published, not by the impact of his work, says Davide Ravasi. Those who cannot delegate the qualitative data collection and analysis are the most disadvantaged. But every effort pays off when "the diagrams on which you have sweated blood, the figures redrawn a dozen times, the words chosen carefully one by one finally have a definitive form. That's what an artist feels when he puts the final touches to his work, I guess".

Ravasi, Director of PhD in Management at the Cass Business School, spent nearly twenty five years at Bocconi University as student, doctoral candidate, and teacher. His main area of interest is organizational identity. He's currently writing a paper on the evolution of the above-mentioned identity in four Canadian non-profit organizations. The study is based on historical records and interviews conducted between 2006 and 2013. "We had to come up with a method to track change in the organizational identity over the years. We have created new tools such as charts and graphs to help us sort the historical data and to visualize the paths of change. It's a craftsman-like effort that combines analytical rigor with visual aesthetics and symbolic effectiveness".

Ravasi calls himself a craftsman and a storyteller. He says that doing qualitative research means contributing to a conversation and therefore he value linguistic and literary skills. His advice to those embarking on a similar path is to learn to write better. "Every great qualitative researcher – Stephen Barley, John van Maanen, Denny Gioia, Karl Weick – is an excellent writer in the first place".