The individual as a subject

One might think that the introduction of human sciences into management would have been the occasion to recognize the place of the subject in organizational design. Obviously, we must question what it means to consider the individual as such in an organizational context. We will refer to Lacan’s notion of the subject, at the intersection between philosophical tradition and Lacan’s clinical experience. Examining this concept will lead us to consider the subject as the posture of the individual who accesses a representation of himself through his environment, and who, at the same time, needs to differentiate himself from this representation. We will also contemplate the fact that one needs to take some distance from the organizational mirror in order to recognize oneself as a specific person. Thus, the individual as a subject may be considered as a interstitial posture between the individual and the organization as a mirror. Based on this understanding of the notion of subject, we will consider how organizational theories, specifically Morgan’s metaphorical classification of organizations, afford a place to this posture. We observe that the introduction of human sciences into management has led researchers to consider the structuring role of the organization in individual identity. However, we note that understanding the individual need to distinguish oneself from the organizational mirror is still a major theoretical lack in management and organizational theories. Future research is needed in order to understand psychosocial risks as a lack of possibility for the individual to take distance from her professional and organizational identity.