The CCO Data Collective

Communication as constitutive of organization (CCO; Ashcraft, Kuhn and Cooren, 2009; Cooren, Kuhn, Cornelissen and Clark, 2011; Schoeneborn, Kuhn and Kärreman, 2019) has a long tradition of scholars coming together to analyze and theorize data from communicative and performative perspectives. Most notable, perhaps, is what has become known as The Montréal School of analysis, where scholars’ collaborations continue to progress communicative constitution of organization understandings of phenomena within organization and management studies. Echoing The Montréal School’s principles, 2020 saw the incarnation of The CCO Data Collective (launched and led by Ellen Nathues; Leuphana University, and University of Twente) as a way for scholars, researchers, students, and practitioners who share a common interest in CCO, relationality, and/or performativity to meet virtually to analyze and theorize data excerpts. In 2022, David Hollis (Sheffield University Management School) joined Ellen as co-organizer of the CCO Data Collective, to help organize both the first in-person workshop and future online variants as interest in the Collective continues to grow.

Within the CCO Data Collective, anyone is welcome to either submit data excerpts for analysis or analyze, theorize, and discuss data excerpts. Any type of data around any topic can be submitted for analysis. A flavor of the eclectic data that has been submitted over the last three years, for example, includes:

• Video excerpts from an interorganizational project meeting

• Social media posts about pole dancing

• Webpage material regarding the Las Vegas ‘Sandwich Trick’

• Video excerpts from an Icelandic entrepreneurial project

• Threads from discussion forums

• Audiovisual footage and ethnographic field notes on nature and cityscapes

• And many more!

The CCO Data Collective has generated a wealth of novel perspectives on data that have helped develop members’ working papers and theses, offered titles for prospective journal articles, and led to collaborations between members. By now, based on the conversations we had in The CCO Data Collective, many papers have been written, have been presented at conferences such as EGOS, ICA, and AoM, or have already found their home in a journal. Please see our Archive section for a full overview of discussed datasets and ideas, including the journeys these ideas have traveled so far.