Beyond talent management: a relational portrait of companies adapting to global financial downturns

The thesis examines life within large Danish companies affected by the global financial downturn. It does so from phenomenological-relational perspectives, as a counterpoint to the traditional, mechanical (Cartesian) ways of viewing structures, problems and processes leading to resolutions. In particular, the thesis dwells on the differences between "aboutness" and "withness" as criteria for judging how people behave in such companies, particularly at times when a CEO suddenly announces major and rapid change. The thesis attempts to shape some of the contours of a relational landscape - with different understandings of life and living. In that respect, it looks beyond models, tools and recipes as the only ways of evolving as companies move towards future survival.