ABSTRACT
This chapter examines temporal context and non-linear change in drawing on a longitudinal study of change at General Motors. The concept of temporal context aims to move beyond a focus on standard measures of time, or a simple divide between objective time and subjective time to embrace multiple times and temporalities. The contextual temporal dynamics of change combines with continual historical reformulation to support current decisions rather than to represent any type of ‘objective’ or ‘authentic’ account of past events. The concept of temporal context in processual research highlights change as a non-linear dynamic process whilst recognizing the need to maintain room for conventional clock time. The processual researcher must attend to the movement between times, their interweaving and merging and in so doing, be open to the notion of multiple times and temporalities. The concept of temporal context engages with the apparent contrast between time as standardized and measured and time as lived experience.
