Narratives, Business and Society

Narratives provide the structure through which individuals, organisations, and institutions understand the world, act under uncertainty, and shape the future. This book reveals narratives as a powerful force in business and society, one that shapes how we think, decide, and structure our individual and collective life. Drawing on behavioural science, sociology, strategy, and organisation theory, it offers a clear, interdisciplinary framework that explains how narratives are a behavioural mechanism to act under uncertainty. The book shows how narratives work to guide decisions, build markets, mobilise change, reproduce power, and create self-reinforcing cycles of belief and behaviour. Positioning narratives as a key idea in management, this book opens a new path for rethinking business and society. It is essential reading for students and scholars of business, organisation studies, and the behavioural and social sciences.