Transitional and quasi-objects in organization studies Viewing Enron from the object relations world of Winnicott and Serres Adrian Carr University of Western Sydney, Penrith South DC, New South Wales, Australia, and Alexis Downs School for Professional Studies, St Louis University, St Louis, Missouri, USA Keywords Organizational theory, Social theories, Case studies, Behaviour Abstract It is proposed to examine how these two different models of human relations – that of Winnicott and Serres – illuminate features of contemporary organizational life. With these models, one can view recent scandals in the USA, specifically the implosion of the energy firm, Enron. Previous accounts of Enron emphasize the manipulations of income and accounting irregularities; however, it is suggested that the accounting manipulations illuminate features of human relations within and outside the economic firm. As a case study, Enron provides a good example of how the object theories of Winnicott and Serres illuminate aspects of behavior in our contemporary organizations and address problems of postmodernity. Andrew Fastow, former CFO of Enron, is the postmodern subject with pathological splitting behavior. Enron is the playground where Fastow played with quasi-objects among other postmodern subjects. Enron is also the site where the circulation of quasi-objects in the form of SPEs suddenly ceased. Donald Woods Winnicott, an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst, and Michel Serres, a twentieth-century French philosopher, appear to inhabit different intellectual worlds. Yet, despite their putatively different backgrounds and intellectual focus, they have much in common. Both Winnicott and Serres view human relations as dynamics “played” through objects. Winnicott talks of transitional-objects and Serres talks of quasi-objects. We propose to examine how these two different models of human relations – that of Winnicott and that of Serres – illuminate features of contemporary organizational life. With these models, we can view recent scandals in the USA, specifically the implosion of the energy firm, Enron. Previous accounts of Enron emphasize the manipulations of income and accounting irregularities; however, we suggest that the accounting manipulations illuminate features of human relations within and outside the economic firm. We proceed by reviewing the work of Winnicott and Serres. Then, relying upon an examination of Enron’s “special purpose entities”, we situate the Enron debacle within a larger sphere of relationships. Winnicott on transitional-objects In the world of psychodynamics, objects are not pure externalities; nor are they inanimate. Instead, objects are often symbolically charged, albeit at an unconscious The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0953-4814.htm JOCM 17,4 352 Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 17 No. 4, 2004 pp. 352-364 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0953-4814 DOI 10.1108/09534810410545119