Cette thèse est composée de trois essais empiriques issus d’une enquête ethnographique conduite dans une entreprise innovante en Inde, et étudie les processus permettant l'innovation durable. Cette recherche aborde le rôle du jeu dans les processus de travail innovant, ainsi que le rôle de l'identité organisationnelle comme une réponse de l'organisation aux menaces extérieures. Cette thèse montre comment le jeu se déroule dans les organisations, sa nature et son rôle dans les processus de travail créatifs. Les résultats indiquent que le jeu a plusieurs effets sur les tâches et les relations qui affectent les processus collectifs de travail créatif qui soutiennent l'innovation durable. Je montre aussi les transitions entre le travail intense et jeu intense et expose un modèle incluant des conditions initiales, des mécanismes et des signaux qui facilitent les transitions. Ce faisant, cette thèse construit les bases d'une théorie du travail et du jeu. Cette recherche décrit un nouveau genre de jeu dans les organisations, différent de ceux observés et étudiés précédemment. Elle contribue aux théories du jeu et au travail créatif dans l'organisation. Prenant en compte le fait que l'innovation durable dépend aussi de la capacité de l'organisation à faire face aux menaces extérieures, cette recherche montre également comment l'identité organisationnelle joue un rôle crucial dans l'élaboration des méthodes de travail pour faire face aux menaces extérieures. Ainsi, cette étude contribue à la littérature sur la formation de l'identité organisationnelle, et son rôle dans les pratiques organisationnelles, la survie et l'innovation durable / This dissertation consists of three empirical essays based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an innovation-based firm in India, and investigates the processes enabling sustained innovation. More specifically, it addresses the role of play in innovative work and its processes, as well as the role of organizational identity in organization’s response to external threats. I show how playfulness unfolds in work organizations, its nature, and its role in the creative work processes. Results indicate that play has several task and relationship related effects on group creative work processes on which sustained innovation rests. It also show how people transition between intense work and intense play – and explicate a model of initial conditions, mechanisms and cues for such transitions. By doing so, this study starts to lay the grounds for a theory of work and play, and provides an answer to how innovative work gets accomplished amidst playfulness in organizations. This study describes a new kind of play in work organizations, different to those observed and investigated in previous organizational studies and contributes to theories of play and creative work in organization. Mindful of the fact that sustaining innovation also depends on organization’s ability to cope with external threats, this study also shows how organizational identity play a crucial role in shaping its work practices for responding to external threats, and how threat can even lead to the formation of an organization’s initial identity. Thus, this study also contributes to the literature on organizational identity, and its role in organizational practices, survival, growth and sustained innovation

Syfte: Syftet är att visa för- och nackdelar för organisationskulturens påverkan på rekryteringen hos organisationer som är präglade av organisationskultur, samt hur en organisation avgör vilken individ som passar in. Vi ämnar beskriva eventuella risker, möjligheter och begränsningar med dessa metoder för både organisation och individ. Metodik: En flerfallsundersökning på fem organisationer inom den privata sektorn har tillämpats som undersökningsdesign med en induktiv ansats. Genom en kvalitativ metod där semi-strukturerade intervjuer har genomförts har data producerats fram. Slutsats: Organisationskulturen präglade vad organisationerna sökte hos en kandidat mer än hur rekryteringsprocessen utformades. För att finna rätt kandidat var en realistisk företagspresentation framträdande tillsammans med utformningen av intervjun. Organisationernas rekryterade efter sina värderingar, vilka presenterades i en företagspresentation och diskuterades kring under intervjun. Fördelarna för organisationen blev minskad risk för misstolkning tillsammans med större valfrihet bland kandidater och ett verktyg för organisationen att dämpa för höga förväntningar på arbetet. Nackdelarna blev fler moment att ta ställning till vilket är resurskrävande samtidigt som flera förutsättningar krävdes för att få önskad effekt. Fanns inte rätt förutsättningar för matchningen riskerades en resurskrävande process med oförutsedda resultat. / Purpose: The purpose is to present advantages and disadvantages of how organizational culture affects the recruitment in organizations that are incused by organizational culture, and how an organization decides which individual that fits the organization. We intend to describe certain ventures, possibilities and limitations with these methods for both organization and individual. Methodology: A more case study has been applied on five organizations within the private sector as a research design, with an inductive approach. A qualitative method has been used where semi-structured interviews have been implemented from where data has been established. Conclusion: Organizational culture incused the recruitment by what they were looking for in an applicant rather than how it affected the recruitment process. To find the right applicant a realistic organizational presentation was prominent together with how the interview was designed. The organization recruited applicants after their values, which were presented by the organization and discussed during the interviews. The advantages were reduced risk of misinterpretation by applicants along with a greater possibility of choice and a tool for organizations to reduce too high expectations on employment. The disadvantages were more elements to examine while the process became resource demanding, while several conditions had to be fulfilled. If the right conditions couldn’t be obtained the risk was a resource demanding recruiting with an unforeseen result.

This thesis investigates the impacts of introducing creative experiences in a rigid organization. Based on the methodology suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1998) I have conducted a qualitative study through 8 semi-structured interviews of heterogeneous profiles in an organization where I worked for two years as an apprentice. Specific creative experiences were introduced in order to improve the internal communication, facilitate an organizational change transition and sustain a better social climate. I aimed at understanding the impacts resulting from experiencing such activities both at an individual and organizational level. My findings reveal three positive categories (well-being, corporate affiliation and organizational change facilitation) and three negative categories (individual irritations and a lack of coherence with the corporate identity). I conclude my work with the possible reasons justifying unexpected negative results, stating that trustworthy leadership and the corporate culture are essential when introducing such collaborative activities. My thesis might contribute to the discussions of creative problem solving for the sake of communication and values-added resulting from creative interventions in organizations.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Planned change and change-related communication are perceived very differently by the members of an organization. Strongly varying perceptions of new tasks, work processes and goals make joint action difficult and cause the failure of many change initiatives. The purpose of this study is to investigate how internal communication and sensemaking processes contribute to the perception of strategic change among the members of a public service organization. The following questions are answered: How does the management plan and perform internal communication during a strategic change of the Swedish public service television company Sveriges Television (SVT)? How do the members of the organization make sense of a strategic change and the internal communication related to the changes that are planned and carried out?</p><p>A social constructivist perspective combined with theories of sensemaking, communication, social identities, roles, groups, power and status constitutes the analytical framework. The investigation is designed as two case studies of the SVT production facilities in Malmö and Örebro. The empirical material consists mainly of personal interviews. Written documents and observations have also been used. The case studies took place between 2002 and 2004. Some main conclusions are as follows:</p><p>1) Internal communication is central for how members of an organization make sense of, and participate in, major change. Yet, not even in ideal communication situations do the employees experience that the information has been sufficient and that they have been included in the change process. There are thus reasons for more balanced expectations of what is possible to achieve with internal communication during strategic change. 2) The most influential factor determining how people make sense of change-related communication is the practical everyday reality that constitutes their frames of reference. The reluctance to consider, and act upon, how other individuals conceive of a situation leads to misdirected internal communication and gaps of understanding. 3) Organizational identities, group membership, roles and status function as frames of reference when employees make sense of changes. But irrespective of whether the changes take place on an organizational, departmental or group level, personal identities are the most influential frames of reference for interpreting organizational change. The investigation thus establishes an order of precedence for frames of reference that has important implications for internal communication during strategic change.</p><p>The thesis contributes to sensemaking theories by demonstrating their extensive ability to explain mutually related phenomena, such as attention, resistance and self-fulfilling prophecies. The apparent ability to explain basically all sensemaking-related issues in organizations, and thus leading to reductionism, is also concluded to be one of the weaknesses of the theories. By connecting sensemaking theories with roles, social identities and power, the study contributes to clarifying the frame concept.</p><p>Key words: internal communication, sensemaking, strategic change, public service, Sveriges Television, frames of reference, organizational identity, roles, status.</p><p>Kontakt: saradalfelt@yahoo.se</p>

The change from mere product supply to customer solutions, integrated and customized offerings (including e.g. products, software and services), has been argued to be a route to success in the 21st century. However, current literature offers little support for leaders who must manage the customer solutions business’ need for bridging the diverging business logics of products and consulting. The thesis addresses this organizational challenge and aims for an understanding of the phenomenon corporate consulting, consulting businesses in product-based organizations. More specifically, the author investigates whether, and if so how, corporate consulting can be a general way of providing customer solutions. The author was formerly a marketing director of just such a corporate consultancy, and has remained a part-time employee throughout the research project. An in-depth study from within the organization enabled the collection of a rich set of longitudinal empirical data through self-ethnography and insider action research. It also led to a marked emphasis on aspects relevant to both academy and industry. A subsequent broader study into other corporate consultancies helped to generalize the findings further. The thesis investigates corporate consulting using two levels of analysis. The subsequent findings indicate firstly that, within the consulting unit, the simultaneous existence of consulting logic and product logic can lead to dual organizational identities (a consultant- and a staff identity) in corporate consultancies. The importance of managing these identities through conscious rhetoric is emphasized. Secondly, on an overall company level, the relation between the product business and the consulting business is in focus. The main conclusion here is that, despite a consulting unit’s responsibility for customized offerings, customer-orientation cannot be delegated to corporate consultancies in order to enable the traditional product business to carry on with “business as usual.” In a customer solutions business, top management must, instead, infuse a general customer-orientation into the whole organization, and the corporate consultancy must be handled as an integral part, rather than a mere extension for customization. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2003</p>

According to a dominant discourse in contemporary writings and research, we are living in a Knowledge Economy where knowledge is seen as the pre-eminent resource and the key to success for individuals as well as organizations and nations. Consequently, much effort in management research has been dedicated to devising new concepts and theories such as the knowledge-based theory of the firm and the intellectual capital perspective, all premised on the assumption that knowledge work is somehow different from other forms of work. But what, actually, is knowledge work? And what is it that makes it so different? This dissertation represents an attempt to make some sense of this discourse. Research themes investigate the role of tangible and intangible dimensions of knowledge work and organizations. Particular attention is paid to organizational identity and the physical work environment. The notion of identity is central to the Knowledge Economy Rhetoric, while the physical setting is a neglected, but potentially important, aspect of knowledge work and identity construction. Various theoretical and methodological perspectives were applied throughout the research process to illuminate these themes. The thesis covers two empirical case studies; one of a small high-tech firm in the telecommunications sector as it developed a knowledge based strategy. The other study explored the relationship between the design of the office and identity construction in a large IT/management consulting firm. In addition, a study of the literature on the organizational category of knowledge-intensive firms was conducted to explore the dominant constructions of knowledge work within the research community. The results from these studies are presented in five papers. While addressing different questions, the papers all deal with some aspect of sensemaking of, or in, knowledge work. The first paper describes how the management team in the case company went through a process to make sense of the intangible dimensions of their organization. The second paper is a conceptual treatise outlining an alternative conceptualization of strategy for knowledge-intensive firms that emphasizes the importance of identity. Paper three provides an analysis of how the category of knowledge-intensive firms is used in the research literature and the consequences thereof. In paper four branding is analyzed as a management practice. The last paper discusses the role of emotion, ambivalence and embodied experience of the physical environment in identity construction. The exposition reflects further on the insights from this journey and what they entail for making sense of knowledge work. It is argued that a better understanding of knowledge work has to take the knowledge worker – the individual – as the starting point for theorizing. Taking this position requires us to scrutinize the theoretical perspectives that guide our conceptualizations of the knowledge worker. Theoretical perspectives are constructions that allow us to see certain things and not others. Current conceptualizations are, by necessity, extensions of earlier dominant perspectives or worldviews. Based on the findings from the empirical studies, an alternative perspective is proposed that takes the embodied experience of the knowledge worker as a point of departure. Implications of this perspective for conceptualizing and studying knowledge work are then discussed. / QC 20100917

The need to deal with accountability is fundamental in every organisation’s struggle to survive. When external demands must be fulfilled in order to receive necessary funding, the organization continuously has to adapt internal processes and outputs to meet those demands. This thesis seeks to explore such adaptations and their short and long term effects. Funding and Accountability: Studies of a Swedish and a British Chamber Orchestra examines two organizations with an unusually complex context of stakeholders with diverse and conflicting interests. Adding to the unusualness of an orchestra is the nature of the orchestra’s basic output: autonomous music cannot be measured in quantified terms, rendering accountability a more difficult and elusive idea than ever. In addition, the orchestra is characterized by the performance of highly specialised skills executed collectively and with exceptional simultaneity, requiring particularly stable and predictable working frames. With two intriguing cases and with an innovative combination of theoretical perspectives, this thesis illustrates how external accountabilities influence an organisation’s core through internal adaptations over time, and highlights issues of organisational identity and future possible directions. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009

<p>This is a study about a company in Norrköping, called Stadium AB, and its first steps into the global market. We have studied how the conditions of the company have changed during their expansion. </p><p>This study is not written from the viewpoint of business economics, it is rather a study from a cultural and social studies perspective. </p><p>The study deals with subjects such as the globalization of society, organizational theories and leadership. </p><p>The empiric material consists of Stadium’s staff magazine Tracks, the company’s swedish homepage on the Internet and an interview with Sussi Calås-Jonsson, Chief of the Department of Information at Stadium AB. </p><p>A primary conclusion is that companies like Stadium have to adjust themselves to the demands of the customers. Stadium has chosen to create a “Code of Conduct”, which indicates the company’s standpoint when it comes to environmental issues. It also indicates that fur is no longer used in the company’s products. Another conclusion is that the companies on the global market should be aware of the fact that their outgoing information can be interpreted different in different parts of the World.</p> / <p>Uppsatsen handlar om ett företag i Norrköping, som heter Stadium AB, och dess väg ut på den globala marknaden. Vi har studerat hur företagets förutsättningar har förändrats i takt med deras expansion. </p><p>Då uppsatser av detta slag oftast skrivits ur ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv, har vi valt att belysa våra frågeställningar ur ett kultur- och samhällsperspektiv. Viktiga begrepp som tas upp i uppsatsen är globalisering, organisationsteori och ledarskap. </p><p>Det empiriska materialet består av Stadiums personaltidning Tracks, företagets svenska hemsida på Internet samt en intervju med Sussi Calås-Jonsson, informationschef på Stadium AB. </p><p>En viktig slutsats är att företag som Stadium är/blir tvungna att anpassa sig efter kundernas krav. Stadium har valt att skapa en ”Code of Conduct”, som innebär att företaget tar ställning för miljön och att de inte använder päls i sina produkter. En annan viktig slutsats är att företagen på den globala marknaden bör vara medvetna om att information som skickas ut kan uppfattas olika i olika delar av världen. </p>

Notre thèse vise à montrer que les résistants au changement peuvent être considérés comme des parties prenantes à part entière du processus d’apprentissage organisationnel, notamment lorsqu’on considère les apports pour l’entreprise de leurs réactions de défense de l’identité. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous suivons une démarche qualitative du type théorisation ancrée-nuancée (Paillé, 1996). Notre recherche associe donc un cadre conceptuel préliminaire à une étude empirique inductive pour élaborer un modèle schématisant les phénomènes associés aux apports des comportements de résistance. Notre revue de littérature permet d’abord d’envisager le changement à travers son impact sur l’identité organisationnelle (Corley et Gioia, 2004). Ensuite, nous prenons en compte les capacités des résistances à transformer significativement l’entreprise dans le temps (Courpasson et al., 2012). Enfin, nous développons une approche cognitive du changement qui nous amène à considérer les résistants pour leur participation à la diversité des points de vue à l’intérieur de l’entreprise. Issues d’un journal de bord, de 42 entretiens semi-directifs et d’une analyse documentaire, nos données permettent de comprendre comment le changement s’enracine progressivement dans l’organisation et comment les résistants participent à ce processus. Ainsi, notre analyse inductive aboutit à un modèle à deux niveaux. Le premier décrit le changement organisationnel radical à travers un cheminement par trois phases d’initiation, d’accentuation et d’enracinement. Nous nous intéressons notamment aux influences de l’identité organisationnelle, de ses dissonances avec des logiques identitaires alternatives et de l’implication des salariés dans l’ajustement du changement pour montrer comment ce cheminement aboutit à l’émergence d’apprentissages individuels et organisationnels associés à une gouvernance cognitive. Le deuxième niveau de modélisation se focalise sur les rôles des résistants dans ce cheminement. Il montre que les résistants sont des parties prenantes des étapes clés du changement et qu’ils permettent à l’entreprise d’évoluer progressivement vers l’idéal-type d’organisation apprenante. Nous proposons également une typologie de résistants (Oubliés, Suiveurs, Salariés émergents, Nouveaux rebelles) qui permet d’aborder la diversité des implications positives des comportements de résistance. / Our thesis aims to demonstrate that resistant individuals can be integrated as real stakeholders of the organizational learning process. This integration is possible when the consequences of their identity defense mechanisms for the organization are taken into account. To achieve this goal, our qualitative study follows a semi-grounded theory approach. This approach combines a preliminary theoretical framework and inductive empirical data to elaborate a model showing some positive contributions of resistance. Our research first addresses change through its impact on organizational identity (Corley & Gioia, 2004). Then, it considers how resisting activities can achieve significant organizational change (Courpasson et al., 2012). Finally, it develops a cognitive approach of change that brings us to consider resisting behaviors for their participation in the diversity of points of view inside the organization. Based on logbook extractions, 42 semi-directive interviews and a documentary analysis, our data provide a better understanding of how change takes root in the organization and how resistant individuals participate in this process. Thus, this inductive study results in a two-level model. The first level shows radical organizational change as a three-steps process: initiation, accentuation and rooting. In particular, we focus on organizational identity, its dissonances with alternative identity-related logics and the employees’ implication in the adjustment of change. This process results in the emergence of individual and organizational learning associated to a cognitive governance. The second level details the roles of the resistant individuals in this process. It shows that they can be real stakeholders of the key stages of change. In so doing, they allow the company to evolve towards the ideal of learning organization. We also propose a typology of resistant individuals (Forgotten, Followers, Emergent, New rebels), which allows us to develop some positive implications of resistance.

This research aims to show the organizational changes and forms of social intervention that have been assumed by NGOs that were founded in Peru between the 60s and 80s. Since 1990 these NGOs have undergone a series of changes, mainly these have been given in the development discourses that guide their projects, in the type of relations that they establish with key actors to execute them and in the way to finance their operation. It will be noted that in the field of international and local development the rules of the game for NGOs are modified: the central State and the business sector acquire a greater presence in the promotion of development projects / There is a greater orientation to the market and selling services based on efficient management / And there is a context of reduction of funds coming from international cooperation agencies. This will generate the emergence of strategic roles as a way to respond to these changes in the institutional environment. It will be noted that, although strategies have been modified and new approaches are used - linked to human development, gender, environment, governance, among others - the meaning of NGOs’ foundational social action remain in force: working with vulnerable and excluded populations. / Esta investigación pretende mostrar los cambios organizacionales y las formas de intervención social que han venido asumiendo las ONG fundadas en el Perú entre las décadas de 1960 y 1980. A partir de 1990, estas ONG han sufrido una serie de cambios, principalmente en los discursos de desarrollo que orientan sus proyectos, en el tipo de relaciones que establecen con actores claves para ejecutarlos y en la manera de financiar su funcionamiento. Se observará que en el ámbito del desarrollo internacional y local se modifican las reglas del juego para las ONG: el Estado central y el sector empresarial incrementan su presencia en la promoción de proyectos de desarrollo / hay una mayor orientación al mercado y a la venta de servicios basados en una gestión eficiente / en un contexto de reducción de fondos provenientes de agencias de cooperación internacional. Esto generará el surgimiento de roles estratégicos como una manera de responder a estos cambios en el entorno institucional. Se notará que, si bien las estrategias se han modificado y utilizan nuevos enfoques —ligados al desarrollo humano, el género, medio ambiente, gobernabilidad, entre otros—, el sentido y significado de la acción social fundacional de las ONG se mantienen vigentes: el trabajo con poblaciones vulnerables y excluidas.