Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the organizational culture within the corporation The Body Shop. I have been working with two different question formulations. The first is to answer how the culture can be described. To answer this I have been using Edgar H. Scheins theory of cultural levels. I have been using the two lower levels, artifacts and espoused values. The second question formulation is to answer how the culture within The Body Shop can be reproduced. To my help to answer this I have been using John Van Maanens theory of strategies for socialization. I have been working with a qualitative approach. My data was collected through interviews, observations, printed texts and The Body Shops Swedish and global websites. My results using Scheins cultural levels points out that the culture within The Body Shop, at least outwards, is strong and distinct. The implementation of Van Maanens strategies of socialization indicates that the socialization of new members in the organization tends to have a high congruence with the organization´s culture and values. / Sammanfattning Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka kulturen inom företaget The Body Shop. Jag har arbetat utifrån två frågeställningar. Den första är att besvara hur kulturen kan beskrivas med hjälp av Edgar H. Scheins kulturnivåer. Den andra frågeställningen är att besvara hur kulturen reproduceras med hjälp av John Van Maanens socialisationsstrategier. Studien har gjorts med en kvalitativ ansats. Det insamlade datamaterialet består av två intervjuer med butikschefer inom The Body Shop, tryckta källor samt företagets svenska och globala hemsidor. Beskrivningen av kulturen inom The Body Shop är gjord utifrån Scheins två första kulturnivåer, artefakter och värderingar. Tillämpningen av Van Maanens socialisations­strategier har visat att kulturen inom The Body Shop reproduceras genom socialisationen av nyanställda butiksmedarbetare. Mina resultat tyder på att The Body Shop utåt sett har en tydlig och stark kultur. Resultaten tyder också på att de sätt man socialiserar nyanställda på medför att dessa genom socialisationen uppnår en hög överensstämmelse med företagets kultur och värderingar.

The purpose with this study is to identify an organizational culture at Posten Örebro based on Edgar H. Schein´s theory about the three levels of culture. These three levels consist of artifacts, espoused beliefs and values and basic underlying assumptions. Artifacts represent the visible and tangible of an organization and this level is the easiest level to identify. Espoused beliefs and values include common thoughts and ideals within the organization and are an aware, but not necessarily material, cultural level. The essence of a culture contains basic underlying assumptions that influence underlying thoughts and actions and this is a level that is difficult to identify since it is unaware to the members of an organization. This study will also examine the organizational culture’s level of homogeneity among departments and employee levels within Posten Örebro.This study is based on the following questions: How can the organizational culture of Posten Örebro be described based on Schein´s levels of culture? How homogenous is the organizational culture among departments and employee levels within Posten Örebro?The result of this study shows that it is possible to apply Schein´s theory on Posten Örebro and to identify artifacts, espoused beliefs and values and an indication of a basic underlying assumption. The result also shows that the organizational culture within Posten Örebro is almost completely homogenous, with the exception of the value of change.Key words: Organizational culture, Schein, Posten, artifacts, espoused values, underlying assumptions

This thesis investigated patterns in, and perceptions of, labour force participation (LFP) amongst a group of mothers with dependent children. A mixed-methods (i.e. questionnaires, interviews and documentary evidence), single case study approach involving a series of three studies, was utilised, involving employees and ex-employees from the Queensland University of Technology. Using questionnaire data (N = 283), Study One explored the predictive value of seven structural (age of youngest child, education, childcare costs, wages, partner's income, number of children and social security payments) and four attitudinal (attitudes towards working mothers, sex-role attitudes, attitudes towards exclusive maternal care and career salience) factors, in a hierarchical logistic regression model using full-time / part-time work status as the dependent variable. Associations between these factors and hours worked, were also tested for a sub-sample of women with under school aged children (N = 112). Results showed that the factors leading to greater LFP for both samples were having older children, less access to social security payments and more liberal attitudes towards working mothers. Lower levels of partner's income also predicted full-time status for the larger sample and more liberal attitudes towards exclusive maternal care was associated with hours worked for women with under school aged children. Study Two explored the way in which women with under school aged children describe the influences, benefits and trade-offs associated with their LFP decisions. Analysis of data from interviews with a sub-sample of women from Study One, indicated four major categories of issues influenced LFP decisions and/or contributed to benefits or trade-offs following on from those decisions. These categories included financial issues, personal independence, work-related issues and value of maternal care. The salience of this issues varied across groups of at-home, part-time and full-time working mothers. The most important consideration for at-home women was the emphasis on caring for their children themselves, as opposed to using familial or formal childcare. Part-time women appeared to be the most satisfied with their work and parenting arrangements, because they could fulfil their roles as wives and mothers, but also benefit from spending autonomy and competence, by engaging in paid work. Full-time women reported greater opportunities in the workplace than part-time women, although they experienced substantial ambivalence about their full-time status. This conflict was ameliorated by the availability of flexible work and when partner's had reduced working hours. Based on the salience of work-related factors reported in Study Two, Study Three explored the degree of consistency between the espoused values evident in organisational work-family policy documentation and women's reported experiences of these policies (N = 24). For example, options such as flexible work arrangements and part-time work appear to promote values related to balance and integration of the work and family spheres. However, interview data suggests women's experiences of part-time work were inconsistent with assumptions about job commitment and career progression. The research extends the current understanding of the range of variables that influence maternal LFP and the processes by which LFP decisions are made. The findings are interpreted in light of a number of existing theoretical perspectives, as well as suggesting a preliminary model of decision-making that could be tested in other groups of women in future studies. The current research may also inform public policy on issues such as childcare and social security allowances and organisational human resource policy in terms of the implementation of work-family options.

The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of organizational culture among salespeople at a specific workplace. The purpose was also to investigate what motivates these salespeople in their work and the impact culture has on their motivation. We have used a qualitative research method to collect the empirical material. With the help of seven interviews, including six salespeople from one of Sweden’s biggest electronic retailer and also one information interview with a sales consultant, we attempted to find the answer to how they perceive the organizational culture and how it affects their work motivation.  The following questions are used to fulfill this purpose:   How do the salespeople experience the organizational culture?   What motivates the salespeople in their daily work?   What effects does the organizational culture have on the salespersons motivation?  As analytical tools we have used are the concept of organizational culture, Schein's description of the three components of culture and Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene theory.  The results of the study indicate that the salespeople experience a positive organizational culture and that this culture promotes fellowship and unity between colleagues, which in turn contributes to an enhanced motivation. Our study also shows that there are other factors contributing to the salespeople’s motivation such as conscious efforts of the organization and the factors that are built in into their daily work. A strong contest culture is also shown in the organization, the colleagues compete amongst each other to become the best salesperson. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur försäljarna inom en specifik butikskedja upplever organisationskulturen på sin arbetsplats. Syftet var även att undersöka vad som motiverar försäljarna i deras dagliga arbete samt vilken betydelse organisationskulturen har på försäljarnas motivation.  Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod för att samla in det empiriska materialet. Vi har tagit hjälp av sju intervjupersoner varav sex försäljare i en av Sveriges största elektronikkedjor och en informant som informationskälla till försäljaryrket. Med hjälp av dessa intervjupersoner har vi försökt få svar på hur de upplever organisationskulturen och vad i denna organisationskultur som påverkar deras motivation. Följande frågeställningar används för att uppfylla detta syfte:   Hur upplever försäljarna organisationskulturen?   Vad motiverar försäljarna i deras dagliga arbete?   Vilken betydelse har organisationskulturen på försäljarnas motivation?  Som analysverktyg har vi använt oss av begreppet organisationskultur, Scheins förklaring av organisationskulturens tre olika beståndsdelar samt Herzbergs Motivation-Hygien theory.  Resultatet av undersökningen påvisar att försäljarna upplever organisationskulturen positivt och att denna organisationskultur främjar gemenskapen och samhörigheten mellan kollegorna, vilket i sin tur bidrar till en ökad motivation bland försäljarna. Vår studie visar även att det finns ytterligare faktorer som bidrar till försäljarnas motivation, såsom medvetna insatser från ledningen och faktorer som är invävda i det dagliga arbetet. Även en stark tävlingskultur påvisas i organisationen, där försäljarna tävlar sinsemellan för att bli den bästa säljaren.

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Företagskultur har en betydande roll i hur ett företag ska bli framgångsrikt visar aktuell forskning. I föreliggande studie undersöks hur företagskulturen uppfattas av anställda och vilka olika lärande som används för att kommunicera och förmedla kulturen till medarbetare. Undersökningen innefattar en jämförelse mellan svenska och spanska medarbetare, där den senare arbetar i en tvärkulturell miljö. Frågeställningarna i studien behandlar vilka egenskaper som kännetecknar kulturen i ett framgångsrikt företag och hur medarbetare kan integrera sig i företagskulturen genom olika lärandemetoder samt om det råder någon skillnad i uppfattningen av kulturen mellan de svenska och spanska medarbetare. Studien inkluderar Hofstedes kulturella dimensioner som hjälp för att förstå medarbetarnas tolkning av företagskulturen utifrån sin nationella kultur. Dessutom användes Nygrens teori om det livslånga lärandet och Scheins tre kulturella nivåer inom företagskultur. Studien har använt sig av en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer för att undersöka företagskulturen på ett fallföretag. Studiens resultat visar att kulturen i ett framgångsrikt företag har en stark gemenskap utöver en likvärdig och enhetlig uppfattning om företagskulturen. Den mest framträdande uppfattningen är att kulturen förmedlas via vardagliga situationer där det visas genom handlingar. Undersökningen visar ingen större skillnad i uppfattningen om kulturen mellan svenska och spanska medarbetarna, därmed finns inget behov av att anpassa inlärningen av företagskulturen för medarbetare. En förutsättning som studiens resultat visar är att kulturen måste kommuniceras tydligt och mottagits likvärdigt för medarbetare i en tvärkulturell miljö. Detta inkluderar dock inte det eventuella behovet av att anpassa hur kulturen förmedlas för samtliga medarbetare på en individuell nivå. / Current research shows that corporate culture has a significant role in how a company will be successful. The present study investigates how the company culture is perceived by employees, and which different learning methods are used to communicate and convey the culture to employees. The research includes a comparison between Swedish and Spanish employees, where the latter works in a cross-cultural environment. The questions in the study deal with the characteristic traits in the culture of a successful company and how employees can integrate into the company culture through different learning methods and whether there is any difference in the perception of the culture between the Swedish and Spanish employees. The study includes Hofstede's cultural dimensions to help understand the employee’s interpretation of the company culture based on their national culture. In addition, Nygren's theory of lifelong learning and Schein's three cultural levels within corporate culture were used. The study has used a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews to examine the corporate culture in a case study design in a single organization. The result of the study reveals that the culture of a successful company has a strong feeling of community in addition to an equal and uniform perception of the company culture. The most prominent view is that culture is conveyed via everyday situations where it is shown through actions. The research identifies no major difference in the perception of the culture between the Swedish and Spanish employees, thus there is no need to adapt the learning of the company culture for employees in a cross-cultural environment. A prerequisite that the study results show is that the culture must be communicated clearly and received equally for employees in a cross-cultural environment. However, this does not include the possible need to adapt how the culture is conveyed to all employees on an individual level.