A successful business model is worth researching and benchmarking. This qualitative research is about the history of Delta Electronics Inc., which was established 36 years ago. Delta Electronics Inc. has continuously grown and overcome challenges from the macro environment, industry competitors, customers¡¦ preferences via planning and executing strategies, reforming organizational structure, executing performance management, employee development, performing product quality management, improving manufacturing processes, establishing global intranet and internal communication systems, shaping business culture, fulfilling corporate social responsibility needs, etc. This thesis summarizes the key success factors of why Delta has succeeded and was able to unearth the ¡§Delta Way¡¨. This thesis was constructed not only using secondary data, related academic research, and periodicals, but also original primary material such as internal conference records and annual reports which were provided by Delta. Besides, in the summer of 2007, Delta honored me with a two month internship, allowing me experience their business culture, observe daily operations, managerial systems and most importantly of all to interview managers. This study uses the methods mentioned above to try and piece together Delta¡¦s history. The result of this study is as follows. There are five competitive competences that made Delta successful: Firstly, Delta has established a global organizational structure. Secondly, Delta emphasizes constant innovation and R&D. Thirdly, Delta pursues continuous improvement of product quality and manufacturing processes. Fourthly, Delta focuses on the execution and fulfillment of corporate spirit. Lastly, Delta prides itself on social responsibility. In order for the company to immediately serve and satisfy customer demands, Delta sets up sales offices, manufacturing factories and RD centers around the world; especially in regions containing Delta¡¦s critical customer pools. To support Delta¡¦s corporate strategy and become a leading global company, Delta¡¦s organizational structure is that of a matrix configuration which is constructed on three axes and divided on the principles of business function, business unit, and region. To ensure that clear and coherent information can be delivered through a complicated organizational structure, Delta arranges regular corporate conferences to listen to suggestions from different business units and hierarchies. Delta¡¦s success not only comes from its stable system and organizational structures but also from its business mission and vision which drives employees¡¦ commitment and dedication to Delta.

The purpose of this study was toexplore organizational culture in a digital context, so that a greater understanding of the relations between the two subjects could be developed. The interest for the subject came from reflections and observations obtained during a prior internship at a small organization using the digital collaboration platform Slack in their daily work. To answer the purpose of the study, one main research question; ‘What is the relationship between organizational culture and a digital communication platform as Slack?’ and two sub questions; ‘How is Slack used to solve problems with internal integration? and ‘How is Slack used to solve problems with external adaption?’ was formulated. The two sub questions came from an operationalization of Schein’s (2010, p.18) well used definition of organizational culture. By using the qualitative method netnography to study the behaviors and interactions of the members of a small organization through participating observations, in combination with the field notes and observations from the prior internship, the research questions were successfully answered. The results showed that Slack was used as a tool to maintain structure and order during problems with external adaption in form of a re-organization creating an unsecure time-period. Decrement in activity also showed that the usage of Slack was limited in time and easily could be exchanged, but that appreciated cultural rites and behaviors created from using it could live on outside of Slack. Results also showed that Slack successfully functioned as a tool to solve problems with internal integration. By allowing new members to efficiently come in contact with both the formal and informal cultural elements, the very essence of culture as in underlying assumptions was quickly taught. The efficiency of using Slack for internal integration was also shown to rely on a new possible problem in form of a disintegration between the private and work. The answer to the main research question was that Slack is an artifact, inhabiting other artifact, living in symbiosis with the organization. Even though Slack could help an organization to cope with problems of external adaption and internal integration, Slack on its own did not serve as a one single place for understanding and becoming a part of an organization and its culture, as the organization and culture still will live and develop outside of the digital medium. / Syftet med den här studien var att utforska organisationskultur i en digital miljö, så att en ökad förståelse för de två ämnena kunde utvecklas. Intresset för ämnet kom från observationer och reflektioner införskaffade under en tidigare praktik på en mindre organisation som använde den digitala plattformen Slack i sitt dagliga arbete. För att besvara syftet med studien formulerades en huvudsaklig forskningsfråga; ’Vad är relationen mellan organisationskultur och en digital plattform som Slack?’, och två sekundära frågor; ’Hur används Slack som lösning för problem med intern integration?’, och ’Hur används Slack för att lösa problem med extern anpassning?’. De sekundära frågorna kom från en operationalisering av Scheins (2010, p.18) väl använda definition av organisationskultur. Den kvalitativa metoden netnografi användes för att studera beteende och interaktioner mellan medlemmarna i en mindre organisation. Genom deltagande observationer i kombination med fältanteckningar och observationer från den tidigare praktiken kunde forskningsfrågorna framgångsrikt besvaras. Resultatet visade att Slack användes som ett verktyg för att behålla struktur och ordning under problem med extern anpassning, uppkomna till följd av en omorganisering av företaget. En minskning av aktiviteten i Slack visade att själva användandet av Slack är kopplat till en viss tidsperiod och enkelt kan bytas ut vid förändrat behov, men också att uppskattade beteenden och riter skapade genom användandet av Slack kan leva vidare utanför mediet. Resultatet visade också att Slack framgångsrikt fungerade som ett verktyg för att lösa problem med intern integration. Genom att låta nya medlemmar effektivt komma i kontakt med både formella och informella kulturella element kunde själva essensen av kultur, underliggande förgivettaganden, snabbt läras ut. Effektiviteten av att använda Slack för intern integrering visades också föra med sig ett eget potentiellt problem, en upplösning av gränsen mellan privat och arbete. Svaret på den huvudsakliga forskningsfrågan var att Slack är en artefakt, innehållandes andra artefakter, som lever i symbios med organisationen. Även om Slack kan hjälpa en organisation att hantera problem med extern anpassning och intern integrering, fungerar Slack inte som en ensam källa för att förstå och bli en del av en organisation och dess kultur, eftersom organisationen och dess kultur alltid kommer att leva vidare och utvecklas utanför det digitala mediet.

Dans l’Antiquité occidentale et orientale, des noms d’hommes célèbres ont été associés à des méthodes et des outils de transformation de la vision du monde et métamorphose de la personnalité. Depuis les années 1920, on assiste au même phénomène avec l’émergence de célébrités du développement personnel. Devenue une industrie florissante, la popularité, l’attractivité et l’influence que ces leaders ont sur les autres est une question d’actualité, au moins autant que les critiques et les débats véhéments qu’ils soulèvent. Intriguée par ce phénomène, et interrogeant sa propre pratique de coach professionnel, cette étude adopte une approche constitutive de la communication organisationnelle pour mieux comprendre les pratiques communicationnelles par lesquelles l’autorité d’un tel leader s’accomplit dans et par les interactions. Les résultats de recherche montrent à la fois la présence de processus déjà identifiés dans la littérature pour leur rôle dans la production et la reproduction de l’autorité dans les interactions, tels que la présentification, l’invocation et l’auteurisation ; mais aussi l’identification de nouvelles pratiques d’auto-distinction et de gestion des distances. L’accès à une organisation dirigée par un leader du développement personnel est rare et représente un contexte organisationnel unique, riche et ouvrant le champ à nombreuses pistes de recherche. / In Western and Eastern Antiquity, names of well-know people were associated with methods and tools for worldview transformation and personality metamorphosis. Since the 1920s, we are witnessing the same phenomenon through the emergence of personal development celebrities. Today the personal development field is a thriving industry. The popularity, attractiveness and influence these leaders can have over others is an important question, at least as much as the criticism and heated debates they raise. Intrigued by this phenomenon, and questioning her own practice as a professional coach, this study adopts a constitutive approach to organizational communication to better understand the communication practices by which the authority of such leaders is accomplished in and through interactions. This research shows the presence of processes already identified in the literature for their role in the production and reproduction of authority in interactions such as presentification, invocation and authoring. Two new communication practices also emerged from the data and have been identified as self-distinction and distance management. Access to an organization led by a personal development leader is rare, it represents a unique and rich organizational context and opens up many avenues for future research.