<p>Abstract</p><p>The purpose for writing this essay is to study the culture of kindness in the Church of Sweden, as the church constitutes as an idealistic organization (non-profit or voluntary organization).</p><p>The focal point is on how such a culture affects the employees, and if any new components</p><p>that can amplify the concept can be distinguished.</p><p>To do this a case study-design has been employed. The primary sources are qualitative</p><p>interviews with six employees in a congregation in the Church of Sweden, and participant</p><p>observations on two different occasions at the same congregation.</p><p>Theories of organizational sociology has been applied to the material, more specific Edgar H</p><p>Schein’s definition of organizational culture and the concept of a culture of kindness (deriving</p><p>from a report by the Swedish Work Environment Authority) as a specific part of the church’s</p><p>organizational culture.</p><p>The conclusions we can make from our study is that a culture of kindness affect employees in</p><p>both a positive and a negative way. There are many expectations that come with working in</p><p>the Church of Sweden, and these do have an effect on the work performed. There is also</p><p>evidence pointing to the fact that leadership can counteract the fear of conflicts that otherwise</p><p>is associated with the culture of kindness. Finally one can conclude that the concept of</p><p>kindness culture could be elaborated, for instance with a notion of leadership.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:oru-2128 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Melberg, Sandra, Björnsdotter, Kristin |
| Publisher | Örebro University, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Örebro University, Department of Social and Political Sciences |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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