Influence of Objects in Organizational Life - How objects facilitate and support employee opinion of organizational culture

Kaas, Marcus

4. term

Culture, Communication and Globalization, Master

2021

2021-09-15

127

Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan materielle objekter på arbejdspladsen påvirker medarbejderes forståelse af organisationskulturen. Casen er en ungarsk dattervirksomhed af en dansk virksomhed, hvor der i de fysiske omgivelser vises objekter med danske kulturelle elementer. Danske og ungarske medarbejdere arbejder side om side, og spørgsmålet er, om sådanne objekter påvirker, hvordan de opfatter organisationskulturen, og hvordan de tilpasser sig den. For at belyse dette trækker specialet på tre begreber: Michael Billigs "banal nationalisme" (hverdagslige påmindelser om national identitet kan præge selvforståelsen), Ron Scollons "medieret handling" (ting kan bære betydninger, der påvirker handlinger), og Pierre Bourdieus "habitus" (indlejrede dispositioner former, hvad der føles naturligt, og hvor let man tager nye praksisser til sig). Studiet anlægger en konstruktivistisk og interpretivistisk tilgang, hvor social virkelighed forstås som skabt gennem menneskers fortolkninger. Der gennemføres semistrukturerede interviews om medarbejdernes syn på organisationskulturen, deres forhold til objekterne og deres måde at navigere på arbejdspladsen. Fortællingerne analyseres narrativt med fokus på konteksten af værdier og forventninger. Resultaterne viser, at medarbejdere tillægger objekterne værdi og engagerer sig aktivt i dem. Danske og ungarske medarbejdere er i store træk enige om organisationskulturens karakter, men de adskiller sig i, hvor godt de tilpasser sig. Specialet konkluderer, at objekter kan fungere som et bindeled mellem danske og ungarske medarbejdere—og mellem medarbejdere og organisationskultur—men kun når medarbejderne selv giver objekterne en meningsfuld kontekst.

This thesis explores how material objects in the workplace shape employees’ understanding of organizational culture. The case is a Danish company’s subsidiary in Hungary, where the physical environment displays objects with Danish cultural elements. Danish and Hungarian employees work side by side, prompting the question of whether such objects influence how employees perceive the organizational culture and how they adapt to it. To address this, the thesis draws on three ideas: Michael Billig’s “banal nationalism” (everyday reminders of national identity can influence how people see themselves), Ron Scollon’s “mediated action” (objects carry meanings that can guide what people do), and Pierre Bourdieu’s “habitus” (ingrained dispositions shape what feels natural and how easily people take up new practices). The study adopts a constructivist and interpretivist stance, treating social reality as built through people’s interpretations. It uses semi-structured interviews about employees’ views of the organizational culture, their relationship to objects, and how they navigate the workplace. The accounts are analyzed with a narrative approach that considers stories within their value- and expectation-laden context. Findings show that employees value the objects and interact with them actively. Danish and Hungarian employees broadly agree on the nature of the organizational culture, though they differ in how well they adapt to it. The thesis concludes that objects can serve as a bridge between Danish and Hungarian employees—and between employees and the organizational culture—but only when employees themselves supply a context that makes the objects meaningful.

[This summary has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]

organizational culture ; banal nationalism ; national flagging ; national identity ; mediated action ; mediated meaning ; practice ; habitus ; semi-structured interview ; narrative analysis ; case study

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