Abstract
Orientation: Organisational silos do not only refer to conscious structures, but also to an unconscious state of mind and mentality that takes on a life of its own. Silos result in the splitting of organisational artefacts and relationships, and impact negatively on relationship forming between individuals and within teams.Research purpose: The purpose of this research was to describe how the silo mentality impacts on team identity.Motivation for the study: During a recent organisational consultation the researchers realised that a so-called silo phenomenon had much more unexplained unconscious behaviour than was traditionally realised in terms of organisational development. It is hoped that findings from this qualitative study could give consultants entry into what happens below the surface in the silos’ unconscious.Research design, approach and method: A qualitative and descriptive research design using a case study strategy was used. Data gathering consisted of 25 narrative interviews. Using discourse analysis four themes manifested, integrated into four working hypotheses and a research hypothesis. Trustworthiness and ethical standards were ensured.Main findings: Themes that emerged were the physical environment and structure, intra-group relations, experiences of management, and intergroup relations.Practical/managerial implications: Consulting on silo behaviour as physical structures only may not be successful in changing organisational behaviour. The silo resembles an iceberg – the largest part is below the surface.Contribution/value-add: The findings evidenced silo behaviour to be an unconscious phenomenon influencing team identity negatively. Consultants are urged to study these manifestations towards understanding silos and their effect on team identity better.
Highlights
We have all heard jibes such as ’Oh don’t bother trying to find human resources (HR) after four o’clock ...’ or ’Senior management still has no clue what’s really happening on the plant!’
To understand the depth psychology of organisational silos necessitates an appreciation of the unconscious dynamics and symbolism inherent in silos, and how this influences the formation of team identity
Participants described their work environment as ’our space‘, ’where we can be different/like fish in water‘, ’we need to be separate‘ and ’out of the way‘, ’even though we feel forgotten sometimes‘. Participants voiced their resistance to a rumour that the department would move to another part of the building by saying ’that would frustrate us‘, ’will expose us to the noise in the business‘, ’we will get sucked into the politics there‘, ’it will lead to chatting‘ and ’time wasted‘
Summary
We have all heard jibes such as ’Oh don’t bother trying to find HR after four o’clock ...’ or ’Senior management still has no clue what’s really happening on the plant!’. Group and organisational identity are well researched in different fields of specialisation, including marketing (Amy, 2002; Gupta & Ogden, 2009; Grier & Rohit, 2001), education (Hartnett, 2007; Gurim & Nagda, 2006; Stark-Rose, Lokken & Zarghami, 2009), anthropology (Torres-Rouff, 2008), sociology (Wade & Brittan-Powell, 2000; Yount, 2004; Heaven, 1999a; Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008; Swann, Kwan, Polzer & Milton, 2003) and psychology (Anthony, 2005; Lipponen & Leskinen, 2006; Mali, 2006; Noels & Clement, 1996; Heaven, 1999b; Volkan, 2009). Organisational psychology yields a substantial amount of research in this field (Randel, 2002; Hatch & Schultz, 2002; Meyer, Bartunek & Lacey, 2002), mostly conceptualised from the humanistic view
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