Daily Organizational Life Research Articles

Managing Professionalism in Everyday Life in Organizations

This article highlights the importance of professionalism practices in the daily life of organizations with all their human resources. The paradigm of professionalism must influence organizational culture organizational culture, and consequently and reproducibly reflect it in professional profiles, in individual and collective portfolio of competencies, as well as in professional and organizational practices, or in the production of goods and services. In the course of the discussion, attention was paid to some of the factors constituting professionalism in order to ensure the presence of professionalism as a practice in everyday life in organizations.

Female soldiers maneuvering visibility in the Turkish Armed Forces

ABSTRACT How do Turkish female soldiers’ (TFS) relate to and manage their (in)visibility within the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF)? Guided by a social-constructionist approach and driven by a gendered perspective, we display the embeddedness of gender role expectations and TFS struggle for visibility within TAF and the wider social context. We explore TFS accounts displaying cultural and organizational practices inhibiting their visibility along with how they manage it. Our findings provide insight into the dynamics of social and organizational practices that impact women’s visibility and advance the understanding of how marginalized members in similar settings may relate, manage and navigate their careers in their daily organizational life elsewhere.

Kandandu: Identidade da Mulher Negra, Racismo e o Carnaval de Rua

ABSTRACT Objective: we aim to understand how racism tangibly manifests in the lives of Black women, limiting their agency as they navigate social spaces through cultural expressions in the city of Belo Horizonte. Theoretical approach: we draw upon the concepts of structural racism and narcissistic pact, identifying convergences and divergences in the understanding of organizations as racialized spaces. Methods: we employ a qualitative approach within the context of ethnographic research, opting to conduct a semi-structured interview with Zuri, the president of an Afro block. As an analytical tool, we apply the concept of intersectionality. Results: we highlight that both structural racism and the narcissistic pact manifest in the daily life of organizations. Both phenomena are even more pernicious for Black women, particularly when they challenge a racist and sexist structure. Conclusions: the collective dimension of racism presents challenges to organizations and their stakeholders. This effect may lead individuals, especially organizational leaders who should be more committed to structural change, to hide behind the racism within their institutions and pacts among their team members.

Strategic perspective of error management, the role of leadership, and an error management culture: a mediation model

PurposeErrors are inevitable, resulting from the human condition itself, system failures and the interaction of both. It is essential to know how to deal with their occurrence, managing them. However, the negative tone associated with them makes it difficult for most organizations to talk about mistakes clearly and transparently, for fear of being harmed, preventing their detection, treatment and recovery. Consequently, errors are not managed, remaining accumulated in the system, turning into successive failures. Organizations need to recognize the inevitability of errors, making the system robust, through leadership and an organizational culture of error management. This study aims to understand the role of these influencing variables in an error management approach.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors applied the methodology of a quantitative nature based on a questionnaire survey that analyses error management, leadership and the organizational culture of error management of 380 workers in Portuguese companies.FindingsThe results demonstrate that leadership directly influences error management and indirectly through the organizational culture of error management, giving this last variable a mediating role.Originality/valueThe study covers companies from different sectors of activity on a topic that is little explored in Portugal, but part of the daily life of organizations, which should deserve greater attention from directors and managers, as they assume a privileged position to promote and develop error management mechanisms. Error management must be the daily work of leaders. This study contributes to theoretical knowledge and business practice on error management.

“Without work, I am nothing, I have no identity”: a qualitative study in a Brazilian public organization

Mental health in the workplace is a subject of great relevance and impact in the daily life of organizations. Leaders have to deal with increasingly constant demands in the work environment. The implementation of management actions to prevent psychological and behavioral disorders, as well as providing emotional support, has been increasingly required. Considering that work is essential for the formation of human identity, this article aims to analyze, based on the verbal report of fifteen leaders of a Brazilian public organization, experiences related to mental health issues in the workplace. More specifically, this article presents the importance attached by work to the professional life of these leaders. Through the analytical perspective of the psychodynamics of work, meanings attributed to work are described in this article, discussing its effects on the human psyche. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with formal leaders of the Organization under study. These leaders are strategic to the Organization. Categorical content analysis was performed from the transcribed interviews. As a result, a strong affective link between the leaders and the Organization under study was identified. The management of quality of life at work was identified as essential in the organizational context. The act of working implies feeling useful and valued. The survey provides to the public administration professionals a comprehensive understanding of issues related to the human factor at work. This article proves that the Brazilian public administration needs to pay attention to the development of good practices in people management. Several relevant issues are presented and discussed, seeking for a conformity in people development practices.&nbsp

A structuration theory perspective on the interplay between strategy and accounting: Unpacking social continuity and transformation

Abstract Anthony Giddens is generally considered one of the most prominent sociologists of modern time. In this paper, we draw upon a micro-process case study to explore how his theory of structuration (ST) can be used to analyze the interplay between strategy and accounting in day-to-day-organizational life. In short, we find that strategizing and accounting should not be viewed as two separate practices, but rather as two aspects of one and the same practice, which form and feed each other in a recursive manner over time. Based on these findings, we also elaborate on how ST may be usefully applied to understand continuity and transformation of strategizing practices more generally. An overall conclusion is that ST not only provides a strong and consistent ontological framework for theorizing about these practices, but also offers a rich conceptual toolbox which can be usefully applied to better understand how and why structural continuity and change may coexist and intermingle in daily organizational life.

Fair organizations: is it possible to build them?

The well-being of workers and the productivity of companies have been subjects of great interest in the scientific literature and in the daily life of organizations. Organizational justice is one of the factors that contributes to achieving these results. Theories that attempt to explain the effects of a perception of justice at work emphasize the relationship of reciprocity that must exist between the employee and the employer. The perception that the employer acts fairly gives rise to feelings of trust, commitment and loyalty to the employer, which has an impact on better job performance and positive attitudes in the workplace. Each of the procedures carried out in the work environment, such as the selection of personnel, performance evaluation, conflict resolution, distribution of rewards and layoffs, are at high risk of generating perceptions of injustice due to the parties involved, this is why they must be rethought in the light of the dimensions of organizational justice. The objective then is to know how the concept of justice can be applied in the most important procedures at the organizational level.

GDPR Compliance in SMEs: There is much to be done

The obligatory adaptation of Organizations to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), will imply a set of legal, technological and functional changes, with a direct impact on the daily life of Organizations as a result of their increased responsibility with data protection subjects that has been reinforced by the new legislation. On the other hand, the transfer of responsibilities from the national authorities to the Organizations obliges them to prove, at all times, full compliance with the legislation. Organizations are subject to heavy fines when a non-compliance is detected. This new reality is a challenge for any Organization, and in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have fewer human and financial resources to carry out the necessary measures to comply with legislation. In order to know how SMEs are preparing themselves, we have conducted face-to-face interviews with ten industrial SMEs. The main conclusion is that, given these companies' lack of awareness of their obligations and duties in relation to Personal Data Protection, it is urgent to define a methodology to be able to comply with GDPR.

Editorial del Nº 15 de la Revista Perspectivas de Políticas Públicas

Editorial del Nº 15 de la Revista Perspectivas de Políticas Públicas

THE MEANING OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP: A QUALITATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

Introduction : In this day and age, finding the servant leadership is really hard, most organization s focus on bigger profits and corporate business expansion. A serving leadership emphasizing more on members’ interests face s various challenges because any profit s gained is used for the members’ welfare. The model of servant leadership can be adopted by non-profit organization in the field of human welfare, such as education field. Research Purpose: This research aim s are: (1) to explore the individual experience of people doing servant leadership in daily organizational life; (2) to find meaning in individual experience doing servant leadership in daily organizational life. Research Design: The research type is a qualitative research with interpretative phenomenological analysis method. Interpretative phenomenological analysis consist s of two steps, first, the subject will interpret their world; second, the researcher tries to define the subject interpretation process of their world. Through phenomenology , researcher tries to explore the meaning of life of some individuals to create a universal meaning. Research Question: This research ha s two questions, those are: (1) how is the experience of someone doing servant leadership? (2) What is the meaning of someone doing servant leadership? Sample: The sampling technique is purposive sampling . This research take s the subject from those who use the servant leadership model in their organization. Data gathering was done through a semi-structural interview, so the dialogue between the researcher and the subject in the exploration of the subject experience in doing servant leadership up to finding the meaning of said experience can occur. Result: According to data analysis of someone doing the servant leadership, some group of themes can be seen, those are: (1) it arise s from their concern about problems around them, (2) it pushes the subject to start collecting resources to start a movement for change, (3) the movement for change is vital in welfare improvement of the members, (4) organizational activities are not for profits but sincerely for helping members. (5) Servant leadership is shown by various attributes and traits to serve members. Conclusively, servant leadership means: (1) a leadership born from the concern of wanting to help members’ issues. (2) A l eader need s to directly serve members so a trust can grow, and such trust can inspire members to help and grow with each other’s. (3) The most important things to understand from servant leadership is assuming other members as equal members of family, work ing honest, being sincere, being wholehearted, and being commit ted to keep help ing each other.

Stated-Lived Value Congruence and Expressive Authenticity

This article develops a new type of value congruence: stated-lived, or the congruence between what organizations say they value and what its members experience in daily organizational life. We pres...

Applying a Collaborative Model to Support the Management of Lessons Learned in a Private Security Project: A Design Science Research Approach

Since media social as Wikis, blogs and microblogs achieve corporate environments, they have gained attention in latest years in the daily life of organizations so they can be incorporated into the project management as the collaborative tools. Regarding organizations, these tools can facilitate the sharing of lessons learned and knowledge among employees of an organization and the external public. These facilities can be seen through the real-time communication, access to information for several people at the same time and information control exercised by management or organization. In addition, the lessons learned are one of the central points of this research, which contributed directly to the organization, management and the security of project teams. This study aims to assess how far does the use of an artifact produced by a management model lessons learned can contribute to managing security projects. The artifact was applied in the organization through a Web 2.0 tool, i.e. a Wiki which served as support project teams in collecting lessons learned. The study found also that the use of the artifact has contributed significantly to the practice of security projects, as there was an improvement in communication between the staff and the management. Another point in the study was the perceived ease of use tool for users and process efficiency. Limitations as it was realized that the Internet is still a problem, because without it the virtual tools or social media are compromised, being a hindrance to the work of the team on the field. As a contribution to the theory the device could test the Target 2.0 model a security project, which can be seen in research that there was a better understanding of the organizations on the use of social media tools in capturing lessons learned in security projects.

Cultura organizacional e os sete pecados capitais: uma proposta para compreender os sistemas simbólicos

Resumo O objetivo neste trabalho é descrever e analisar os sistemas simbólicos presentes na cultura das organizações pela perspectiva dos sete pecados capitais. A relevância do tema para o campo reside no fato de se tratar de uma metáfora que pode ser utilizada de forma enriquecedora para a compreensão dos sistemas simbólicos e significados circulantes em diferentes organizações no contexto brasileiro. O percurso teórico contempla a revisão teórica de metáfora na visão clássica aristotélica. Para compreender os sistemas simbólicos, utiliza-se o aporte teórico de Pierre Bourdieu, enquanto que a cultura organizacional é interpretada tendo por base Jean-François Chanlat. Metodologicamente trata-se de pesquisa exploratória que tem como objeto de estudo e análise um caso no Rio Grande do Sul. Os resultados evidenciam que as imagens produzidas pelos pecados capitais orientam um novo olhar sobre a cultura organizacional no universo simbólico organizacional, uma vez que o catolicismo e outras formas de cristianismo são significativos no cotidiano das organizações.

A DISCUSSÃO ENTRE TEORIA E PRÁTICA NAS CIÊNCIAS ADMINISTRATIVAS: UMA ANÁLISE DAS DISSERTAÇÕES DO PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM ADMINISTRAÇÃO DA UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA MARIA

Os debates entre o relacionamento de teóricos e práticos acabam levando a alguns conflitos entre estes. Essa discussão acaba acentuando-se dentro do contexto dos centros de ensino em Administração. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho consiste em analisar as dissertações do mestrado acadêmico do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração (PPGA) da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), no período de 2008 a 2012, a fim de verificar se os trabalhos teóricos do curso possuem orientação para a prática organizacional. Para o atendimento deste objetivo, foi utilizado um roteiro de análise baseado nos modelos de Albach (1993) e Johann e Duclós (2013), para verificar se as dissertações selecionadas possuem as características que confirmam ou não sua orientação para a prática organizacional. De maneira geral, os trabalhos demonstraram certa orientação à prática, precisando realizar uma maior aproximação das empresas na elaboração dos seus estudos, além do aprimoramento das técnicas de análises estudadas para que essa orientação à prática possa vir a aumentar. É necessário haver um redirecionamento das pesquisas em Administração a fim demonstrar uma maior preocupação com os avanços que podem ser trazidos para o dia a dia das organizações.

"Because I say so": The Impact of Leaders’ Attitudes Toward Organizational Change

Change is part of daily organizational life. While previous research has largely focused on the importance of leaders as change agents, scholars are increasingly arguing for a shift away from a leader- centric focus toward an emphasis on the follower perspective. This study proposes a combination of both research streams and empirically investigates the distinct influence of leaders on followers from two perspectives: a) attitudes toward change content; and, b) attitudes toward change implementation while paying close attention to followers' attitudes. Using multilevel data, I find that leaders’ attitudes toward change implementation are positively related to their followers’ attitudes toward change implementation. However, contrary to my hypothesis, followers hold more negative attitudes toward change implementation in cases when leaders display positive attitudes toward the change content. Findings of this study, despite being counterintuitive at first sight, provide insights into leader- follower interactions during organizational change and allow for new ways to assess change processes in organizations.

Less acting, more doing: How surface acting relates to perceived meeting effectiveness and other employee outcomes

This study adds to the growing body of research on work meetings and extends the emotional labour literature beyond a service context by examining the relationship between surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness. Additionally, the relationships of surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness with time‐lagged reports of intention to quit and emotional exhaustion 3 months later were investigated. Structural equation modelling of data from 178 working adults revealed negative relationships between surface acting and perceptions of meeting effectiveness. Perceived meeting effectiveness partially mediated the relationship between surface acting and both intention to quit and emotional exhaustion 3 months later. These findings expand both the limited research on perceived meeting effectiveness and the surface acting nomological network to include a consideration that expressing inauthentic emotions in meetings (surface acting) may relate to the perceived effectiveness of the meeting. As well, both surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness may relate to how emotionally exhausted employees feel and their intentions to seek other employment. Given the cost and pervasiveness of meetings in daily organizational life and their potential effects on the well‐being of employees, understanding how to make meetings effective is paramount – particularly if researchers and practitioners want to better understand how perceived meeting effectiveness may be related to various employee outcomes.Practitioner points Organizations use up to 15% of their personnel budget on meetings, yet meetings are often considered ineffective by employees. Organizations wishing to increase the perceived effectiveness of their meetings can work to reduce the degree to which employees feel they have to express inauthentic emotion in meetings. In turn, expressing inauthentic emotion in meetings related to employees' future emotional exhaustion and intent to leave the organization.

A Tale of Two Courts: How Organizational Ethnography Can Shed New Light on Legal Pluralism

This article argues that organizational ethnography, and an organizational perspective more generally, can help to shed new light on the phenomenon of legal pluralism. While the literature on legal pluralism has tended to focus on the interrelations between normative orders in situations of legal pluralism, this article directs attention to the organizational level, to the day‐to‐day routines in courts that operate under conditions of legal pluralism, and to the interorganizational relations between such courts. To demonstrate the utility of that approach to legal pluralism, the article presents an ethnographic case study from present‐day Jerusalem. Focusing on two sharī‘a courts, one Israeli and one Jordanian, that operate in the city and serve the same population, the article describes how legal pluralism unfolds in daily organizational life. It portrays the complex fabric of the interrelations between these courts and tracks the evolution of these interrelations that transformed over the years from mutual antagonism to mutual dependence. These processes are examined within the turbulent political context in Jerusalem.

Action Engagement: Improving Researchers’ Involvement in Action Research Projects

This article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of Action Engagement. This is a methodological approach implying that researchers involve themselves in the organization by working as ordinary employees. Our problem statement is this: How will Action Engagement improve the quality of action research? Given the fact that the researcher has limited time to use in the initial phase, we intend to show that Action Engagement is an effective introduction to the daily organizational life. The data is from an automotive supplier and two hospitals in Norway. The analysis contributes to the field of action research in two respects. First, it offers a detailed and varied understanding of how a broad empirical basis can be obtained in an action research (AR) project. Second, it presents an empirically grounded understanding of how this method can be used to achieve increased credibility and trust in ways that enable the researcher to bring in new and important aspects in organizational dialogues.

Theorizing Resistance in Organization Studies

This article provides an overview and critique of the extant research on work-place resistance. It argues that much of this research has developed around an implicit duality of resistance and control. In other words, critical studies have highlighted either the growing ubiquity and subtlety of managerial control or have privileged workers’ abilities to carve out spheres of autonomy within these control mechanisms. It suggests that, in contrast to this implicit dualism of control and resistance, a dialectical approach better captures the notion of resistance and control as mutually constitutive, and as a routine social production of daily organizational life.

Accountability in organizational life: Problem or opportunity for nonprofits?

AbstractThis article reviews the notion of accountability as an intrinsic experience in daily organizational life and contrasts it with the more traditional construct of accountability as an external control or monitoring device. The concept of “felt responsibility” can provide an opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations. Both research and the author's field experiences in nonprofit settings suggest how nonprofit leaders and managers can use felt responsibility to help individuals act with accountability to themselves and to others. The concept of “conversation for accountability” poses a pragmatic opportunity for nonprofits in particular to turn the current environment of finger pointing and aggressive monitoring into an enabling organizational practice that benefits both nonprofit members and their clients or constituencies.