Inside Organizations
Understanding the Human Dimension
1st Edition
Published on 28. June 1988
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-8039-3199-2 (ISBN)
Description
This is the first definitive volume on organizational ethnography, an emerging field in which organizations are studied as human phenomena; unifying the volume is the thesis that organizing is a fundamental human enterprise that is social, symbolic and aesthetic as well as technological and utilitarian. Symbolic interactionism found in sociology, the notion of culture in anthropology, and stories and rituals of folklore and mythology are drawn upon; its adherents suggest that until organizing is understood as a symbolic activity, any theory of organization is incomplete. The contributors to Inside Organizations include both practitioners and scholars who discuss a variety of organizational settings in which they either participated or were participant observers. Using ethnographic techniques, they describe observed situations and behaviours in order to derive universal principles and applications of leadership, culture change and the social and psychological functions of symbolic behaviour.
More details
Persons
C. R. Snyder, PhD (deceased), was the Wright Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Internationally known for his work at the interface of clinical, social, personality, and health psychology, his theories pertained to how people react to personal feedback, the human need for uniqueness, the ubiquitous drive to excuse transgressions, and, most recently, the hope motive. He received 31 research awards and 27 teaching awards at the university, state, and national levels. In 2005, he received an honorary doctorate from Indiana Wesleyan University. Snyder appeared many times on national American television shows, and he was a regular contributor to National Public Radio. His scholarly work on the human need for uniqueness received the rare recognition of being the subject matter of an entire Sunday cartoon sequence by Garry Trudeau. All of these accomplishments were packaged in a graying and self-effacing absent-minded professor who said of himself, "If you don't laugh at yourself, you have missed the biggest joke of all!"
Content
Foreword - Ian Mitroff
PART ONE: DOING ETHNOGRAPHY
In Search of Meaning - Michael Owen Jones
Using Qualitative Methods in Research and Application
Mirror, Mission, and Management - Don Christensen
Reflections on Folklore and Culture in a Health Care Organization
Complaints in Paradise - Rob Hanford
Using Ethnography in Customer Relations
Measuring Organizational Culture - Caren Siehl and Joanne Martin
Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
PART TWO: FUNCTIONS OF THE "DYSFUNCTIONAL"
The Paradox of Functional Dysfunction in a Girl Scout Camp - Patricia Atkinson Wells
Implications of Cultural Diversity for Achieving Organizational Goals
Letting Off Steam? Redefining a Restaurant's Work Environment - Gart Alan Fine
`Deviant Behavior' - John F Runcie
Achieving Autonomy in a Machine-Paced Environment
The Communication of Power Relations in Organizations Through Cultural Rites - Janice M Beyer and Harrison M Trice
PART THREE: THE ARTS OF ORGANIZING
The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee - Peggy McDonald
Developing Organizational Culture in the Short Run
`No Tickee, No Shirtee' - Shirley L Arora
Proverbial Speech and Leadership in Academe
New Frames for Old - Richard C Snyder
Changing the Managerial Culture of an Aircraft Factory
Symbolic Responses to Layoffs in a Software Manufacturing Firm - Jodi Martin
Managing the Meaning of an Event
Creating, Preserving, and Communicating Traditions - Roberta J Evanchuk
A Role for Retirees of a Dance Company
PART FOUR: CREATIVITY, COMMITMENT, AND COMMUNITY
Art at Work - C Kurt Dewhurst
The Pursuit of Aesthetic Solutions
Work Ceremonies - Thomas C Dandridge
Why Integrate Work and Play?
Resolving Conflict and Establishing Community - Michael Dane Moore
The Annual Festival `Old People's Day'
Dealing with Organizational Stress - William A Wilson
Lessons from the Folklore of Mormon Missionaries
Symbolic Representation of Organizatonal Identity - Stephen Stern
The Role of `Emblem' at Garrett Corporation
PART FIVE: PARADIGMS AND PARADOXES
Organizational Festivals and the Uses of Ambiguity - Jay Mechling and David Scofield Wilson
The Case of Picnic Day at Davis
From Trickster to Father Figure - Peter Tommerup
Learning from the Mythologization of Top Management
Corporate Rhetoric Versus Social Action - Brian Rusted
Identifying Contradictions in a Service Organization
The `Command Bunker' in a Military Hospital - Terance J Wolfe
Changing Power Perceptions Through a Modified Fishbowl Technique
PART ONE: DOING ETHNOGRAPHY
In Search of Meaning - Michael Owen Jones
Using Qualitative Methods in Research and Application
Mirror, Mission, and Management - Don Christensen
Reflections on Folklore and Culture in a Health Care Organization
Complaints in Paradise - Rob Hanford
Using Ethnography in Customer Relations
Measuring Organizational Culture - Caren Siehl and Joanne Martin
Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
PART TWO: FUNCTIONS OF THE "DYSFUNCTIONAL"
The Paradox of Functional Dysfunction in a Girl Scout Camp - Patricia Atkinson Wells
Implications of Cultural Diversity for Achieving Organizational Goals
Letting Off Steam? Redefining a Restaurant's Work Environment - Gart Alan Fine
`Deviant Behavior' - John F Runcie
Achieving Autonomy in a Machine-Paced Environment
The Communication of Power Relations in Organizations Through Cultural Rites - Janice M Beyer and Harrison M Trice
PART THREE: THE ARTS OF ORGANIZING
The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee - Peggy McDonald
Developing Organizational Culture in the Short Run
`No Tickee, No Shirtee' - Shirley L Arora
Proverbial Speech and Leadership in Academe
New Frames for Old - Richard C Snyder
Changing the Managerial Culture of an Aircraft Factory
Symbolic Responses to Layoffs in a Software Manufacturing Firm - Jodi Martin
Managing the Meaning of an Event
Creating, Preserving, and Communicating Traditions - Roberta J Evanchuk
A Role for Retirees of a Dance Company
PART FOUR: CREATIVITY, COMMITMENT, AND COMMUNITY
Art at Work - C Kurt Dewhurst
The Pursuit of Aesthetic Solutions
Work Ceremonies - Thomas C Dandridge
Why Integrate Work and Play?
Resolving Conflict and Establishing Community - Michael Dane Moore
The Annual Festival `Old People's Day'
Dealing with Organizational Stress - William A Wilson
Lessons from the Folklore of Mormon Missionaries
Symbolic Representation of Organizatonal Identity - Stephen Stern
The Role of `Emblem' at Garrett Corporation
PART FIVE: PARADIGMS AND PARADOXES
Organizational Festivals and the Uses of Ambiguity - Jay Mechling and David Scofield Wilson
The Case of Picnic Day at Davis
From Trickster to Father Figure - Peter Tommerup
Learning from the Mythologization of Top Management
Corporate Rhetoric Versus Social Action - Brian Rusted
Identifying Contradictions in a Service Organization
The `Command Bunker' in a Military Hospital - Terance J Wolfe
Changing Power Perceptions Through a Modified Fishbowl Technique