Tuomo Peltonen. Tampere University of Technology

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1 Tuomo Peltonen Tampere University of Technology

2 The role of ethnography in organization studies Hawthorne-studies Other early organizational ethnographies Recent ethnographies Recurrent questions in organzational ethnography

3 In general: used as a form of data and method to understand organizations as cultural communities Closely linked to the use of anthropology as a way to view modern organizations Is used to enable a rich description of the everyday life, symbols and the cultural norms and values of a workplace, together with an understanding of the social relations and structures of the community Application of ethnography has varied to some extent as understanding of organizations has undergone changes. (cf. Peltonen, 2010)

4 The first large-scale application of observational method Part of a big research programme in the Hawthorne works of Western Electric near Chicago ( ) Was an integral part in the development of the so called Human Relations school and a broader Cultural-Functionalist systems theory of organization (Mayo, Barnard, Merton) Emphasis on the contested relations between the formal and the informal organization

5 1) Rely assembly test group 6 woman; a natural group of women Observer watched reactions to changes in working time 2) Bank wiring test room A group of men in a larger work space Observer followed communication patterns and social relations within the test room group Hawthorne findings The role of social environment and empathic attitude for work motivation (relay assembly room) Observer as an empathic listener, effects of surveillance The informal organization of employees (cliques, which have their own distinct networks and norms) (bank wiring room) Norms: don t work too hard, don t work too slowly; don t babble about group s internal matters to foremen/outsiders

6 Women in the Relay Assembly Test Room, ca The supervisor/researcher's desk is visible in the background.

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10 From: Rothlisberger & Dickson (1939): Management and the Worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business University Press.

11 Gouldner (1954) (Patterns of Industrial Bureaucracy): field study on the social relations and different attitudes towards bureaucracy in a gypsum plant A combination of interviews, observation (participant observation) and documental materials We spent a good deal of time just walking around or standing with a worker and talking with him casually as he worked Dalton (1959) (Men Who Manage): worked as a manager in a company, whose leaders were engaged in a constant polishing of their own image and who spent most of their energy in various power struggles Roy (1958) : worked as a machinist learned the informal code of communication among the workers + small entertaining instances of humor and irony ( Banana Time!), acting as self-motivation in the middle of monotonous work processes

12 A rational systems theory replaced the cultural theory (contingency theory, decisionmaking, etc.) Methodological attention oriented towards quantitative data and statistical analysis Qualitative approaches, including ethnographic field work, were marginalized : the surge of organizational culture, rise of alternative paradigms renaissance of organizational ethnography

13 An understanding of organizations as social and symbolic constructions focus on processes of organizing Attention to language, narratives, aesthetics, materiality and image in the unfolding of organizational interpretations and interactions Critical view on the nature of organizational life power, control and struggle as endemic properties of organizational experiences

14 Jackall (1988) (Moral Mazes) : a cynical study of manager s world: how moral principles get converted into ruthless politics; discusses also the problems of access and what they signal (managers don t trust an outside researcher) Some of the fundamental requirements of managerial work clash with the normal ethics governing interpersonal behavior, let alone friendship in our society. As a former vice-president of a large firm says: What is right in the corporation is what the guy above you wants from you. That s what morality is in the corporation. Kunda (1992) (Engineering Culture) : looks at the conscious attempts to engineer culture, its appearence and human consequences in a company known for its strong culture. Reveals the contradictory and ironic responses of employees (engineers) to the claims of the codified culture.

15 Barley (1983) (ASQ): semiotic codes in the structuring of a funeral home Barley & Kunda (2004): observation of contract engineers in staffing agencies; changing forms of work identity and how engineers constructed their commitment and psychological contract to the company Watson (1994) (In Search of Management) : the life of managers in the controversy of calls for excellence and simultaneous search for efficiency and exploitation of labour; a look at the ways in which managers were managing their own lives at the same as they were managing the work of the others.

16 The degree of participation of the researcher? Total detachment (observer) complete involvement (participant) Covert or overt role? The length of stay in the field? (2 weeks-2 years) What can be called ethnography? Problems related to access (e.g. Jackall) Fears about business secrets (?) Credibility in the eyes of management/ employees Gaining trust and legitimacy among key informants The ethics of covert participant role (e.g. studying the organization where one is employed)

17 How is participant observation data combined with other qualitative materials? Is field work data merely extending the insights gained from the interviews or vice versa? The use of documents, archives, photography, shadowing in connection to ethnography E.g. visual ethnography, photo elicitation, architectural research More specific methodological operations New ethnographic modes for a changing world The rise of global organizations and work processes Emergence of global and multi-site ethnography - The ethnographer follows the internationally mobile professionals and communities - Ethnography is not restricted to one local place, but is carried out in a number of locales connected to each other through transnational flows of money, ideas and control - Requires teams of researchers

18 Schwartzman (1993) Ethnography in organizations. Sage. Prasad (2005) Crafting qualitative research. ME Sharpe. Van Maanen, J. (2007) Ethnography: In: International Encyclopedia of Organization studies. Sage. Kostera, Monika (2007) Organisational ethnography. Lund: Studentlitteratur AB. Bate, S.P. (1997) Whatever happened to organizational anthropology?,human Relations, 50(9): E. Sharpe. Ybema, S., Yanow, D., Wels, H. and Kamsteeg, F. (Eds) (2009) Organizational Ethnography: Studying the Complexities of Everyday Life, Sage, London.

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