'Be my Own Boss?' An Interpretative Examination of Identity Work from Employment to Self-employment
(2012) BUSN49 20121Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- This interpretive study examines identity work in a transition period which was triggered by a downsizing event. The purpose of this thesis is to gain further understanding of how identity work is done in the transition from employment to becoming self-employed. A hermeneutical approach was adopted and data-gathering was carried out using semi-structured interviews which allowed us to gain insights into processes of identity (re)construction. From the empirical material, we derived four ideal types which represent our participants’ underlying perception s of the identity concept. These, in turn, influence identity work which is carried out to obtain a coherent and distinctive self. We find that neither organisational identity nor societal... (More)
- This interpretive study examines identity work in a transition period which was triggered by a downsizing event. The purpose of this thesis is to gain further understanding of how identity work is done in the transition from employment to becoming self-employed. A hermeneutical approach was adopted and data-gathering was carried out using semi-structured interviews which allowed us to gain insights into processes of identity (re)construction. From the empirical material, we derived four ideal types which represent our participants’ underlying perception s of the identity concept. These, in turn, influence identity work which is carried out to obtain a coherent and distinctive self. We find that neither organisational identity nor societal and organisational discourses necessarily dominate identity work as people consider new occupations after a downsizing event. In our study, individuals are able to personalise the dominant societal entrepreneurial discourse in order to reconstruct themselves as modified versions of entrepreneurs through self-employment. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/2798193
- author
- Gould, Sarah LU and Sarvioskouey, Elnaz
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BUSN49 20121
- year
- 2012
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Identity Work, Discourse, Downsizing, Knowledge Workers.
- language
- English
- id
- 2798193
- date added to LUP
- 2012-07-02 12:15:59
- date last changed
- 2012-07-02 12:15:59
@misc{2798193, abstract = {{This interpretive study examines identity work in a transition period which was triggered by a downsizing event. The purpose of this thesis is to gain further understanding of how identity work is done in the transition from employment to becoming self-employed. A hermeneutical approach was adopted and data-gathering was carried out using semi-structured interviews which allowed us to gain insights into processes of identity (re)construction. From the empirical material, we derived four ideal types which represent our participants’ underlying perception s of the identity concept. These, in turn, influence identity work which is carried out to obtain a coherent and distinctive self. We find that neither organisational identity nor societal and organisational discourses necessarily dominate identity work as people consider new occupations after a downsizing event. In our study, individuals are able to personalise the dominant societal entrepreneurial discourse in order to reconstruct themselves as modified versions of entrepreneurs through self-employment.}}, author = {{Gould, Sarah and Sarvioskouey, Elnaz}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{'Be my Own Boss?' An Interpretative Examination of Identity Work from Employment to Self-employment}}, year = {{2012}}, }