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Whistle While You Work: Work, Play and the New Economy

Shadduck, Siriporn LU (2012) TKAM01 20112
Division of Ethnology
Abstract
Talk about work traditionally has meant an interruption of the finer, more bacchanalian sensibilities. To wit, labor is laborious. But what happens when work becomes play? When play becomes work? This paper is an exploration of the seemingly incongruent marriage of work and play. Often seen as frivolous and disorderly, play is not simply the terrain of toddlers; it is pervasive, for adults play too. The emergence of the New Economy in the late 90’s saw the alignment of culture and commerce. Here buzz words like experience, passion, creativity, and fun went hand in hand with economics. Management and HR departments, awakened to this trendy remix, were keen to adopt levity and play as core values. Employees, as it were, should have fun at... (More)
Talk about work traditionally has meant an interruption of the finer, more bacchanalian sensibilities. To wit, labor is laborious. But what happens when work becomes play? When play becomes work? This paper is an exploration of the seemingly incongruent marriage of work and play. Often seen as frivolous and disorderly, play is not simply the terrain of toddlers; it is pervasive, for adults play too. The emergence of the New Economy in the late 90’s saw the alignment of culture and commerce. Here buzz words like experience, passion, creativity, and fun went hand in hand with economics. Management and HR departments, awakened to this trendy remix, were keen to adopt levity and play as core values. Employees, as it were, should have fun at work, and moreover, they should like what they do. And how could they not, when working hard is equated with playing hard? Based on an ethnographic account of play at work in a Scandinavian tech company, this thesis addresses how play becomes a convincing and valid means of management; how does it produce insight and innovation? Does play undermine productivity or underwrite it? At what point does play become work? (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Shadduck, Siriporn LU
supervisor
organization
course
TKAM01 20112
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
new economy, organizational culture, play, work, management, ethnography
language
English
id
3954708
date added to LUP
2013-08-28 08:27:43
date last changed
2013-08-28 08:27:43
@misc{3954708,
  abstract     = {{Talk about work traditionally has meant an interruption of the finer, more bacchanalian sensibilities. To wit, labor is laborious. But what happens when work becomes play? When play becomes work? This paper is an exploration of the seemingly incongruent marriage of work and play. Often seen as frivolous and disorderly, play is not simply the terrain of toddlers; it is pervasive, for adults play too. The emergence of the New Economy in the late 90’s saw the alignment of culture and commerce. Here buzz words like experience, passion, creativity, and fun went hand in hand with economics. Management and HR departments, awakened to this trendy remix, were keen to adopt levity and play as core values. Employees, as it were, should have fun at work, and moreover, they should like what they do. And how could they not, when working hard is equated with playing hard? Based on an ethnographic account of play at work in a Scandinavian tech company, this thesis addresses how play becomes a convincing and valid means of management; how does it produce insight and innovation? Does play undermine productivity or underwrite it? At what point does play become work?}},
  author       = {{Shadduck, Siriporn}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Whistle While You Work: Work, Play and the New Economy}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}