Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

A Saviour Emerges: A processual view on normative control in practice

Jönsson, Johan LU and Minssen, Luisa Sophie Caroline LU (2017) BUSN49 20171
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
This Master’s Thesis contributes with a rich description of normative control as a social process, through the illustration and interpretation of the practical efforts and sense-making that surround it. These contributions are made possible through an ethnographic case study at a medium-sized, fast-growing dotcom company with a distinct and salient corporate culture and normative control efforts. The mystery, however, is how the company exercises control and keeps its staff happy while most of them are performing tedious and repetitive work tasks. By applying a dramaturgical framing device, we illustrate how the staff engages in a performance involving the creation of an organizational anti-identity. This enables the company to emerge as a... (More)
This Master’s Thesis contributes with a rich description of normative control as a social process, through the illustration and interpretation of the practical efforts and sense-making that surround it. These contributions are made possible through an ethnographic case study at a medium-sized, fast-growing dotcom company with a distinct and salient corporate culture and normative control efforts. The mystery, however, is how the company exercises control and keeps its staff happy while most of them are performing tedious and repetitive work tasks. By applying a dramaturgical framing device, we illustrate how the staff engages in a performance involving the creation of an organizational anti-identity. This enables the company to emerge as a saviour, which justifies and legitimizes control efforts, in turn resulting in grateful and loyal employees who accept repetitive work tasks as part of their obligation. Additionally, we show how the concept of neo-normative control—rather than providing ‘existential empowerment’—enables normative control efforts to take a firmer grip on the individuals’ identity (Fleming & Sturdy, 2009). In conclusion, we show how corporate culture, normative control efforts, and organizational identity work can be observed to create a continuous loop of socialization, justification, legitimization, and institutionalization (c.f. Berger & Luckmann, 1966). (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jönsson, Johan LU and Minssen, Luisa Sophie Caroline LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN49 20171
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Anti-identity, Corporate Culture, Dramaturgy, Ethnographic Case Study, Narrative, Neo-Normative Control, Normative Control, Organizational Identity.
language
English
id
8918296
date added to LUP
2017-06-22 13:38:46
date last changed
2017-06-22 13:38:46
@misc{8918296,
  abstract     = {{This Master’s Thesis contributes with a rich description of normative control as a social process, through the illustration and interpretation of the practical efforts and sense-making that surround it. These contributions are made possible through an ethnographic case study at a medium-sized, fast-growing dotcom company with a distinct and salient corporate culture and normative control efforts. The mystery, however, is how the company exercises control and keeps its staff happy while most of them are performing tedious and repetitive work tasks. By applying a dramaturgical framing device, we illustrate how the staff engages in a performance involving the creation of an organizational anti-identity. This enables the company to emerge as a saviour, which justifies and legitimizes control efforts, in turn resulting in grateful and loyal employees who accept repetitive work tasks as part of their obligation. Additionally, we show how the concept of neo-normative control—rather than providing ‘existential empowerment’—enables normative control efforts to take a firmer grip on the individuals’ identity (Fleming & Sturdy, 2009). In conclusion, we show how corporate culture, normative control efforts, and organizational identity work can be observed to create a continuous loop of socialization, justification, legitimization, and institutionalization (c.f. Berger & Luckmann, 1966).}},
  author       = {{Jönsson, Johan and Minssen, Luisa Sophie Caroline}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Saviour Emerges: A processual view on normative control in practice}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}