Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Schizoid cynicism among fast-food restaurant workers

Jonsson Pierreville, Amanda LU and Hahlin, Malin LU (2018) BUSN49 20181
Department of Business Administration
Abstract (Swedish)
Based on an ethnographic case study, this paper offers a typology of how, and under what circumstances, employees at a fast food-restaurant are cynical. By conducting participant- and non-participant observations and 10 semi-structured interviews, combined with a document analysis, we sought to understand the social realities of employees at Berger. Thus, we have had an interpretive approach to research. The theories used for the study focus on employee cynicism, functional stupidity and psychoanalysis, themes explored by using an abductive
approach to methods. It is argued that earlier studies on cynicism have tended to discuss cynicism as a uniform category and assume that employees are either cynical or not. Here, the assumption about... (More)
Based on an ethnographic case study, this paper offers a typology of how, and under what circumstances, employees at a fast food-restaurant are cynical. By conducting participant- and non-participant observations and 10 semi-structured interviews, combined with a document analysis, we sought to understand the social realities of employees at Berger. Thus, we have had an interpretive approach to research. The theories used for the study focus on employee cynicism, functional stupidity and psychoanalysis, themes explored by using an abductive
approach to methods. It is argued that earlier studies on cynicism have tended to discuss cynicism as a uniform category and assume that employees are either cynical or not. Here, the assumption about cynicism being a “pure” phenomenon, in the sense that it is undisturbed by doubt and uncertainty, is challenged. Drawing on our results, we present the concept 'schizoid cynicism' as a way to understand the intermediate position many employees take towards their employing organization. To clarify, the theoretical concept of ‘schizoid’ derives from
psychoanalysis and should not be associated with the concept of schizophrenia in this study. In addition, we believe that the dynamics between being cynical and functionally stupid to a large extent impact the informal ways in which 'schizoid cynicism' occur in contemporary organizational life. We thereby contribute to the research on concepts such as cynicism and functional stupidity, which has mainly previously been researched as a “pure” phenomenon. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jonsson Pierreville, Amanda LU and Hahlin, Malin LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Schizoid cynicism among fast-food restaurant workers
course
BUSN49 20181
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Cynicism, Functional stupidity, Psychoanalysis, Schizoid cynicism, Ethnographic case study
language
English
id
8954715
date added to LUP
2018-11-20 12:08:28
date last changed
2018-11-20 12:08:28
@misc{8954715,
  abstract     = {{Based on an ethnographic case study, this paper offers a typology of how, and under what circumstances, employees at a fast food-restaurant are cynical. By conducting participant- and non-participant observations and 10 semi-structured interviews, combined with a document analysis, we sought to understand the social realities of employees at Berger. Thus, we have had an interpretive approach to research. The theories used for the study focus on employee cynicism, functional stupidity and psychoanalysis, themes explored by using an abductive
approach to methods. It is argued that earlier studies on cynicism have tended to discuss cynicism as a uniform category and assume that employees are either cynical or not. Here, the assumption about cynicism being a “pure” phenomenon, in the sense that it is undisturbed by doubt and uncertainty, is challenged. Drawing on our results, we present the concept 'schizoid cynicism' as a way to understand the intermediate position many employees take towards their employing organization. To clarify, the theoretical concept of ‘schizoid’ derives from
psychoanalysis and should not be associated with the concept of schizophrenia in this study. In addition, we believe that the dynamics between being cynical and functionally stupid to a large extent impact the informal ways in which 'schizoid cynicism' occur in contemporary organizational life. We thereby contribute to the research on concepts such as cynicism and functional stupidity, which has mainly previously been researched as a “pure” phenomenon.}},
  author       = {{Jonsson Pierreville, Amanda and Hahlin, Malin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Schizoid cynicism among fast-food restaurant workers}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}