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My House, My Rules: A Comparative Case Study of How Organizational Culture and AI Interact to Shape Change in Organizational Routines at IKEA and Ericsson

Han, Bilge Su LU and Teuber, Sofia LU (2026) MGTN59 20261
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
AI integration is reshaping organizational work, however its success depends less on technical capability than on the cultural context into which it is introduced. This comparative case study examines how organizational culture and AI interact to shape organizational routines at two large Swedish organizations with distinct cultural profiles: IKEA, with its people-first, values-driven identity, and Ericsson, defined by an engineering-oriented precision culture. Drawing on 14 semi-structured interviews, it is observed that cultural orientation conditions how widely AI-driven routine change spreads, but that implementation factors such as leader participation, tool design, and the pacing of introduction, determine whether cultural readiness... (More)
AI integration is reshaping organizational work, however its success depends less on technical capability than on the cultural context into which it is introduced. This comparative case study examines how organizational culture and AI interact to shape organizational routines at two large Swedish organizations with distinct cultural profiles: IKEA, with its people-first, values-driven identity, and Ericsson, defined by an engineering-oriented precision culture. Drawing on 14 semi-structured interviews, it is observed that cultural orientation conditions how widely AI-driven routine change spreads, but that implementation factors such as leader participation, tool design, and the pacing of introduction, determine whether cultural readiness translates into actual transformation. Both organizations accepted AI for peripheral tasks while instinctively defending identity-constituting work from it, a pattern that held regardless of overall cultural openness. Organizational overwhelm is also identified as a distinct barrier to consolidation, and the playground phase is proposed as a transitional state in AI-driven routine change. Theoretically, the study refines the ostensive/performative framework by accounting for cultural mediation, sociomaterial tool design, and structural conditions of introduction. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Han, Bilge Su LU and Teuber, Sofia LU
supervisor
organization
course
MGTN59 20261
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Organizational Routines, Organizational Culture, Artificial Intelligence, Sociomateriality, Ostensive/Performative Distinction
language
English
id
9246096
date added to LUP
2026-07-02 10:21:32
date last changed
2026-07-02 10:21:32
@misc{9246096,
  abstract     = {{AI integration is reshaping organizational work, however its success depends less on technical capability than on the cultural context into which it is introduced. This comparative case study examines how organizational culture and AI interact to shape organizational routines at two large Swedish organizations with distinct cultural profiles: IKEA, with its people-first, values-driven identity, and Ericsson, defined by an engineering-oriented precision culture. Drawing on 14 semi-structured interviews, it is observed that cultural orientation conditions how widely AI-driven routine change spreads, but that implementation factors such as leader participation, tool design, and the pacing of introduction, determine whether cultural readiness translates into actual transformation. Both organizations accepted AI for peripheral tasks while instinctively defending identity-constituting work from it, a pattern that held regardless of overall cultural openness. Organizational overwhelm is also identified as a distinct barrier to consolidation, and the playground phase is proposed as a transitional state in AI-driven routine change. Theoretically, the study refines the ostensive/performative framework by accounting for cultural mediation, sociomaterial tool design, and structural conditions of introduction.}},
  author       = {{Han, Bilge Su and Teuber, Sofia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{My House, My Rules: A Comparative Case Study of How Organizational Culture and AI Interact to Shape Change in Organizational Routines at IKEA and Ericsson}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}