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Make Me Laugh and I’m Yours: A qualitative case study on how managerial humor influences organizational commitment

Procházková, Lucie LU and Brouwer, Manon LU (2022) BUSN49 20221
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
The purpose of this master thesis is to develop a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of managerial humor in the workplace and find out how it influences employees' commitment in contemporary organizations. This report contains qualitative research in the interpretivist tradition in the form of a single case study. Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the empirical data and learn about employees’ perceptions. Using an abductive approach allowed us to go back and forth between theory and empirical findings. Our literature review outlines existing research about humor, its theories and styles, and both the positive and negative effects of managerial humor in the workplace. Additionally, we explore existing... (More)
The purpose of this master thesis is to develop a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of managerial humor in the workplace and find out how it influences employees' commitment in contemporary organizations. This report contains qualitative research in the interpretivist tradition in the form of a single case study. Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the empirical data and learn about employees’ perceptions. Using an abductive approach allowed us to go back and forth between theory and empirical findings. Our literature review outlines existing research about humor, its theories and styles, and both the positive and negative effects of managerial humor in the workplace. Additionally, we explore existing research about different types of commitment and the Leader-Member Exchange theory. Finally, we examine how the concepts interplay. As both humor and commitment involve an affective component related to feelings and emotions, our findings indicate that managerial humor can positively influence affective commitment, meaning the emotional attachment, to the organization through the increased quality of the leader-member relationship, that is, the affection between managers and their employees, and the positive perception of employees’ work environment and organizational support. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Procházková, Lucie LU and Brouwer, Manon LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN49 20221
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Humor, Managerial Humor, Commitment, Organizational Commitment, Affective Commitment, Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory
language
English
id
9085649
date added to LUP
2022-06-21 09:26:45
date last changed
2022-06-21 09:26:45
@misc{9085649,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this master thesis is to develop a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of managerial humor in the workplace and find out how it influences employees' commitment in contemporary organizations. This report contains qualitative research in the interpretivist tradition in the form of a single case study. Ten in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the empirical data and learn about employees’ perceptions. Using an abductive approach allowed us to go back and forth between theory and empirical findings. Our literature review outlines existing research about humor, its theories and styles, and both the positive and negative effects of managerial humor in the workplace. Additionally, we explore existing research about different types of commitment and the Leader-Member Exchange theory. Finally, we examine how the concepts interplay. As both humor and commitment involve an affective component related to feelings and emotions, our findings indicate that managerial humor can positively influence affective commitment, meaning the emotional attachment, to the organization through the increased quality of the leader-member relationship, that is, the affection between managers and their employees, and the positive perception of employees’ work environment and organizational support.}},
  author       = {{Procházková, Lucie and Brouwer, Manon}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Make Me Laugh and I’m Yours: A qualitative case study on how managerial humor influences organizational commitment}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}