Speakers
Description
Organizational contexts are places characterized by a set of relationships that individuals build during their work activities. These relationships and interactions contribute to the creation and development of organizational culture, understood as the set of values, ideas and implicit knowledge that influence and determine the way in which the surrounding environment is perceived. The aim of the present contribution is to interpret the organizational context of a training company, through a cognitive investigation to outline the salient features of the structure and, in particular, of the corporate organizational culture. By redesigning of the experience gained by the members of the organization, in terms of collaborations promoted in the performance of work activities, we intend to analyse explicit values and underlying assumptions. By means of social network analysis perspective we are able to identify, at the micro level, the social actors who play a strategic role in the organization as well as to define, at the macro level, the topological structure underlying formal and informal interactions established in the organization.
Starting from the case study of Virvelle, an organization operating in Campania region, a questionnaire was administered to members of the organization and a semi-structured interview was conducted with two privileged witnesses, who hold managerial positions. The study was focused on the social relations in organizational contexts as well as the role of culture, showing how useful they can be in explaining the behaviour of the actors who make up the network. The main findings highlighted both the presence of key players within the organization and the configuration of formal and informal relationships among the members. A homophile behaviour appears within the different working areas, underlining as the homogeneities and differences in the organizational culture are spread by ownership and the dominant values of different sub-cultures.
| Topics | • Applications of network analysis in multidisciplinary fields |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Intraorganizational network, Organizational culture, Key players, Formal and informal relationships |
