About (my) organizational ethnography

Ethnography is a methodology for sociological research derived from the sister discipline (“twin sister” using the expression of Alfred Kroeber) of anthropology. Following the Greek etymology, it consists basically in the description of the culture of a population or a human group (ethnos) through a written text (graphè).

At the end of 19^th and beginning of 20^th century this method was used by anthropologists to give a portrait of populations living in remote parts of the globe. This purpose was achieved through a deep immersion in the culture by the researcher, who lived with the population and shared their everyday activities for a long period of time. It was the Chicago School of Sociology who first applied it in the urban contexts of western societies, giving raise to the tradition of the ethnographic method in sociology. The outcome of this research process is commonly a thick description: a textual representation of the researcher’s observations about the language, meanings, practices, tools, rules and habits of a particular social group.

When ethnography is transposed to settings such as a company, a plant, an office, a construction site, a shop, an hospital and so on, and the focus of observation is on organizational and work dynamics, we speak about organizational ethnography. There are many examples of organizational ethnography, being Kunda’s Engineering culture: control and commitment in a high tech corporation, and Van Maanen’s The smile factory: work at Disneyland probably the best known.

Apart from the scientific aim of knowledge production, the objective of organizational ethnography, is to create new understanding and reflection about work matters for all those involved in the study, and possibly lead to ameliorative change and interventions in the organizational setting.

What I am currently trying to do is to develop an ethnographic research project about employment relations in the mass retailing industry. The focus of analysis are human resource management policies and practices of an organization, devoting a particular attention to the relation between the various levels of management, employees and their representatives.

The choice to undertake an ethnographic study might appear controversial since ethnography is not a very common methodology in managerial and business research. Nevertheless, there are several advantages in undertaking an ethnographic study of organizations and their management: it is possible to detect symbolic and representational aspects of the company, to reconstruct the relations among the different actors helping to reconcile antagonisms and frictions, and to collect all the different voices from the field. Ethnography also helps to deconstruct the taken for granted reality of everyday work, encouraging people’s self reflection and change. Finally, it is also possible to monitor ongoing change processes in order to help to implement desired interventions.

At the moment, I am negotiating the realization of this project with HR managers and director of some organizations and, as applicants, we all know how difficult it is to attract the attention and interest of this actors inside organizations! I hope I can give further news on this project soon.