ABSTRACT

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS OF A GROUP OF WORKERS IN A BUREAUCRATIC TYPE OF ORGANIZATION

During my doctoral studies, I carried out an ethnographic research spanning almost three years, studying a group of eight individuals working on an exclusive night schedule, I had a chance to notice how the organization they belong to influences participants’ social interactions, through its organizational culture, structure and processes, formal hierarchy, regulations and work orders. The main methods and techniques employed in the research were participant observation and informal interviews, with field notes being taken on a daily basis. Organizational culture, structure and processes, formal hierarchy, regulations and work orders influence group interactions to various degrees, affecting even those forms of social interaction between group members that don’t have a meaningful purpose and only exist for socialization, while the participants are unaware of the level of influence that the organization has over them or even that such an influence exists at all. Nevertheless, the organization explicitly aims to influence the behaviour of its employees, with the purpose of achieving its goals and preventing the intersection of structures and employees in the performance of tasks and activities, ensuring an almost mechanical functioning of its structures.

Keywords: organizational culture, structure and processes, hierarchies, regulations.

Full text