Abstract
The study of organizational culture is recent and still has ample space for development, both in the academia and in the organizational practice. By acknowledging this, the author provides multidisciplinary references in different areas of knowledge—anthropology, sociology, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and administration—to raise intriguing questions about the fugacity of employment relations: Are we giving due attention to the management of organizations, which genuinely considers the employee profile linked to contemporary society? Or are employees, with characteristics of the so-called liquid modernity, still working in solid modernity environments?
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Notes
- 1.
The word Other, with a capital “O”, refers to a psychoanalytic concept by Jacques Lacan called the big Other: the place where the signifier of desire is, which lies in the symbolic field and is therefore of the order of language. Lacan uses this format to differentiate the small other, which is ones equal, similar to the human species, and the big Other, with capital “O” and a slash (Ⱥ).
- 2.
Referred researches: Diener et al. (1999), Frey and Stutzer (2002), both analyzed in: Fonseca (2010, pp. 59–69).
- 3.
USD conversion rate is BRL 3120—as of June 13, 2015.
- 4.
The expression Church is here applied in a generalist way, not delimiting a single religion. It refers to the hierarchical image, structured and normalized, mainly, in the Western monotheistic religions.
- 5.
According to Chiavenato (2003) in the beginning of the twentieth century, American engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor started the so-called School of Scientific Administration, focused on increasing the efficiency of industry by rationalizing the work of the laborer. It sought higher productivity, improving efficiency at the operational level, i.e., at the worker’s level. Which explains its emphasis on analyzing and dividing the laborer’s work. Its focus was on the working method, on the movements required to perform a task and to the standard time determined for its execution. This high level of analysis and detail allowed the specialization of the worker and the regrouping of movements, operations, tasks, positions, etc., which constitute the so-called Rational Organization of Work (ROW). It was, most of all, a stream of ideas developed by engineers who sought industrial engineering in a pragmatic conception. The main characteristic of the so-called Scientific Administration is its emphasis on tasks.
- 6.
According to Roudinesco and Plon (1998), the concept of Identification is inherent to the Freudian theory, though it has not been treated systematically. It appears in letters exchanged between Freud and Fliess, besides being approached in his works The Interpretation of Dreams and Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. According to the authors, the term is used to localize the central process by which the subject is constituted and transformed. It means that exists a assimilation or appropriation in some moments of its evolution. Since it constitutes a central term for this article, the identification process will be explained in detail further in this work .
- 7.
In order to briefly outline the behavioral profile of such groups, it is worth describing some of their characteristics below, according to Carramenha et al. (2013, p. 21): Baby Boomers: Postwar children, born in the 1940s and 1950s, who are used to follow rigid hierarchical structures that often do not allow for change and questioning. Individuals who made their career in one single company. Believe strongly in the “give your best to the company” moto. This attachment, often emotional, hinders the training of successors, as they realize that there are significant differences in the attitude—and personality—of the other generations. They are process oriented (and teach us many things about them), respect hierarchy and see money per se as a valuable reward.
Gen X: The generation of the sons and daughters of Baby Boomers and, therefore, their date of birth lies between the years of 1960 and 1980. They are individuals who seek freedom but without losing contact with the collective. Individualists, they believe in recognition for work , in due time. They need feedback and fear to lose their jobs. However, they are often skeptical and apathetic—especially when it comes to political positions. Gen X is usually less committed to organizations , has a more egalitarian relation with authority, more respect for merit than age, and sees financial independence and free time as a reward.
Gen Y: Also called Generation Next or Millennials, they were born after 1980. Individuals who grew up flooded by sensory stimuli. Respect in the corporate environment is tied to talent. It is, therefore, something to be conquered, it does not merely happen by hierarchical position: it is not enough to have formal authority, one has to be an example (especially a leader). They admire true competence. They live in “digital” time, immersed in an overflow of information , which hinders content retention and a correlation between them. Besides that, they are not loyal to brands or employers. Gen Y is more loyal to the factors it values than to the company itself, likes diversity , competes more with itself than with others, demands constant feedback, and sees the chance to “make a difference” as a huge reward. This group is also tainted by haste. They expect speed, agility, and value most the accomplishments that are possible today than those who will materialize only tomorrow.
- 8.
In Brazil, a common expression for the amount of time a employee works for a company is “tempo de casa”—which literally translates as “house time”. The expression localizes the company as an extension of employee ’s home, reflecting the ideal of a family.
- 9.
Available at http://economia.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,brasileiro-fica-mais-tempo-no-emprego, 185058e—Accessed on Jul 23, 2014.
- 10.
Available at http://economia.estadao.com.br/noticias/sua-carreira,permanencia-de-brasileiro-em-emprego-e-uma-das-menores, 93226e—Accessed on Jul 23, 2014.
- 11.
Available at http://revistaepoca.globo.com/ideias/noticia/2012/07/turma-do-eu-me-acho.html—Accessed on Jul 24, 2014.
- 12.
Home Office is a common practice in the corporate market, and corresponds to the option of the employee carrying out their activities out of his own residence, without having the need to go to the place of work .
- 13.
Flexible working hours are a practice that allows the employee to determine their time of entry and exit from work , according to their needs or personal activities of the day.
- 14.
Cloud technology (or cloud computing) is, according to Wikipédia, “the use of memory and the storage and calculation capabilities of shared and interconnected computers and servers via the Internet (…) the data storage is done in services that can be accessed from anywhere in the world at any time, not requiring the installation of programs or storing data. Access to programs, services, and files is remote, via the internet - hence the allusion to a cloud. The use of this model (environment) is more feasible than the use of physical units”.
- 15.
Available at http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/980548-uso-de-redes-sociais-desafia-empresas.shtml—Accessed on Dec 12, 2011.
- 16.
Source CISCO: “Gen Y: New Dawn for Work , Play, Identity”, 2012.
- 17.
Available at http://idgnow.uol.com.br/computacao_pessoal/2011/05/23/redes-sociais-geram-prejuizos-de-milhoes-de-dolares-as-empresas/—Accessed on June 2011.
- 18.
Source Regus: “From Dedication to Medication”, Nov 2011.
- 19.
The term “robot” comes from the Czech word robota, which means “forced labor”. This expression was first presented by Karel Capek in his 1921 play “R.U.R - Rossum’s Universal Robot”.
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Cappellano, T. (2019). The Incoherence of a Solid Organizational Culture for Liquid Employees. In: Thornton, G., Mansi, V., Carramenha, B., Cappellano, T. (eds) Strategic Employee Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97894-9_1
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