Kontorsskiftets påverkan på organisationskulturen
- Ett skifte från cellkontor till öppet kontor -
The essay discusses the effects that changes to the office plan have on organizational culture. Information about actual change as well as expected change in organizational culture was gathered before the empirical research was initiated. The empirical research was carried out at the Customer Logistics department at Ericsson through: an interview with a manager in charge of the relocation and design of the office, a manager for the specified department and also five employees of this department. The empirical studies show that there was a significant change in organizational culture and that results were not always as expected. There was a loss in symbolic actions, which needed to be compensated for, a perceived reduction in spontaneous communication, and a mixed response of perceived change in social interaction. The plan Ericsson used for designing the open office was well developed and worked thoroughly with trying to involve the employees to gain their acceptance to the change. One could argue that the execution could be improved by a more consistent process through which employees would feel more empowered and have a more positive approach to the change in working environment. We found that the change in organizational culture demands a management that facilitates the change and adapts to changes in in the culture.