Tracce e forme del convivere organizzativo

Abstract

Traces and Forms of Organizational Cohabitation

This article aims at taking stock of the state of the art as far as the theme of cohabitation in organizations and outlining a new theoretical proposal are concerned. A thorough examination of literature highlights that there are almost no works specifically coping with this theme, defining its theoretical perspective and specifying the choice of proposed indicators. Several, instead, are the works indirectly dealing with cohabitation, mostly considered equivalent to the quality of interpersonal relationships, or developed starting from the theme of diversity and conflict. An important defining effort was carried out by Renzo Carli (2000), who defines cohabitation as the symbolic component of a social relationship, caused by three components: association systems, strangers and rules of the game. Cohabitation means integrating these three elements of a relationship in order to create innovative products. This article proposes a review of this model, specifically designed for the organizational field. Organizational cohabitation is meant as the result of the intertwined whole of Identity, Otherness and Work Purpose, within specific organizational cultures of diversity. Starting from this reading model in communication with the multi-year research and intervention experience in various organizational contexts, we propose a typology of organizational cohabitation forms which were empirically pointed out: generative-efficient, affiliation, prestation, and chaotic-paralyzing cohabitation forms.