Suchergebnisse

Relationships are central to organizing, work, and organizations. Yet, in many instances, relationships do not build themselves, and third-party actors are often needed to intervene in situations, persuade individuals, and facilitate connections across disconnected actors in organizations. Little is known about the strategies through which third-party actors can broker relationships across what are considered to be intractable social boundaries—membership in stigmatized or nonstigmatized social identity-based groups. We build a process theory of what we call "bridgework," the strategy used by third-party agents, intermediaries, and allies to bridge by shifting value-related perceptions about actors on the other side of social identity-based divides. More specifically, we focus on a stigmatizing social identity that can create boundaries that are often reinforced through informal network ties. Based on interviews, participatory observation, and archival data with job coaches for adults with autism spectrum disorders and related developmental disabilities, we showcase a model of bridgework—a combination of internal and external strategies across three stages (adding, stabilizing, and maintaining perceptions of value) to facilitate relationships between stigmatized and nonstigmatized members of organizations. We discuss how our grounded model contributes to the rich traditions of research on stigma, brokerage, disability studies, positive relationships, and compassion in organizations. Funding: This project was supported by a Smeal Small Research Grant in Spring 2015.

Organizational members are often faced with tremendous demands on their individual identities that affect their performance at work and their well-being as individuals.Previous research has been limited, however, by typically studying identity at either the individual or the organizational level. We therefore introduce a boundary approach that simultaneously examines identities across levels in order to better understand these identity demands. Specifically, we examine boundary dynamics that are negotiated at the interface of individual and organizational identities. We introduce the identity boundary dynamics of identity intrusion, distance and balance as different manifestations of identity boundary (in)congruence, both within and between individuals and organizations. Finally, we outline propositions that suggest boundary dynamics as a source of identity change.

Ashforth and Kreiner (1999) documented how workers in so-called "dirty work" occupations were able to overcome threats to their social identities by engaging in the cognitive tactics of ideology manipulation and social weighting. This paper expands Ashforth and Kreiner's work in three ways. First, we move beyond an exclusive focus on intense dirty work occupations by mapping the broader landscape of stigmatized work. Second, we examine how system justification theory and social identity theory—typically cast as competing mechanisms by which individuals and groups perceive their places in a social structure—can complement each other to tell a more complete story of how individuals and groups deal with stigmatized identities. Third, we consider how stigmatized workers experience identification, disidentification, and ambivalence as a result of conflicting occupational and societal influences.

In an increasingly fast-paced work environment filled with distractions, an overabundance of information, and complex decision making, scholars and practitioners alike have begun to recognize the need to slow down and direct attention to the present moment. As such, the study and implementation of mindfulness in the workplace has received growing attention in recent years. This body of work, however, is preoccupied with the outcomes of individual- and collective-level mindfulness, largely ignoring mindfulness as brought into workplace interactions and relationships. In this study, we take a qualitative, grounded theory approach wherein we put forth and unpack a model of interpersonal mindfulness infusion: the process whereby individuals instill their mindfulness into their workplace interactions and relationships. We further distinguish between formal and informal and self- and other-focused mindfulness practices. We show how these practices underlie the mindfulness infusion process and can enhance workplace interactions and relationships. In doing so, we contribute to the organizational literature on mindfulness and positive relationships at work.