When Culture Takes Over

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how trainees in a big Swedish telecommunications company are being socialized into becoming the future leaders of the company Theoretical framework: In our theoretical framework we have focused upon existing research that theorizes the relation between leadership, culture and socialization, with particular focus on the way this relation has been established within transformational leadership research. Methodology: The study is based on qualitative research and the inductive method has been used. We have conducted semi structured interviews with participants and interpreted their answers. Findings: Our study is based on a company’s socialization of trainees into leadership. We have conducted interviews with current trainees and managers about this process and their view of leadership. Discussion: The theoretical distinction between transformational and transactional leadership has been an essential theory in our discussion that has assisted us to discuss the interplay between leadership, culture and socialization. Through socialization individuals are adapting to the culture and become transactional leaders. This, however, could be perceived as management rather than as leadership. Transformational leadership is substituted by the culture. Conclusion: In this case study we have found that the trainee program which is aiming to create the leaders of the future is creating the managers of the future. The reason for this is that the strong culture is influencing the socialization process which in turn is facilitating the creation of transactional leaders. We also found that organizational culture is substituting leadership in this organization which might be preferable for the organization. Culture has taken over the role of leadership within the organization

Motivera medarbetare

Bakgrund: Betydelsen av medarbetare i kunskapsintensiva företag har på senare tid blivit allt viktigare eftersom företagets värde ligger i medarbetares kunskap. Detta har lett till ett intresse att motivera medarbetare i kunskapsintensiva företag. Syfte: Syftet med vår uppsats är att undersöka vad som motiverar anställda i arbetet i kunskapsintensiva företag. Metod: I arbetet har vi använt oss av den deduktiva processen. Vi har genomfört kvalitativa intervjuer på två fallföretag, E.on och Grant Thornton. Teoretiska perspektiv: Vår teoretiska referensram bygger på de fyra motivationsteorierna: behovsteorier, kognitiva teorier, sociala teorier och arbetskaraktäristiska teorier. Vi har även använt teorier som behandlar inre och yttre motivation. Empiri: Det empiriska materialet består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter på E.on och Grant Thornton. Resultat: Motivation tycks vara individbaserat men vi har dock kunnat dra några generella slutsatser. De slutsatser vi kan dra är att personal i kunskapsintensiva företag känner bristande motivation vid monotona arbetsuppgifter och känner sig speciellt motiverade i situationer där de styrs av inre motivationsfaktorer. Självbestämmande och tydlig definierad arbetsroll behövs i samverkan med varandra för att individer ska känna sig motiverade