Organizational culture in a collaborative project : A qualitative study of what occurs to the organizational culture in a public collaboration project.

Abstract

Organizational culture is a phenomenon that characterizes many organizations. The culture reflects the norms, values, and language that organizations use. This information is compiled by the members and passed on in the case of new employment. Projects are the modern way of working in organizations in contemporary society. It is an effective and competence-developing method. By gathering professions from different organizations during an appointed period of time, leads to different professional organizations collaborating with each other. Cultural differences can then emerge, the question is whether a common culture is formed among the participating organizations and if so, how does the cultural aspect affect the collaborative work between authorities? The study is based on six qualitative semi-structured interviews and an evaluation made by The Iceland Project. The collected material has been analysed using a qualitative content analysis. The result is twofold. In some perspectives, the authorities have created a common culture, however aspects have also been discovered that indicate that they cannot adopt a common culture. The impact of the organizational culture on the collaborative work in the project has been considerably small. There have been situations where the organizations have had different cultures that created various cultural clashes, but it has never been an obstacle. Good communication has solved substantial parts of issues that have emerged during the process. The project has created a willingness in the involved authorities to continue to collaborate with each other, as collaboration is of great importance to society