 Metaphors and organizational identity in the Italian public servicesTatiana Pipan Scandinavian Journal of Management, 2000, vol. 16, issue 4, 391-409 Abstract: This article calls in question the stereotyped image of the lazy and idle employee, lacking motivation or a sense of responsibility. In analysing three case histories in the secretarial offices of a major university department, in a registry office and in a specialist ward in a medium-size hospital, we discovered an unexpected world of cooperation, commitment and initiatives. In this research attention focuses on the operators' point of view, i.e. the complex interactions with the public, the symbolic frames created to justify one's own role and routine, the metaphors used to explain the dilemma of a difficult everyday life. Running a service means offering a non-material product in which personal attitudes, organizational abilities and communication codes all play a decisive role. Perhaps the observation of small communities at work may help us to find that lost way out of the labyrinth of the Italian public administration. Keywords: Organizational; culture; Symbolic; frames; Street-level; bureaucracy; Metaphors; Public; administration; metaphors (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:scaman:v:16:y:2000:i:4:p:391-409 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Scandinavian Journal of Management is currently edited by Janne Tienari More articles in Scandinavian Journal of Management from Elsevier |
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