EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Informal information flows in organizations: The role of the Italian coffee break

Christoph Barmeyer, Ulrike Mayrhofer () and Konstantin Würfl
Additional contact information
Christoph Barmeyer: Universität Passau [Passau]
Ulrike Mayrhofer: GRM - Groupe de Recherche en Management - EA 4711 - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Research on information flows within companies has focused on codified formalized information management tools. In practice, it is questionable whether IT-based management systems for storing and disseminating internal information in organizations are sufficiently used by the staff. As an alternative to centralized forms and instruments of information management, there are also informal and dialogic forms, such as the "coffee break" well known in Latin companies: employees come together spontaneously and thus contribute to "natural" internal fluid information circulation. Based on an empirical study conducted in Italian companies, this paper describes essential functions of the coffee break – as a dynamic inter-divisional and heterarchic organizational practice: these include coordination of work processes, confidence building, networking, problem solving, and extension of the meta-knowledge on organizational processes and structures. The paper contributes to the literature on information management by taking into account contextual elements.

Keywords: culture; implicit information management; societal context.; Italy; Information circulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-08
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published in International Business Review, 2019, 28 (4), pp.796-801

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02126482

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02126482