Three Essays Exploring How Deeply Embedded Norms Shape the Experience of Individuals and Organizations During Times of Transition

Abstract

This dissertation explores the role of deeply embedded norms in shaping the experience of individuals when transitioning to new roles as well as the experience of organizations when changing organizational practices. I analyze norms that stem from one’s past occupation as well as cultural norms at a broader societal level. Findings suggest that understanding the lasting influence of these norms is crucial to accessing the challenges that individuals and organizations face in moments of transition and change. The first essay examines how norms internalized in a former occupation – namely, norms of how responsibility is conceived – shape the experience of individuals transitioning into a managerial role. This study compares the shifting responsibilities of supervisors coming from a high-reliability occupation, where small errors can lead to serious consequences, versus a low-reliability occupation, where such concerns do not exist. Drawing mainly on interviews with former Paris subway drivers (high-reliability) and station agents (low-reliability) now promoted to supervisors, we analyze the change in “responsibility” experienced during such a transition. For subway drivers, stepping up into a managerial role entails a certain loss of what we label “personal” responsibility. By contrast, former station agents reported no such loss. Overall, our findings shed light on how specific occupational backgrounds shape the experience of responsibility when moving up the hierarchy and why workers coming from high-reliability occupations might experience a “managerial blues.” The second essay examines how broad societal norms of social distinction, and the degree to which organizations internalize these norms, influence an organization’s ability to benefit from becoming less hierarchical. Social distinction is defined as the differences in status, prestige, and power that distinguish and distance groups of individuals from one and other. Using longitudinal survey data of organizational practices of firms located in France, I find that when the degree of social distinction within an organization is high, it will not reap productivity and performance benefits even when introducing less hierarchical practices. I supplement my quantitative analysis with interviews of employees working in different types of organizations in France. The interviews reveal the challenges that organizations face when implementing less hierarchical practices in the French cultural context and on the varying role that social distinction plays. The third essay explores how societal norms of egalitarianism influence whether organizations benefit from the adoption of pay-for-performance compensation schemes. In addition I examine how the egalitarian norms of a multinational’s country of origin come into play. Using both interviews and longitudinal survey data of organizational practices of firms located in France, a country where egalitarian commitment to resource distribution is culturally strong, I find that adopting collective bonuses is more beneficial than adopting individualized bonuses. I also find that foreign MNEs, particularly those from countries where egalitarian commitment is relatively low, benefit significantly less than French MNEs when implementing collective bonuses in France. Overall findings shed light on how the cultural norm of egalitarianism can influence the effectiveness of adopting certain compensation practices and how being a cultural outsider can impact an organization’s successful implementation of such practices.