Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Die Wirkung organisationaler Rituale – Eine qualitative Interviewstudie

The effects of organizational rituals – A qualitative interview study

  • Hauptbeiträge
  • Published:
Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Zusammenfassung

Organisationale Rituale stellen ein Paradox dar. Sie sind in Unternehmen und anderen Organisationen weit verbreitet, erfüllen jedoch keinen offensichtlichen Unternehmenszweck. In der psychologischen Ritualforschung wird postuliert, dass Gruppenrituale wichtige soziale Funktionen erfüllen und damit eine Anpassung an das Leben in großen Gruppen darstellen. Die bisherige Forschung zu organisationalen Ritualen wird von Fallstudien beherrscht, welche die Perspektive der Ritualteilnehmer häufig außer Acht lassen. Ziel dieses Beitrages ist es daher zu untersuchen, welche Wirkungen Organisationsmitglieder Gruppenritualen zuschreiben und ihre impliziten Theorien zum Entstehen dieser Wirkungen zu erfassen. Auf Grundlage von qualitativen Interviews mit Beschäftigen verschiedener Organisationen, aus verschiedenen Branchen und in unterschiedlichen Positionen und Anstellungsverhältnissen werden die attribuierten Ritualwirkungen auf der individuellen und der Gruppenebene dargestellt. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass organisationale Gruppenrituale vorrangig mit positiven Wirkungen verknüpft werden, wobei die Förderung und Herstellung eines Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühls die am häufigsten genannte Wirkung darstellt. Mit praktischen Implikationen, die aus den Befunden abgeleitet werden, schließt der Beitrag ab.

Abstract

Organizational rituals pose a paradox. They are ubiquitous in business and other organizations; however, they do not fulfill an obvious organizational purpose. Psychological research on ritual suggests that group rituals fulfill important social functions and thereby solve the adaptive problems associated with living in large groups. Prior research on organizational ritual is dominated by case studies that often neglect the ritual participants’ perspective. Thus, in this article we aim at investigating which effects organizational members attribute to organizational rituals and at tapping into the implicit theories concerning the evolution of these effects. Based on qualitative interviews conducted with employees of different organizations from different sectors, holding different positions and employment contracts, the effects of organizational rituals on the individual as well as on the group level will be presented. Results suggest that organizational group rituals are linked above all with positive effects, whereby fostering and establishing group cohesion is the most frequently mentioned effect. The article will conclude with practical implications derived from the study results.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Literatur

  • Anand, N., & Watson, M. R. (2004). Tournament rituals in the evolution of fields: the case of the Grammy Awards. Academy of Management Journal, 47(1), 59–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bastian, B., Jetten, J., & Ferris, L. J. (2014). Pain as social glue: shared pain increases cooperation. Psychological Science, 25(11), 2079–2085.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beal, D. J., Cohen, R. R., Burke, M. J., & McLendon, C. L. (2003). Cohesion and performance in groups: a meta-analytic clarification of construct relations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(6), 989–1004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beyer, J. M., & Trice, H. M. (1987). How an organization’s rites reveal its culture. Organizational Dynamics, 15(4), 5–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dacin, M. T., Munir, K., & Tracey, P. (2010). Formal dining at Cambridge colleges: linking ritual performance and institutional maintenance. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1393–1418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Domenico, M., & Phillips, N. (2009). Sustaining the ivory tower: Oxbridge formal dining as organizational ritual. Journal of Management Inquiry, 18(4), 326–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (2009). Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: a word from two perspectives. Psychological Inquiry, 6(4), 267–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Echter, D. (2011). Führung braucht Rituale. So sichern Sie nachhaltig den Erfolg Ihres Unternehmens (2. Aufl.). München: Vahlen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. A. (1922). On the interpretation of chi square from contingency tables, and the calculation of P. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 85, 87–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flick, U. (2014). The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis. London: SAGE.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Flores-Pereira, M. T., Davel, E., & Cavedon, N. R. (2008). Drinking beer and understanding organizational culture embodiment. Human Relations, 61(7), 1007–1026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, S. G., & Sutton, R. I. (1986). Functions of parting ceremonies in dying organizations. The Academy of Management Journal, 29(1), 5–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, M. (2002). Der Mythos von den Leistungseliten. Spitzenkarrieren und soziale Herkunft in Wirtschaft, Politik, Justiz und Wissenschaft. Frankfurt am Main: Campus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartnell, C. A., Ou, A. Y., & Kinicki, A. (2011). Organizational culture and organizational effectiveness: a meta-analytic investigation of the competing values framework’s theoretical suppositions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(4), 677–694.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hülsheger, U. R., Anderson, N., & Salgado, J. F. (2009). Team-level predictors of innovation at work: a comprehensive meta-analysis spanning three decades of research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(5), 1128.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Iannaccone, L. R. (1992). Sacrifice and stigma: reducing free-riding in cults, communes, and other collectives. Journal of Political Economy, 100(2), 271–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Islam, G., & Zyphur, M. J. (2009). Rituals in organizations: a review and expansion of current theory. Group & Organization Management, 34(1), 114–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson, D. (1996). Celebrating good-bye: functional components in farewell parties for retiring employees in Israel. Journal of Aging Studies, 10(3), 223–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jäggi, C. J. (2009). Sozio-kultureller Code, Rituale und Management. Neue Perspektiven in interkulturellen Feldern (1. Aufl.). Wiesbaden: VS.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kapitány, R., & Nielsen, M. (2016). The ritual stance and the precaution system: the role of goal-demotion and opacity in ritual and everyday actions. Religion, Brain & Behavior doi:10.1080/2153599X.2016.1141792.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klep, A., Wisse, B., & van der Flier, H. (2011). Interactive affective sharing versus non-interactive affective sharing in work groups: comparative effects of group affect on work group performance and dynamics. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41(3), 312–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koschmann, M. A., & McDonald, J. (2015). Organizational rituals, communication, and the question of agency. Management Communication Quarterly, 29(2), 229–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreinath, J., Snoek, J., & Strausberg, M. (Hrsg.). (2006). Theorizing rituals. Issues, topics, approaches, concepts. Bd. 114,1. Leiden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • LAB & Company (2013). Großunternehmen knausern bei Weihnachtsfeiern. http://labcompany.net/de/news/pressemeldungen/detail/30-lab-managerpanel Pressemitteilung. Zugegriffen: 11.08.2016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lackner, K. (2015). Affiliationsverlust und Kompensation – Über den Niedergang von Gemeinschaft, der Freiheit des Individuums, und den organisationalen Versuchen der Wiederherstellung von Bindung in Form von spirituellen und quasi religiösen Inszenierungen. Gruppendynamik und Organisationsberatung, 46(2), 173–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Legare, C. H., & Nielsen, M. (2015). Imitation and innovation: the dual engines of cultural learning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(11), 688–699.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Legare, C. H., & Souza, A. L. (2012). Evaluating ritual efficacy: evidence from the supernatural. Cognition, 124(1), 1–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Legare, C. H., & Souza, A. L. (2014). Searching for control: priming randomness increases the evaluation of ritual efficacy. Cognitive Science, 38(1), 152–161.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McComas, K., Besley, J. C., & Black, L. W. (2010). The rituals of public meetings. Public Administration Review, 70(1), 122–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, L., Lumsden, J., Richardson, M., & Macrae, C. N. (2011). Do birds of a feather move together? Group membership and behavioral synchrony. Experimental Brain Research, 211(3–4), 495–503.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norton, M. I., & Gino, F. (2014). Rituals alleviate grieving for loved ones, lovers, and lotteries. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(1), 266–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Over, H., & Carpenter, M. (2009). Priming third-party ostracism increases affiliative imitation in children. Developmental Science, 12(3), 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Páez, D., Rimé, B., Basabe, N., Wlodarczyk, A., & Zumeta, L. (2015). Psychosocial effects of perceived emotional synchrony in collective gatherings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(5), 711–729.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peck, E., Perri, S., Gulliver, P., & Towell, D. (2004). Why do we keep on meeting like this? the board as ritual in health and social care. Health Services Management Research, 17, 100–109.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, J. (1981). Management as symbolic action: The creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms. Research in Organizational Behavior, 3, 1–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plester, B. (2014). Ingesting the organization: the embodiment of organizational food rituals. Culture and Organization, 21(3), 251–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rennung, M., & Göritz, A. S. (2015). Facing sorrow as a group unites. Facing sorrow in a group divides. PLoS ONE, 10(9), e0136750.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rennung, M., & Göritz, A. S. (2016). Prosocial consequences of interpersonal synchrony: a meta-analysis. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 224, 168–189.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rohlen, T. P. (1970). Sponsorship of cultural continuity in Japan: a company training program. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 5(3), 184–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossano, M. J. (2012). The essential role of ritual in the transmission and reinforcement of social norms. Psychological Bulletin, 138(3), 529–549.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roy, D. F. (1959). „Banana time“: job satisfaction and informal interaction. Human Organization, 18(4), 158–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheele, B., & Groeben, N. (1984). Die Heidelberger Struktur-Lege-Technik (SLT). E. Dialog-Konsens-Methode zur Erhebung subjektiver Theorien mittlerer Reichweite. Weinheim: Beltz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schein, E. H. (1984). Coming to a new awareness of organizational culture. Sloan Management Review, 25(2), 3–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scholtz, C. (2006). „Auf den Tisch bringen, was auf den Tisch muss“. Über Rituale in der Organisationsentwicklung am Beispiel eines Rituals zur Bearbeitung alter Konflikte. Zeitschrift für Organisationsentwicklung und Gemeindeberatung, 8, 4–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. C. T., & Stewart, B. (2011). Organizational rituals: features, functions and mechanisms. International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(2), 113–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soler, M. (2012). Costly signaling, ritual and cooperation: evidence from Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33(4), 346–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinhardt, M. A., Dolbier, C. L., Gottlieb, N. H., & McCalister, K. T. (2003). The relationship between hardiness, supervisor support, group cohesion, and job stress as predictors of job satisfaction. American Journal of Health Promotion, 17(6), 382–389.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trice, H. M., & Beyer, J. M. (1984). Studying organizational cultures through rites and ceremonials. Academy of Management Review, 9(4), 653–669.

    Google Scholar 

  • Väänänen, A., Tordera, N., Kivimäki, M., Kouvonen, A., Pentti, J., Linna, A., & Vahtera, J. (2008). The role of work group in individual sickness absence behavior. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 49(4), 452–467.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vohs, K. D., Wang, Y., Gino, F., & Norton, M. I. (2013). Rituals enhance consumption. Psychological Science, 20(10), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, E. T., Ying, T.-C., Jiang, J. J., & Klein, G. (2006). Group cohesion in organizational innovation: an empirical examination of ERP implementation. Information and Software Technology, 48(4), 235–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson-Jones, R. E., & Legare, C. H. (2016). The social functions of group rituals. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(1), 42–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson-Jones, R. E., Whitehouse, H., & Legare, C. H. (2016). In-group ostracism increases high-fidelity imitation in early childhood. Psychological Science, 27(1), 34–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, W., Launay, J., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2016). Joint attention, shared goals, and social bonding. British Journal of Psychology, 107(2), 322–337.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Xygalatas, D., Mitkidis, P., Fischer, R., Reddish, P., Skewes, J., Geertz, A. W., et al. (2013). Extreme rituals promote prosociality. Psychological Science, 24(8), 1602–1605.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Danksagung

Wir danken Irini Johann und Caroline Fortunski für ihre Unterstützung bei der Durchführung der Interviews sowie Janna Küllenberg für ihre Unterstützung bei der Entwicklung des Kodiersystems. Dieses Projekt wurde durch eine Förderung der Deutschen Forschungsgesellschaft an Göritz unterstützt (Fördernummer GO 1107/13–1).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Abteilung für Wirtschaftspsychologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Engelbergerstraße 41, 79085, Freiburg, Deutschland

    Miriam Rennung &  Anja S. Göritz

Authors
  1. Miriam Rennung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anja S. Göritz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miriam Rennung.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rennung, M., Göritz, A.S. Die Wirkung organisationaler Rituale – Eine qualitative Interviewstudie. Gr Interakt Org 48, 327–338 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-017-0379-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-017-0379-1

Schlüsselwörter

Keywords

Search

Navigation