We propose that autoethnography has a fruitful contribution to make to organizational research. The ethnographic process has always been an essential way of studying culture, including organizational culture. The introspective and retrospective nature of autoethnography can enhance understanding of the link between the individual and the organization very effectively. The intensely reflexive nature of autoethnography allows the organizational researcher to make that link. An aesthetic style of prose helps. An increasing use of first person narrative in organizational research also helps. Co-constructed autoethnography is proposed. The intensely emotive and personal nature of autoethnography impacts upon the sensemaking of the reader. The extant literature can be weaved into the autoethnographic narrative.
Purpose -This paper compares the experiential consumption values that motivate consumer choice to purchase online for both male and female purchasers and non-purchasers. Design/methodology/approach -Using the theory of consumption value the study examines gendered perceptions of the functional, social and conditional value of using a virtual consumption setting for purchasing. Data was collected through an online survey and analysed using multiple discriminant analysis to determine meaningful differences between male and female purchasers and non-purchasers. Findings -The findings show that male online purchasers are discriminated from female purchasers by social value and from male non-purchasers by conditional value. Female purchasers are discriminated from male purchasers by functional value and from female non-purchasers by social value. Female non-purchasers are discriminated from female purchasers by conditional value. Male non-purchasers are discriminated from male purchasers by functional and social value. Research limitations/implications -Limitations include using an Internet survey and an Australian sample which may impact the generalisability of the findings to a wider population of Internet users. Future research should involve replication of the study in a country more or less developed in terms of gender composition of internet users to extend the generalisability of the findings. Additionally, researchers should examine whether other dimensions of consumption value, such as social influence through on-and off-line communication networks, may influence consumer choice to purchase online. Practical implications -The study provides practical implications for marketers to leverage consumption values that influence male and female consumers' choice to purchase online and then drive their behaviour online through integrated marketing campaigns that involve both on-and offline strategies. Originality/value -The research makes an original contribution to the consumer behaviour literature as to date, no research has been found that undertakes such a comprehensive gender-based comparison of the perceived value of using a virtual consumption setting for purchasing.
This study uses the neo-Durkheimian conceptual framework of Mysterium and Onus to illustrate how spiritual work is used to accomplish emotional balance within emotion-laden organizational contexts. The constant emotional oscillations experienced by paramedics within an emergency services organization show how spiritual work is accomplished at the level of paramedic-patient interaction, emotional equilibrium within the self, and degrees of connectedness to the organization itself. We contend that in heavily emotion-laden organizational contexts where life-changing events are occurring, spiritual work is an important part of the emotional labor process. In turn, balancing emotions is a major part of `balancing' Mysterium (the sacred) and Onus (the profane). We conclude that emotion-laden organizations need to approach the practice of spirituality as an extremely sophisticated and complex phenomenon. While current trends towards `spiritualizing' the workplace through the legitimizing of corporate spiritualities may result in a more controlled and less enchanted workplace, spirituality may well remain as one of the few ways in which workers can practice resistance in a controlled work environment.
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