Browsing Research documents by Author "Søderberg, Anne-Marie"
Now showing items 1-7 of 7
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theoretical considerations in connection with a series of case studies of foreign acquisitions of Danish companiesCardel Gertsen, Martine; Søderberg, Anne-Marie (København, 1996)[More information][Less information]
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Chinese and Expatriate AccountsSøderberg, Anne-Marie; Worm, Verner (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to explore how Chinese and expatriate managers, working in subsidiaries of five MNCs, communicate and collaborate, what kind of cultural encounters they talk about and give prominence to in their accounts of critical incidents, how they reflect upon them/ explain them, and how they cope with perceived similarities and differences to improve cross-cultural communication and collaboration within a global organization. Using an inductive qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, the study draws on indepth narrative interviews with 29 expatriate and 39 Chinese managers and experts. The specific value of this paper is that it explores a hitherto under-researched issue and provides insight into well-educated expatriate and Chinese managers´ accounts of how they perceive themselves and others in a multicultural work context. In both groups we find widely traveled, flexible and open-minded people, who are ready and have the capabilities to conduct cross-cultural leadership. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8353 Files in this item: 1
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a social constructionis perspectiveSøderberg, Anne-Marie; Cardel Gertsen, Martine (København, 2000)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: There have been a number of attempts to explain post-merger problems by cultural differences, and in this paper, we argue that much previous research on mergers is based on an essentialist concept of culture. We claim that this conception is a problematic starting point for cultural studies, and argue for a social constructionist alternative. The conceptual challenges we address are: decontextualization of cultural issues, cultural differentiation and fragmentation, and structural versus processual views on culture. We also outline an agenda for future merger research and argue for studies focusing on cultural sensemaking processes in merging organizations by adopting narrative perspectives. Key words: merger, culture, organizational change, integration, social constructionism, narrative. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6942 Files in this item: 1
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a case studyPogner, Karl-Heinz; Søderberg, Anne-Marie (København, 2001)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper is based on an explorative case study of all.department e-mails that were sent on the Intranet of a Danish university department. Following a social constructionist approach, our analysis assumes that language use shapes relations, identities, and representations. We thus investigate which social relations are expressed and constructed in the e-mail discourse and how the organizational world of the department is represented in the all.department e-mails. Our analyses of the e-mails show that the managerial voices are dominant as well as the perception of e-mail communication as a tool of information transmission. However, a few e-mails sent by employees without specific organizational functions differ significantly from the "managerial" mails. In these mails employee voices articulate a latent and unfulfilled need for a community and a forum for dialogue. The usage of the all.department e-mail communication is also related to the ongoing change of managing university departments in Denmark. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7726 Files in this item: 1
all.email.pdf (187.3Kb) -
A Qualitative Case StudySøderberg, Anne-Marie (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Previous research tends to overemphasize frictions, cultural clashes and communication breakdowns in virtual teams. The author aims at exploring positive aspects of cross-cultural collaboration and identifying some of the conditions underlying trust-building, employee motivation and team effectiveness. Whereas much research on virtual teams has taken its point of departure in Western MNCs and primarily addressed headquarter concerns, this case study of a Danish MNC´s Indian R & D site gives voice to Indian managers and employees and explores through semi-structured interviews and observations how they perceive communication and collaboration within multinational and multicultural R & D teams, and how they try to find common ground. Based on the interviews accounts, there are several enablers of virtual team collaboration: advanced information and communication technology facilitated virtual communication, and high English-language proficiency among the engineers at different R & D sites made dialogue and knowledge exchange feasible. Moreover, team members shared a strong professional identity as engineers and technicians, and they displayed a strong identification with the MNC, a world leader in the wind power industry. Perceived national differences in leadership and communication style played a minor role, maybe because the majority of Indian managers and employees had previous experience working in other Western MNCs. Some of the Indian managers and employees were even able to act as boundary-spanners between headquarters and the Indian R&D site due to their study and work experiences in other business environments. Culture courses that introduced the Danish and Indian team members to a North European communication and management style, and to an Indian respectively, were introduced on the initiative of the Danish managing director, who - in contrast to the HR department - recognized the importance of facilitating the virtual teamwork through cultural awareness training. Suggestions for further cultural learning processes are given. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8566 Files in this item: 1
Søderberg IHRM 2012 conference paper.pdf (98.55Kb) -
a narrative approach to the study of international acquisitionsSøderberg, Anne-Marie (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Most studies of mergers and acquisitions have a managerial tilt and are founded on short visits to the companies investigated. This essay is based on a longitudinal study of a company that experiences a series of international acquisitions, giving voice to a wide range of organizational actors at different hierarchical levels, interviewed at different points of time over a period of six years. The collected narrative interviews are viewed as retrospective interpretations of change processes in the acquired company, made by organizational actors as parts of the plots they are continually constructing and revising to make sense of the course of organizational actions and events. Greimas’ actantial model is used to systematize the different plots that can be seen as results of both individual and collective processes of selection, hierarchization and sequencing of organizational actions and events. It is argued that a narrative approach is well suited to clarify changing patterns of identification and justification and to display different modes of storytelling. The narratological analyses moreover illustrate that even central actors within an acquired company often have such different work-views and world-views that it may be problematic or even counterproductive if upper-level management introduces corporate storytelling through conscious efforts without any negotiation of the different versions of stories told by the employees. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6962 Files in this item: 1
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a narratological perspective on international acquisitionSøderberg, Anne-Marie; Cardel Gertsen, Martine (Frederiksberg, 2000)[More information][Less information]
Now showing items 1-7 of 7