Mediation and anchoring of values in organizations : An interview study from a socio-cultural perspective

The study has aimed to investigate how Human Resources (HR) and management are working to mediate and anchor values in organizations. I have chosen to apply a socio-cultural perspective with the help of artifacts and mediating tools. The issues researched are; (i) “How do organizations mediate and anchor common values, and how does this affect the work with values?”, and (ii) “How can mediation and anchoring in organizations be understood from a socio-cultural perspective, focusing on artifacts and mediating tools?”.I have via e-mail interviewed four people working with HR in four different organizations. When analyzing the empirical data, I have been inspired by phenomenographic analysis selecting and focusing on important concepts, similarities, and differences in the responses from the informants. Within the socio-cultural perspective, the key aspects are communication and, above all, language. Artifacts and mediating tools may be considered intellectual or physical tools that we develop together with others through our thoughts and language. Values in organizations can be regarded as one such artifact or tool. The informants in the study consider work on values being a successful way to control and guide its organizations, particularly noting the importance of participation and commitment of all employees. Further, an important factor for the work on values to be overall successful, the work needs to be established and secured at all stages and in all processes. For a clear and interpretive leadership to build trust among the employees, decisions need to be based on a designed value system. With the socio-cultural perspective and artifacts and mediating tools, communication and knowledge appeared to be of great importance, which strengthens the thesis that mediating and anchoring is a prerequisite for the work on values to be meaningful. The intellectual tools provide a way to manage and control through language, and relating to values is a prerequisite to be part of an organization