Manifestações da cultura organizacional em empresas virtuais - um estudo de caso

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate how different levels of manifestation of culture in companies where electronic interactions predominate are formed. To that, the tools for transmitting information in the companies studied and the processes of interactions adopted are identified in order to recognize the core ideology, perceived and exposed values and cultural practices, including myths, rituals and symbols. Were analyzed by the method of integrated case study seven virtual enterprises, characterized by the absence of physical thirst, geographical remoteness and employee interactions done predominantly by digital means. The adopted sources of evidence were semi-structured interviews with managers and partners of virtual enterprises, document analysis and content analysis listed in the pages of organizations and of the respondents in social networks. Data were analyzed from the perspective of content analysis, identifying cultural manifastations in virtual enterprises analyzed. From the perspective of differentiation, it was possible to identify that daily confrontations result in shared experiences, although those experiences have different meanings for each member of the organization. Then, the digital interactions proved sufficient to enable the sharing of aims and objectives. The availability of information on the internet about companies, allied to the ease of access to managers, facilitate the spread of values, although these values are often confused with the own managers personal characteristics. As contributions, this study allows some insights into virtual enterprises, especially regarding the use of time, the establishment of partnerships and flexible work, enabling further reflections on the boundaries between public and private companies in using telecommuting.