Home Office and Organisational Culture: Exploring the Impact of a Sudden Shift

Abstract

Organisational culture is a well-established topic within research, how employees' interaction on a daily basis creates a commonality in behaviour and way of thinking. The Covid-19 pandemic forced many organisations into a sudden shift to home office, in which employee contact became severely restricted. Office meetings, lunch breaks and small talk by the coffee machine are common occurrences for an office worker. However, during a time where limiting personal interactions is the goal, this could all change. International business research has long focused on employee geographical dispersion, virtual communication and organisational culture. However, the sudden shift experienced during the pandemic presents a situation of uncertainty, unknown to researchers. This study aims to understand how the sudden shift to home office affects organisational culture. Through an abductive research approach, previous IB theory is used to analyse and understand the empirical findings. A case study is conducted to gain a deeper understanding of a single case company, one of Sweden’s largest MNE’s. Through the analysis, it is concluded that the organisational culture is indeed affected by a sudden shift to home office. Employee’s individual variation in behaviour increases during home office, meetings and interactions are less dictated by culture, and new communication culture is created. However, the previous culture of the organisation, based on individuality and autonomy, proves to be a significant benefactor to the case company in limiting negative effects. The study contributes to the existing literature by finding ways to apply IB research to a home office setting. It further contributes new knowledge to research on home office and organisational culture, by presenting the identified effects of home office and ways to manage them.