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Human Relations
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Organizational Cultures as Holding Environments: A Psychodynamic Look at Organizational Symbolism

William Van Buskirk

La Salle University, 1900 W. Olney Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19141.

Dennis McGrath

Community College of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The traditional formulation of symbols as "bundles of meaning" has supported many fine-grained analyses of organizational culture. However, it tends to obscure deeper psychodynamic elements that are essential to shaping how culture forms, develops, and dies. This paper adapts the idea of "holding environment" from Winnicott, Kegan, and others to sketch the potential contribution of such a psychodynamic perspective. An illustrative case is presented to support the argument.

Key Words: organizational culture • organizational symbolism • psychodynamics • holding environment

Human Relations, Vol. 52, No. 6, 805-832 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/001872679905200606
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