Organizational Artefacts

This chapter is aimed at introducing the topic of organizational artefacts as the primary building blocks or organization design. Artefacts can include colours, dress and accessories, furnishings, buildings, offices, stores, vehicles, windows, cartoons, logos and emblems, as well as the policies, procedures and systems that make the organization function on a daily basis. They are sociomaterial entities and have a profound influence in organizational life by enabling, hindering and even prescribing action, as well as in defining participation and regulating systems, routines and organizational processes. Artefacts can be described in terms of types, functions or extent of contribution to organizational meanings, i.e., they can be considered in terms of the meanings for the people who design, create or implement them, for the people who use or are affected by them, for the participants in organizational interactions occurring in daily organizational life, and for external stakeholders when interacting with the organization. From this very brief description, it is clear that the diversity of perspectives on artefacts in organizations is enormous and for the reason the topic will not be developed in any depth. However, the chapter has an important message for the remainder of the book, i.e., given that all interactions, relationships and experiences that form the organization’s design are mediated by organizational artefacts, the way we design artefacts is crucial for everything the organization wishes to do, including its ethical positioning on social, corporate governance and environmental issues.