Physical objects and commodities in organizations transmit messages to employees as symbols. Physical symbols used by individuals and organizations include; clothes and accessories, buildings and offices, technology and especially technological tools and other symbolic objects. The analysis of the physical or material aspects of organizations (such as things, objects, materials and buildings), answers to questions such as how these objects mediate, how these objects are shared, how they affect organizational processes are important sources of information for understanding organizations.
Published in Chapter:
Organizational Symbolism: An Overview of the Tourism Industry
Bekir Esitti (Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey) and Buket Buluk (Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 19
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1474-0.ch011
Abstract
This chapter discusses the issue of organizational symbolism, which is frequently encountered in business life, and its meaning in the tourism industry. Symbols are the most apparent and observable aspects of organizational life; simultaneously, symbolic elements are the most subtle and comprehensive. Due to the nature of the hospitality sector, the workflow takes place instantaneously. Therefore, employees, managers, and tourists search for some of the generally accepted symbols used in the organisation during this rapid workflow. If symbols are removed from this relationship, communication suffers and as a result harms the overall functioning of the organization. This chapter proposes that it is important to look at the origins of the organizational symbolism and to comprehend the role of symbols in the tourism industry. In this sense, this chapter should be seen primarily as an effort to review and systematize the overall understanding of organizational symbols in the tourism industry.