The ritual of coffee break inside organizations: toward social efficiency and/or performance? Cover Image

Le rituel de la pause-café au sein des organisations: à la poursuite d'efficacité sociale et /ou de performance?
The ritual of coffee break inside organizations: toward social efficiency and/or performance?

Author(s): Claire Bompaire-Evesque
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: ESSACHESS
Keywords: interaction rituals; symbolic communication; organization; team work; coffee break

Summary/Abstract: This research examines a non-formal ritual practice- the coffee break- inside organizations. Based on a survey conducted on 12 marketing and commercial teams in France, we anlyse if the coffee break has an objective of social efficiency or of performance. While solving this question, our results also reveal the importance of seniority in the observed behaviors, suggesting that it symbolizes an informal level of authority in front of the formal authority symbolized by the status.

  • Issue Year: VIII/2015
  • Issue No: 01
  • Page Range: 27-35
  • Page Count: 10