This article integrates material from the study of rites, rituals, and ceremonies to apply these constructs to the study of organizations. A brief history of the study of the constructs is offered. Theories concerning the components, types, and functions of rites, rituals, and ceremonies are described, followed by a survey of field research in organizations that applies these theories. Conclusions about the current state of knowledge in the field are followed by implications for future study.
Ashforth, B.E., Kulik, C.T., & Tomiuk, M.A. (2008). How service agents manage the person-role interface . Group & Organization Management, 33, 5-45.
2.
Austin, J.L. (1962). How to do things with words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
3.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
4.
Barley, S.R. (1986). Technology as an occasion for structuring: Observations on CT scanners and the social order of radiology departments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 78-108.
5.
Bate, S.P. (1997). Whatever happened to organizational anthropology? A review of the field of organizational ethnography and anthropological studies . Human Relations, 50(9), 1147-1175.
6.
Baum, H.S. (1990). Organizational membership: Personal development in the workplace. Albany: State University of New York Press.
7.
Bell, C. (1987). Discourse and dichotomies: The structure of ritual theory. Religion, 17, 95-118.
8.
Bell, C. (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and dimensions. New York: Oxford University Press.
9.
Berg, P.O. (1985). Organization change as a symbolic transformation process. In P. J. Frost, L. F. Moore, M. R. Louis, C. C. Lundberg, & J. Martin (Eds.), Organizational culture (pp. 281-299). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
10.
Beyer, J. (2000). Culture as a source, expression, and reinforcer of emotions in organizations. In R. L. Payne & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Emotions at work: Theory, research, and applications in management (pp. 173-198). New York: John Wiley.
11.
Beyer, J., & Trice, H. (1988). The communication of power relations in organizations through cultural rites. In M. O. Jones , M. D. Moore, & R. C. Snyder (Eds.), Inside organizations: Understanding the human dimension (pp. 141-157). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
12.
Biggart, N.W. (1977). The creative-destructive process of organizational change: The case of the post office. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 410-426.
13.
Bok, D.C., & Dunlop, J.T. (1970). Labor and the American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
14.
Bordia, P., Jones, E., Gallois, C., Callan, V.J., & DiFonzo, N. (2006). Managers are aliens! Group & Organization Management, 31, 601-621.
15.
Bordieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
16.
Clifford, J. (2002). The predicament of culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
17.
Conrad, C. (1983). Organizational power: Faces and symbolic forms . In L. L. Putnam & M. Pananowsky (Eds.), Communications and organizations: An interpretive approach (pp. 173-195). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
18.
Dandridge, T.C., Mitroff, I., & Joyce, W.F. (1980). Organizational symbolism: A topic to expand organizational analysis. Academy of Management Review, 5, 77-82.
19.
Deal, T., & Kennedy, A.A. (1982). Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley .
20.
Denison, D.R. (1996). What is the difference between organizational culture and organizational climate? A native's point of view on a decade of paradigm wars. Academy of Management Review, 21, 619-654.
21.
Durkheim, E. (1961). The elementary forms of religious life (J. W. Swain, Trans.). New York: Collier . (Original work published 1915)
22.
Durkheim, E. (1964). The division of labor in society (G. Simpson, Trans.). London: Collier-Macmillan.
23.
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1965). Theories of primitive religion. Oxford, UK: Clarendon.
24.
Firth, R. (1972). Verbal and bodily rituals of greeting and parting . In J. S. La Fontaine (Ed.), The interpretation of ritual (pp. 1-38). London: Tavistock.
25.
Gbadamosi, G. (2005). Ritualism, symbolism and magic in consultancy practice: An exploratory investigation. Management Decision , 43, 1129-1146.
26.
Gephart, R.J. (1978). Status degradation and organizational succession: An ethnomethodological approach. Administrative Science Quarterly , 23, 553-581.
27.
Gluckman, M. (1962). Les rites de passage. [rites of passage] In M. Gluckman (Ed.), Essays on the ritual of social relations (pp. 1-53). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
28.
Goody, J. (1961). Religion and ritual: The definitional problem . British Journal of Sociology, 12, 142-164.
29.
Grimes, R.L. (1990). Ritual criticism. Columbia : University of South Carolina Press.
30.
Hallier, J., & James, P. (1999). Group rites and trainer wrongs in employee experiences of job change. Journal of Management Studies, 36, 45-65.
31.
Harris, S., & Sutton, R. (1986). Functions of parting ceremonies in dying organizations . Academy of Management Journal, 29, 5-30.
32.
House, R.J., Rousseau, D.M., & Thomas-Hunt, M. (1995). The meso paradigm: A framework for the integration of micro and macro organizational behavior. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 17, pp. 71-114). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
33.
Kamoche, K. (1995). Rhetoric, ritualism and totemism in human resource management. Human Relations, 48, 367-382.
34.
Kreps, G.L. (1983). Using interpretive research: The development of a socialization program at R.C.A. In L. L. Putnam & M. M. Pananowsky (Eds.), Communication and organizations: An interpretive approach (pp. 243-256). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
35.
Leanna, C.R., & Barry, B. (2000). Stability and change as simultaneous experiences in organizational life. Academy of Management Review, 25, 753-759.
36.
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1945). French Sociology. In Twentieth Century Socology, Gurvitch and Moore, Eds, pp. 503-537. New York: The Philosophical Library.
37.
Lortie, D.C. (1968). Shared ordeal and induction to work. In H. Beeken, B. Geer, D. Riesman, & R. S. Weiss (Eds.), Institutions and the person (pp. 252-264). Chicago: Aldine.
38.
Martin, J. (1988). Symbolic responses to layoffs in a software manufacturing firm: Managing the meaning of an event. In M. O. Jones, M. D. Moore, & R. C. Snyder (Eds.), Inside organizations: Understanding the human dimension (pp. 209-227). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
39.
Mechling, J., & Wilson, D.S. (1988). Organizational festivals and the uses of ambiguity: The case of Picnic Day at Davis. In M. O. Jones, M. D. Moore, & R. C. Snyder (Eds.), Inside organizations: Understanding the human dimension (pp. 303-319). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
40.
Meyer, A.D. (1982). How ideologies supplant formal structures and shape responses to environments. Journal of Management Studies , 19(1), 45-61.
41.
Moore, S.F., & Myerhoff, B.G. (1977). Secular ritual: Forms and meaning. In S. F. Moore & B. G. Myerhoff (Eds.), Symbols and politics in communal ideology (pp. 3-25). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
42.
Mum, N. (1973). Symbolism in a ritual context. In J. J. Honigmann (Ed.), Handbook of social and cultural anthropology (p. 583). Chicago: Rand McNally.
43.
Nugent, P.D., & Abolafia, M.Y. (2006). The creation of trust through interaction and exchange: The role of consideration in organizations. Group & Organization Management, 31, 628-650.
44.
O'Reilly, C., III, & Chatman, J. (1996). Organizational commitment and psychological attachment: The effects of compliance, identification, and internalization on prosocial behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 492-499.
45.
Ortner, S. (1995). The case of the disappearing shamans, or, no individualism, no relationism. Ethos, 23, 355-390.
46.
Pfeffer, J. (1981). Management as symbolic action: The creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms. Research in Organizational Behavior, 31, 1-52.
47.
Pratt, M.G. (2000). The good, the bad, and the ambivalent: Managing identification among Amway distributors. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45, 456-493.
48.
Pratt, M.G., & Rafaeli, A. (1997). Organizational dress as a symbol of multilayered social identities. Academy of Management Journal, 40, 862-898.
49.
Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. (1952). Structure and function in primitive society: Essays and addresses. London: Cohen & West.
50.
Ritchie, M. (2000). Organizational culture: An examination of its effect on the internalization process and member performance. Southern Business Review, 25,2, 1-13.
51.
Rosen, M. (1985). Breakfast at Spiro's: Dramaturgy and dominance . Journal of Management, 11(2), 31-48.
52.
Sahlins, M. (1976). Culture and practical reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
53.
Schumacher, T. (1997). West Coast Camelot: The rise and fall of an organizational culture. In S. A. Sackmann (Ed.), Cultural complexity in organizations: Inherent contrasts and contradictions (pp. 107-132). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
54.
Seihl, C., Bowen, D., & Pearson, C.M. (1992). Service encounters as rites of integration: An information processing model. Organization Science, 3, 537-555.
55.
Silvester, J., Anderson, N. and Patterson, F. (1999). Organizational culture change: An inter-group attributional analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72, 1-23.
56.
Smircich, L. (1983). Concepts of culture and organizational analysis . Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 339-358.
57.
Smircich, L., & Stubbart, C. (1985). Strategic management in an enacted world. Academy of Management Review, 10, 724-736.
58.
Staal, F. (1991). Within ritual, about ritual and beyond. Religion, 21, 227-234.
59.
Strauss, G. (1982). Workers participation in management: An international perspective. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 173-265). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
60.
Trice, H.M., Belasco, J., & Alutto, J.A. (1969). The role of ceremonials in organizational behavior . Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 23, 40-51.
61.
Trice, H.M., & Beyer, J. (1984). Studying organizational cultures through rites and ceremonials. Academy of Management Review, 9, 653-669.
62.
Trice, H.M., & Beyer, J. (1985). Using six organizational rites to change cultures . In R. H. Kilmann, M. J. Saxton, & R. Serpa (Eds.), Gaining control of the corporate culture (pp. 370-399). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
63.
Trice, H.M., & Beyer, J. (1993). The cultures of work organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
64.
Turner, V.W. (1969). The ritual process. Chicago : Aldine.
65.
Van Gennep, A. (1960). Rites of passage (M. B. Vizedom & G. L. Caffee, Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1909)
66.
Van Maanen, J. (1973). Observations on the making of policemen. Human Organization, 32, 407-417.
67.
Van Maanen, J. (1975). Police socialization: A longitudinal examination of job attitudes in an urban police department. Administrate Science Quarterly, 20, 207-228.
68.
Van Maanen, J., & Schein, E.H. (1976). Toward a theory of organizational socialization . In B. M. Staw (Ed.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 1, pp. 209-264). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
69.
Vaught, C., & Smith, D.L. (1980). Incorporation and mechanical solidarity in an underground coal mine. Sociology of Work and Occupation, 7, 159-167.
70.
Wells, P.A. (1988). The paradox of functional dysfunction in a Girl Scout camp: Implications of cultural diversity for achieving organizational goals. In M. O. Jones, M. D. Moore, & R. C. Snyder (Eds.), Inside organizations: Understanding the human dimension (pp. 109-117). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
71.
Wilkins, A.L., & Ouichi, W.G. (1983). Efficient cultures: Exploring the relationship between culture and organizational performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 468-481.