Abstract
Organisational socialisation is often described as a process of learning and becoming knowledgeable. In order to further develop our understanding of this process, this theoretical paper reconceptualises our view of the intersection between content dimensions of organisational socialisation, when newcomers need to learn about these dimensions, and the level of abstraction at which they need to know about the dimensions at different points in time. Earlier research has focused on how much newcomers should learn about certain topics at various stages of their organisational entry, however it has usually treated knowledge as comprising only one single level. The reconceptualisation offered here nuances our understanding as it includes consideration of four different orders of knowledge, i.e. different levels of abstraction at which a newcomer can be knowledgeable about a content dimension, as well as including the link between time and the dynamic development of newcomers’ levels of knowledge about organisational topics. Thus, this work contributes to the discipline of organisational socialisation through a combination of literature review and critical reappraisal. The theoretical reconceptualisation is visualised as a matrix model of content dimensions, orders of knowledge, and time. The paper concludes with implications for the way planning for organisational entry is approached.
Presenters
Mia RasmussenAssistant Professor, Department of Culture and Learning, Aalborg University, North Jutland, Denmark
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Organizations as Knowledge Makers
KEYWORDS
Knowledge, Organisational Socialisation, Newcomers, Learning, Levels, Time, Dynamic
