Change in public facilities management organisations: The connection between emotions, humans and objects

Paper in proceeding, 2020

In this paper, the interest lies in increasing the understanding of how individual actors (both human and objects) within public facilities management organizations respond to the changes in their organizational context that is imposed on them, and how this is affecting their institutional work (IW). Data was collected through a workshop and interviews with officials from public facilities management organizations. Data was analysed using a framework that focused on the interaction between humans, emotions and objects. The findings present three types of objects, that have in common that they are used to reduce anxiety; past objects, used a 'soft blankets', future, imaginary objects used for concretizing the future perfect and current objects as shields to prevent 'reality' from being managed. The findings further indicate that humans believe that they conduct institutional work to create new practices in public facilities management organizations, when they are in fact maintaining current practices, for example by relaying on future imaginary objects to solve current problems. The paper complements previous research that has shown how individuals engage in creating new or disrupting old practices if the current situational order threatens their psychological wellbeing. Instead, it is argued that people engage in activities that maintain the institution of public facilities management when their psychological wellbeing is threatened.