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Mechanistic Versus Organic Organizations' Impact on Immigrant Women's

Work Satisfaction and Occupational Mobility

Article  in  Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism · December 2006

DOI: 10.1080/15022250601003240

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Mechanistic Versus Organic

Organizations' Impact on Immigrant
Women's Work Satisfaction and
Occupational Mobility
a
Ragnhild Sollund
a
NOVA (Norwegian Social Research), Oslo, Norway

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 Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism,
Vol. 6, No. 4, 287–307, 2006

Mechanistic Versus Organic

Organizations’ Impact on Immigrant
Women’s Work Satisfaction and
Occupational Mobility
Downloaded by [Universitetsbiblioteket i Oslo] at 05:01 08 March 2012

RAGNHILD SOLLUND
NOVA (Norwegian Social Research), Oslo, Norway

ABSTRACT This paper has its theoretical point of departure in Burns and Stalker’s theory on
‘‘mechanistic’’ versus ‘‘organic’’ organizations. It is shown that two hotels belonging to the same
hotel chain, work in different ways organizationally, as one of them, ‘‘Charm’’ has more of the
features pertaining to the ‘‘organic’’ type, while the other, ‘‘Style’’ more resembles the
‘‘mechanistic’’ type. It is discussed whether typical features of the two organizations such as the
division of work, hierarchy, communication, and empowerment produce or fail to produce work
satisfaction and organizational commitment, which in turn has consequences for immigrant
women’s work stability and mobility. It is suggested that the organic form of organization has
assets the mechanistic type of organization lacks, which facilitates offers of promotion, and other
work values which produce work satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, a
homogenous social work environment consisting of one ethnic group may constitute an obstacle to
actual mobility for immigrant women. The empirical basis for the paper is a case study of two
Norwegian hotels where 36 employees, including management and trade union representatives,
and 25 immigrant women were interviewed.

KEY WORDS: ‘‘Mechanistic’’ versus ‘‘organic’’ organizations, occupational mobility,

immigrant women, work satisfaction, organizational commitment

Introduction1
It is widely documented that immigrants work at the bottom of the labour market
hierarchy (Haberfield, Semynov & Cohen, 2000; Kjelsrud & Sivertsen, 1997; McAll,
1992; Piore, 1979; Rogstad, 2000). The theory of the dual labour market (Doeringer
& Piore, 1971) in which the secondary segment is characterized by unstable low-paid
jobs requring little or no education, with little security and few possibilities of
promotion, whereas the primary segment is characterized by well-paid jobs, high

Correspondence Address: Ragnhild Sollund, PO Box 3223, Elisenberg, Oslo 0208, Norway. Email:
rso@nova.no
1502-2250 Print/1502-2269 Online/06/040287–21 # 2006 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/15022250601003240
 288 R. Sollund

level of security and offers of promotion, attempted to explain immigrants’ position

in the labour market. However; Doeringer and Piore’s theory, in which they claim
that mobility from the secondary to the primary segment was nearly impossible, has
been rejected in the Norwegian context, as it is found that immigrants are not
destined to remain in low-paid insecure jobs without promotion possibilities (Müller,
1982) and even Piore (1979) found that occupational mobility was indeed possible
among immigrants. Language problems and discrimination are other explanations
(Berg 1992; Rogstad, 2000), but insufficient alone as immigrants with higher
education may achieve occupational and social mobility (Haberfield, Semynov &
Cohen, 2000). Hence, other explanations must be sought to why immigrant women
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are overrepresented in cleaning jobs. While 1% of all employees in Norway had

cleaning jobs, the corresponding percentage for Africans was 11, for Latin-
Americans 9, and for Asians 7. One such explanation may be the existence of
‘‘ethnic ghettoes’’ which is a repeated finding (Borchgrevink, 1996; Ehn, 1981;
Ferrari de Carli 1993; Goldstein, 1997), as they may provide a safe and comfortable
social surrounding for immigrants, but also impede promotion as it may be hard to
work as your peer’s supervisor (Goldstein, 1997; Rogstad, 2000). However, little
light has been shed on under which circumstances immigrants may have an
occupational, interorganizational mobility.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which organizational features
of two hotels affect immigrant women’s occupational mobility and stability.
Occupational stability, and thus length of service (tenure) may be a predictor for job
satisfaction (Sarker, Crossman & Chinmeteepituck, 2003), but also a consequence of
lack of labour market opportunities. Occupational mobility may be interorganiza-
tional and intraorganizational, voluntary or involuntary (Kalleberg & Mastekaasa,
2001, p. 185). This study focuses on the voluntary mobility, foremost upward and
interorganizational, as focus is set on the organizational features of two hotel
organizations. An interrelated question is how organizational features produce, or
fail to produce, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Job satisfaction
refers to a person’s evaluation of the relatively micro job or work role, whereas
organizational commitment represents an employee’s assessment of her or his more
global linkage to the (macro-level) organization (Kalleberg & Mastekaasa, 2001,
p. 186).
Burns and Stalker (2001) found that organizations were more likely to have a
bureaucratic or mechanistic organization under stable and predictable conditions,
while uncertain markets generate organic structures to maximize flexibility and
orientation. Four dimensions chosen from a number of features typically pertaining
to the mechanistic versus the organic organization (Burns & Stalker, 2001,
p. 120,121) are perceived as particularly central to the study. These dimensions are
likely to have specific impact on the actual experience the women have of having
their work values fulfilled, and thus consequences for their work satisfaction,
organizational commitment and occupational mobility, a point I will return to. Two
case hotels will be compared along these four dimensions, and the results will be
presented in relation to them. The first is the division of work – are the employees
encouraged to do other tasks than those connected to the positions they formally
hold? The second is hierarchy – will the formal hierarchic organization of the hotels
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 289

lead to a lack of responsibility, or is hotel work looked upon as a common goal? The
third is communication – does the communication in the hotels follow organizational
structures, or is it lateral and mutual? And fourthly, empowerment (autonomy) –
does the authority making the decisions follow the organizational structures and
pertain exclusively to the leaders, or are employees at lower levels also empowered to
make decisions?
In the following, the two hotels will be referred to as ‘‘Charm’’ and ‘‘Style’’, the
first being rather small and located in rural surroundings, while the other is big,
urban and stylish.
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Theoretical Background
The Mechanistic versus the Organic Organization
Burns and Stalker (2001) first developed their theory on management of innovation
in 1961. They found that, in order to succeed the economic organization must adapt
its management structure to conditions determining change or stability in the market
it depends on.
Organizations are typically mechanistic or organic. The mechanistic organization,
which builds upon Weber’s bureaucracy, is characterized by a hierarchic structure of
control, authority and communication, a high division of labour, a precise definition
of rights and obligations attached to each functional role, a tendency for interaction
between members of the concern to be vertical, i.e. between superior and
subordinate, and a low degree of autonomy on all levels of the organization.
Organic organizations are characterized by a contributive nature of special
knowledge and experience to the common task of the concern, flexible task
performance, a spread of commitment to the concern, a network structure of
control, authority and communication and a lateral rather than a vertical direction
of communication (Burns & Stalker, 2001, p.120,121). The mechanistic organiza-
tion is adapted to relatively stable conditions, while the organic organization is
adapted to relatively unstable and uncertain conditions. Leadership will be of
great importance for whether an organization has a preponderance of mechanistic
or organic features. In mechanistic organizations a leader’s tasks will be very
well defined, whilst in an organic organization a leader’s task may be virtually
unlimited.
Kvande and Rasmussen (1990) applied Burns and Stalker’s theory in an inquiry
into the organizational structure’s impact on female civil engineers’ occupational
mobility in Norway. They found that the ‘‘flat’’ organic type of organization
provided the women with more opportunities of promotion than the hierarchic
organization. Likewise, in an inquiry involving the recognition of female nurses in
decentralized organizations, Rasmussen (2001) found that ‘‘dehierarchization’’
strengthened the position of women at the lowest levels. These findings are relevant
to the current study; however, Shamir’s (1978) discussion of Burns and Stalker’s
theory in connection to the hotel industry will be of even more relevance to this
paper. Shamir states that because of the hotel industry’s demands for flexibility, one
should expect that hotels would be organic in nature, as mechanistic organizations
are appropriate to stable conditions:
 290 R. Sollund

The high dependence of hotels in their customers, the relative heterogeneity,

unpredictability and reactivity of these customers, plus the diversified, personal
and immediate nature of the services that have to be provided by hotels, all
present hotels with two major demands – a demand for flexibility on the one
hand and a high degree of control and coordination on the other (Shamir,
1978, p. 291).

Shamir also states that hotels have a tendency to exhibit a formal, mechanistic
structure externally, but have an internal organic organization, characterized by an
informal and lateral way of communication across the different departments. The
high degree of specialization within hotel organizations is perceived as a way to
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protect employees from unwanted proximity to customers. Shamir concludes that

organizational structure can have a profound effect on the experience of work,
whether this is an individual or a collective experience.
Burns and Stalker maintain that no individual organization will be purely organic
or mechanistic, but somewhere along a continuum between the two. All
organizations will have features of both the mechanistic and the organic
organization. In a similar way, neither Charm nor Style will be purely organic or
mechanistic, as for example individual exercise of management may either support or
counteract the formal organization, and the degree of ‘‘organicness’’ will vary
according to the hotels’ needs to adjust to changing demands of the market.

Work Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

Job (work) satisfaction and organizational commitment are distinct, albeit related
concepts. While job satisfaction may be a more immediate affective response to
specifics of the work situation and conditions (Mottaz, 1987):

(…) the concept of [organisational] commitment incorporates behavioral

aspects such as attachment and willingness to expend effort on the
organisation’s behalf, along with attitudes such as identification and loyalty
(Kalleberg & Mastekaasa, 2001, p. 186).

Both job satisfaction and organizational commitment are important for the
employee’s stability and mobility in organizations, and satisfaction and commitment
are supposed to have reciprocal effects.
Whether a person feels job satisfaction and organizational commitment is likely to
be connected to what work values his/her work situation provide (Kalleberg, 1977).
Work values may be intrinsic and extrinsic and imply; the possibility of development
and of being challenged by the job and be self-directive, a pleasant working
environment, physically and socially, job security, a decent salary, as well as offers of
promotion and thus recognition (Kalleberg, 1977; Kalleberg & Mastekaasa, 2001).
Employees’ feelings of worth will also be related to their empowerment (Lashely,
1994 in Lucas, 1995, p. 168). Ways to produce a sensation of empowerment, can be
through suggestion schemes (Lucas, 1995, p. 170).
Furthermore, tenure may be of importance for a person’s job satisfaction, as a
study amongst hotel employees in Thailand (Sarker, Crossman & Chinmeteepituck,
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 291

2003) showed that job satisfaction is constant over the first decade, but rises
thereafter with tenure (p. 756). This is explained by the assumption that satisfied
workers will remain with the organization and accrue increased extrinsic rewards,
while dissatisfied workers will leave.
An extrinsic work value is payment (Kalleberg, 1977). However, the amount of the
salary is not necessarily crucial in a person’s assessment of work satisfaction, as:

(…) there is evidence that some categories of low paid workers, in their
evaluation of their lot, separate pay from aspects of job and are thus able to
maintain dissatisfaction with pay and high job satisfaction (Riley et.al., 1998 in
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Sumeetra, Thozur, Riley & Szivas, 2006, p.165).

Feelings of underpayment may be detached from actual pay, and rather be related to
a social norm of what people ought to earn in a specified social class, category or
within the reference group. In much the same way expectations of what may be
achieved through work life in exile, such as a higher social status, may be influenced
by comparison with the reference group left behind (Pesquera, 1991; Segura 1989).
Consequently job satisfaction may be easier produced for an immigrant in exile than
in a corresponding job in the place of origin, as expectations are adjusted to the new
situation.
In her early Marienthal studies of unemployment, Marie Jahoda (1982) found that
in addition to the financial gains of employment, a number of latent functions are
important for people’s work experiences. One of these was that of working with
others towards a common goal (Jahoda, 1982, p. 83).
It will be discussed what relevance a common goal may have in producing job
satisfaction and organizational commitment in hierarchic organizations where work
division presumably follows organizational lines.

Research Methods
Qualitative methods were applied including a case study of two hotels, both
employing a large proportion of immigrant women. As Stake (1994) says with
reference to case studies:

The case is often looked at in depth, its contexts scrutinised, its ordinary
activities detailed, but because this helps us to pursue the external interest
(Stake, 1994, p. 237).

The hotels are made anonymous in order to protect the interviewees. Consequently
information that could reveal the hotels’ identities cannot be presented, although this
might have increased the impact of the findings. These include factors pertaining to
contextual features, such as the hotels’ markets, exact size, and location. The hotels
were of different size, had different locations and had different numbers of
employees. The study included fieldwork in the two hotels, with observation,
participation in meetings, and informal conversations with the employees. Field
notes were made from the observations and were part of the material analysed.
 292 R. Sollund

The most important sources of data were in-depth interviews with 25 immigrant
women from different countries, working as chambermaids and housekeeper’s
assistants. Because one initial hypothesis was that the relationships between
employees at different levels of the organization would be important for the
immigrant women’s occupational mobility, in-depth interviews were also carried out
with the general manager in Charm and the personnel managers in both of the
hotels, with room-division manager in Style, with the housekeepers and safety
deputies, as well as with representatives for the trade unions in the hotels.2 The
purpose of the interviews was to grasp the significance of persons and issues related
to the immigrant women’s work situation and work life, as well as the impact of their
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situation as immigrants. The interview guides contained questions regarding

previous work experience and education, present job and work satisfaction, career
aspirations, future plans, relationships to leaders, colleagues, and trade union, as
well as questions regarding the women’s integration into the Norwegian society. The
qualitative interview is perceived as an especially fit instrument to uncover the
informants’ ways of dealing with their lives and life conditions (Fog, 2004). As
Silverman (1993, p. 91) says: ‘‘the primary issue is to generate data which give an
authentic insight into people’s experiences (…)’’.
In order to provide a basis for comparison, the interviews were semi-structured
according to the interview guides, however, they were still open in the sense that
themes that would unexpectedly appear were followed up although they were
not originally included in the interview guides. In this sense the project was
explorative. The 41 interviews, each lasting between 1K and 3 hours, were taped and
transcribed.
The interview transcripts were analysed by seeking out and comparing typologies
in the material. At the same time, openness permitted that unexpected empirical
findings were given room in the analysis. Consequently when themes surged as a
result of open-ended questions it was investigated whether this could be due to one
individual’s perceptions only or whether this could represent more typical
experiences.
The samples of interviewees were drawn in order to provide a spread regarding
background variables, as well as incorporating informants who possessed key
information about themes central to the project. Quotations are direct and as
formulated in the interviews, reflecting the intention of the interviewees, but analysed
in the framework of the total material and relevant theory. The systematisation of
field notes and interviews improved the data’s reliability (Silverman, 1993, p. 147).
Initial hypotheses, e.g. regarding the impact the relationships amongst the employees
would have on occupational mobility, as well as regarding the organizational
structure’s importance for job satisfaction, were tested against the transcribed
interview and observation material, as well as discussed with a former trade unionist
who knew both of the hotels well, in order to ascertain their validity. Furthermore,
hypothesis and findings which arose in the course of the project which appeared to
be important for the immigrant women’s mobility and tenure, for example regarding
the importance of ambitions and previous expectations and the effects of migration,
were tested against the following interviews and more interviews were conducted in
order to produce reliable data.
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 293

Results
Charm and Style both had features from the mechanistic as well as the organic
models. Charm nevertheless had a preponderance of what may be seen as organic
features, while Style had a preponderance of mechanistic features. Despite being
formally, hierarchically organized, a hotel may be organic ‘‘in nature’’ (Shamir,
1978), as Charm appeared. Communication was informal, despite the formal
hierarchical organization of Charm. Charm had experienced more change in
demands and had thus been more exposed to ‘‘environmental’’ change than Style. It
is an open question whether the flexibility in Charm’s organization was a result of a
change in the market, or whether the lucky result of the process (Charm went well at
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the point the data was collected) was a result of the flexibility of the organization.
Style, located in a city, had had a relatively stable demand over the last ten years.
The demands on flexibility, control and coordination were also important for Charm
and Style, as they were for the hotels Shamir (1978) studied. As Style was four times
the size of Charm, there were greater demand for a formal organization of the
employees here than in Charm.
There were few possibilities of mobility within Style, where the women’s work was
not appreciated as it was in Charm. The women in Charm expressed commitment to
work, like when Fiona says: ‘‘Work is fun! That’s the most important thing in my
whole life!’’, and commitment to the hotel, as exemplified by Sara ‘‘I love this hotel,
you will always find me here!’’. Even the women who said they were satisfied in Style
said they disliked the work itself. Monika says: ‘‘I don’t like that job and I think it is
a bit unworthy with my qualifications, I don’t know how to put it but it was not my
ambitions to work with cleaning’’. None expressed the same affection for their
workplace as the women in Charm, although some appreciated the physical
environment. These findings will be elaborated in the following according to the four
chosen dimensions.

The Division of Work

The low division of work was important for the employees in Charm, both for the
chambermaids in the housekeeping department, as well as in the hotel as a whole.
There was little specialization of work tasks. Although everybody’s work was well
defined, they could easily help each other to get the work done. As an example, the
housekeeper often helped the chambermaids with the rooms, and even the director
could give a helping hand. One example was during an interview when the house-
keeper entered the room and the chambermaid asked her: ‘‘Have you made the
beds?’’ To which the housekeeper replied that she had made 20. The conversation
gave the impression of being communication between two persons at the same level
who shared a common problem – to get all the rooms prepared. The common task of
the hotel is also reflected in a quotation from the safety deputy who explains some
chambermaids’ willingness to start serving breakfast during hard times and the
employees’ common will to work hard for the hotel, this way:

I think it is related to a sense of responsibility for the hotel. Everybody wants it

to be perfect for the guests, and then we work hard to make that happen.
 294 R. Sollund

There were good possibilities for working in different departments and possibilities
of internal advancement. As an example, the safety deputy had started as a
chambermaid, but was at the time of the interview working as a headwaiter,
expecting to acquire the position as banqueting manager. Another example was the
representative for the trade union who was a waiter: he was about to start a bar in
the hotel. The employees are thus given possibilities, reflected in the housekeepers’
offers to the chambermaids of becoming assistants or working in the reception. She
says: ‘‘I have asked them many times, they have often had the offer, but they reject
it’’. The employees in Charm were allowed to show who they were, and thus exhibit
qualities and qualifications. The immigrant chambermaids in Charm had the
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possibility of presenting themselves in various ways. It was thus possible for them to
display themselves as clever and fit to do other jobs in the hotel.
This was not the situation for the majority of the immigrant women in Style. There
was a marked division of labour, and unlike Charm the assistants here were not
allowed to assist the chambermaids. As the house-keeper said: ‘‘I let one of the
chambermaids try the job as assistant, but she will not get the job [permanently]. She
was talking to the chambermaids and helping them, and that is not permitted’’. For
that reason, two of the Filipino women who had been working as stand-in assistants
risked not getting the job when they applied for it because the housekeeper thought
they had performed their job poorly. They had not respected the division of labour
in the organization and the requirements of not ‘‘mingling’’ with the chambermaids
when they were working as assistants.
Furthermore, the personnel manager in Style said that although they would like
the chambermaids to try other jobs, this was also very difficult in practice because of
the size of the hotel. They were all needed in their jobs. However, it is hard to see
how this could be so difficult given the high number of names they had on the list
of extra staff. There were 43 chambermaids on permanent contracts, and 90
‘‘extras’’. There were 55 at work every day according to the housekeeping
department. Due to the strict work division the women in Style met fewer challenges
in their work than the women in Charm, who had the work value of offers of
promotion, and a choice.

Hierarchy
The management style in the housekeeping department in Charm was based on trust,
cooperation, and participation and the immigrant women in Charm found pride in
their work. This may be exemplified by the assistant, Sara, who said: ‘‘I am proud of
what I do’’. And by Elena, who says: ‘‘I enjoy to see the room being transformed
from a mess to a clean inviting room and to think that I have made it’’.
The low division of labour in Charm produced employees working towards a
common goal and the women in Charm felt ownership to the hotel as a whole. When
I asked one of the chambermaids whether she feels responsible for the hotel she says:
‘‘I feel responsible for the hotel. We must get the beds ready so we have something to
sell’’.
As another of the chambermaids said: ‘‘You really feel you are a part of this
company’’. The low division of labour in the hotel made the boundaries of each of
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 295

the hotel’s functions less rigid and hierarchic than in Style, where the division of
work followed hierarchical levels, as illustrated by the housekeeper:

We all have our roles in housekeeping, and we must act accordingly or

everything will turn into chaos. A housekeeper shall not be a champion making
beds. And that principle is important to me. We have our roles and our
responsibility which is important for the running of the firm, to make it as
professional as possible.

The housekeeper emphasized that only the chambermaids should clean the rooms,
and she and the room division manager regarded the chambermaids’ work as
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comprising ‘‘only cleaning’’. Consequently the women felt that their work was not
valued. An impression was thereby given that no superiors should degrade
themselves to such work. It is dirty work done by those who are, and remain, at
the bottom of the hierarchy. Maintenance of hierarchic boundaries, as in the
examples of the two assistants, gave the impression that the higher one gets up the
ladder, the farther is the distance to the dirty work. Because the chambermaids’ area
of work was so well defined and limited, the Style chambermaids did not feel that the
work in the hotel was part of a common goal, and consequently had less
responsibility for the hotel as a whole than what was the case in Charm. For
example, the housekeeper made strict demands regarding the number of rooms the
chambermaids should take. This did not encourage the chambermaids to feel
responsible, Monika said: ‘‘I take the number I must, no more’’. When I ask Mariana
whether she feels that her job in the hotel is important for the hotel, she says: ‘‘No, it
is so hierarchic here… I only clean’’. She adds: ‘‘I hate it, hate it!’’. The job as a
chambermaid in Style offered few possibilities of being self-directive, and thus of
producing a feeling of responsibility.
The housekeeper in Style was both formally and informally on top of the
housekeeping department, with two subordinates beneath her. Beneath them again
were the assistants, and then the chambermaids. But the hierarchy in the
organization also imprinted the work environment among the chambermaids in
Style, as expressed through their social life at work. Those on permanent contracts
had a higher status, followed by the stand-ins, and then the ‘‘extras’’ on the bottom.
Those on permanent contracts had no contact with the ‘‘extras’’, as when Monika
says: ‘‘I never talk to the ‘extras’’’.
The chambermaids in Charm as in Style were thus formally situated at the bottom
of the hierarchy, a position that is confirmed in other hotel studies (Wood, 1997,
Shamir, 1975 in Wood, 1997, Onsøyen, 2000). But in Charm the chambermaids were
symbolically elevated because their superiors helped them to do their work, and
because they were treated as equals and with respect. Job boundaries were blurred
and this implied that their leader went down to their level and thereby symbolically
also made their work ‘‘less dirty’’.
Due both to the formal and informal hierarchy in Style, the women felt that they
were always at the bottom of the ladder. While leadership in Charm was exercised
through nearness and trust, leadership in Style was exercised through distance and
control, which underlined the hierarchical difference between the different levels of
the hotel, as this was expressed by some of the chambermaids: ‘‘They treat us like
 296 R. Sollund

children in the kindergarten’’. This in combination with the strict division of labour
made it difficult for the women in Style to manifest their skills and aspirations. In
contrast to the situation in Charm, several of the chambermaids in Style wanted to
work in the reception, but were never asked. They were basically acknowledged by
the role they had as chambermaids and were not considered for other jobs. Even
though there were women in Style who wanted to make a career within the hotel
industry, they regarded the job as a chambermaid in Style as a dead-end job. The
immigrant women in such a system are predominantly visible as chambermaids, and
even as such it was difficult to reveal their competence because their superiors
assumed that because they were immigrants they could not be qualified to do other
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jobs. This may also be tinted by stereotypes, as was observed in another study of
immigrant women’s occupational mobility (Kamenou & Fearfull, 2001), like when
the personnel director says: ‘‘I think they are very modest of nature, they have not
been allowed to talk so much where they come from’’ and the housekeeper says:
‘‘Africans are used to a totally different work pace’’ and ‘‘The Filipinos are generally
clever, but not so inventive’’. The immigrant women’s situation is comparable to
what Ehn (1981) found in his study from an industrial organization in Sweden. The
immigrants in the firm were viewed as children socially because they lacked Swedish
cultural competence. This may be the case in Style where the personnel manager was
ignorant of the fact that several of the immigrant chambermaids had Norwegian
education. She perceived the immigrant women’s possibilities of promotion as few,
because:

Without a Norwegian education and good skills in Norwegian it is hard to do

the job and for example to follow conversation in meetings.

The women in Charm were exposed to a different kind of control than the women in
Style, reflecting the character of the organizations. The extended hierarchical
structure of Style had consequences for the kinds of relationship that developed
among the employees on different levels. In Style relationships may be characterized
as formal and associated to the employees’ functions in the hierarchy, while in
Charm they were informal and thus related to whom the chambermaids were as
individuals. They were not reduced to their functions as chambermaids. This had
further implications for the kind of social control that was exercised by their
superior. In Style the social control may be characterized as secondary, while in
Charm it was a primary social control, the first referring to social control between
people distant to each other, the second referring to social control exercised in
primary groups (Christie, 1982). This is due to the fact that the employees in Charm
looked upon themselves as a family. This was literally true for some of the
chambermaids, but employees on all levels, from the general manager, to the
chambermaids used the family metaphor to describe their relationship to the hotel,
underlining the friendly relationships:

Even though it is big, we are almost like a family. (Trade union representative)
We see each other every day, like you do with your own family. We actually
work to become a good and big family. (Personnel manager).
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 297

Each of us we know everybody here. So it’s like a family. (Sara, the

housekeeper’s assistant).

In Style the women were revealed if they did not do their work well, while in Charm
they got help. This was also due to the fact that the housekeepers perceived their
roles differently. The housekeeper in Charm saw herself as: ‘‘a mother for
everybody’’, while the housekeeper thought the most important part of her work
was: ‘‘to supervise the assistants and the chambermaids’’. In Charm the chamber-
maids felt they were trusted, in contrast to the chambermaids in Style.
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Communication
The communication in Charm and Style corresponded to the complexity of the
hierarchical structure in the organizations. In Charm communication seemed to be
lateral and mutual, something which is illustrated in the following: One of the
chambermaids, Fiona, was interviewed in one of the rooms when the housekeeper
came in because she wanted to remind her of the party that was being held for the
employees. Fiona said: ‘‘My dear! Hi, my dear!’’.
This reflects both the informal family-like relations and the type of communica-
tion in which a subordinate could call her superior ‘‘dear’’. Another chambermaid,
Anna says:

If I have a big problem, I tell her [the housekeeper]. And I discuss it with her if I
have small problems. And we discuss and talk and it helps. And she often
comes and asks: ‘Is everything well?’

Both quotations show the affection the chambermaids had for their superior. The
communication between the housekeeper and her subordinates would also be
specifically about the status of the rooms done, and how they should proceed to get
all the rooms ready, as when Burns and Stalker (2001) consider communication with
the character of information and consulting, rather than orders, as being a feature of
organic organizations. Basically, these open lines of communication seemed
restricted to the housekeeping department although the general manager said that
he always greeted the chambermaids, and that he knew quite a lot about them. They,
on the other hand, still considered him to be new in the hotel and said that they did
not know him, even though he had been working there for two years.
In Style the chambermaids said that their superiors talked to them as if though
they were children. Mariana says: ‘‘They talk to us, not with us’’. The general
manager in Style did not have the habit of greeting the chambermaids; he did not
even introduce himself to them when he started in the job.
The housekeeper in Charm was eager to praise the chambermaids’ work, and did
so, both in meetings with the general manager and the rest of the management, as
well as directly to the chambermaids. She often asserted in interviews and to the
chambermaids that: ‘‘The work they do is the most valuable in the hotel, because
without it we would have nothing to sell’’. In contrast, the chambermaids in Style
said almost uniformly that their work was never praised; they only heard criticism.
 298 R. Sollund

The housekeeper herself said, that if she observed that a chambermaid did not work
fast enough, she would tell her:

This is going too slow. Now you have two weeks to speed up, and if you don’t
it is over! [She adds:]You have to be honest and clear about such things or the
organisation will become very turbulent.

Consequently the work value of being recognized was more salient in Charm than in
Style.
Another aspect of the communication in Charm concerns language. The
immigrant women in Charm were allowed to use English as a working language.
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This may be perceived as a matter of need since the women in Charm apparently
spoke poor Norwegian (all but two women insisted upon English in the interviews),
but as a result they could communicate in a more advanced way than the women in
Style. This facilitated two-way communication, which is another feature of the
organic organization. In Style the demands of speaking Norwegian further
strengthened the experience of being inferior by those immigrant women who did
not master the Norwegian language. Consequently, it is reasonable to say that the
women in Charm were given the possibility of presenting themselves as grown-up
responsible individuals to a greater extent than the women in Style. Even though
some of them spoke Norwegian well, this was hard to convey to their superiors
because of the strict hierarchy of the system of the organization.
There had been work-environmental problems in the housekeeping department
due to the management style of the former housekeeper, who used to scream and
shout at the chambermaids. He was replaced by a new one, whose style of leadership
was characterized as ‘‘very strict’’ by the chambermaids, something which further
emphasized their position in the hierarchy.

Empowerment
The authority to make decisions seemed to be delegated to the different areas of
responsibility in Charm and Style as could be expected. But it also seemed like
everybody in Charm felt responsible, even though it was a responsibility that was not
formally ascribed to the different positions. From responsibility follows authority.
Sarah, the housekeeper’s assistant is one example. She saw the running of the hotel
as her personal responsibility, as she explained:

It is my responsibility because I am working here. Especially if it is weekend

and Karen [the housekeeper] is not here, I don’t want to go home until all the
rooms are done. If I don’t do this I feel guilty that I didn’t do my job, because
they have nothing to sell. It is my responsibility. If Karen is here then she can
decide [whether to take all the rooms or not], but if she isn’t here then I am the
one to decide whether to do it or not, so then we do it.

It is likely that the housekeeper had taught the work commitment this reflects to
Sarah. Similar to the housekeeper who was washing the dishes in the kitchen because
the dish-washer had been given transfer to another department, Sarah personally
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 299

cleaned the rooms in order to get them ready, but she also ordered the rest of the
chambermaids to work overtime, or/and called in extra help to get it done.
Empowerment will imply the authority to make decisions regarding one’s own
work situation – self direction. It is, however, difficult for a chambermaid to make
decisions regarding her work that will affect the work itself to any significant extent.
Still, the fact that the women both in Charm and in Style were regularly asked
through suggestion schemes whether they had any suggestions about changes that
could be carried out in the interests of the hotel, had a positive effect on the
chambermaids. At least the feeling of being asked held a symbolic meaning of their
view as something important. Yet, like the representative for the trade union in
Charm said:
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They can decide whether they want to balance on the side of the bathtub or use
a stool, but this will not alter the fact that the cleaning still has to be done.

The chambermaids in Charm seemed to have some authority, which may be

illustrated by the following. The previous general manager had the habit of entering
the linen room without greeting the chambermaids. This provoked a reaction. The
chambermaids summoned a meeting for all with the support of the trade union
where they openly criticized the general manager of being rude. As a consequence,
the general manager not only had to apologize, but also had to do so in a written
form, which was hung up on a wall in the hotel where all the employees could see it.
The international management of the hotels had economical requirements for the
running of the hotels which the management in both hotels found hard. As the
personnel manager in Charm said:

It is heavy, it is very difficult, because every new director must prove that he
can squeeze more out of the hotel. We have always been very conscious of costs
and have had people who work real hard, still they are never satisfied. They
always say: ‘‘You must make a little bit more next year’’ and I feel this affects
the health of all of us.

The international requirements restricted the freedom the organizations possessed to

develop their own organizational framework and of offering the immigrants courses
in Norwegian as the international management would not accept such costs.
The management group in Style made decisions jointly, even though the general
manager had the final word, naturally. Although the situation was formally the same
in both hotels, there again seemed to be more flexibility in Charm. This was also due
to more open communication lines. Apparently the housekeeper in Charm, albeit
through some discussions with the general manager, had been given the authority to
run her department in her own way, although her ways of exercising leadership was
not approved of by some of the other members of the management.
The relative autonomy of housekeeping departments may vary and be both
centralized and autonomous at the same time (Shamir, 1978). This was characteristic
for the housekeeping department in Charm, while in Style, it seemed to be the
employees’ status and position in the hierarchy which determined their possibility of
exerting influence.
 300 R. Sollund

Discussion
The findings suggest that the organic organization typically has qualities that stand a
better chance of producing job satisfaction and organizational commitment, than the
mechanistic organization. The employees in Charm are seen and seem valued to a
higher degree than the employees in Style both because the hotel is far smaller, but
also because of the way in which leadership is exercised. Compared to the
housekeeper’s work in Style, that of the housekeeper in Charm seems to be
unlimited, and to include the care and responsibility for her employees, which goes
far beyond their work situation. This leads to fulfilment of work values for them,
such as job safety. This again likely produces the stability in the workforce both in
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terms of years in the hotel and in terms of sick leave. The feeling of recognition seem
important in explaining why the immigrant women felt job satisfaction, as well as
another dimension of the organic organization, that of working towards a common
goal. The way in which leadership was exercised seemed to counteract the effects of
the formal hierarchy and produce stability.
As Shamir said in 1978, there has been a standardization of the guests’ demands
which we must assume is even larger now, for example related to conferences. This in
combination with a more advanced technology will also lead to more standardized
services. However, despite being formally organized in an almost identical manner,
Charm and Style seemed to differ considerably when it comes to what kind of
organizations they were. Charm had the character of being a ‘‘flat’’ organic
organization that diminished the effects a hierarchical structure would otherwise
have for the immigrant women. The effects of the hierarchy seem clearer in Style.
This contrast in turn may be connected to a development towards diversifying and
individualization which contribute to produce specific traits regarding the ways in
which personnel are perceived and leadership exercised. Lucas (1995) for example
points to different models for obtaining employee involvement and participation:

It is possible to place these participative issues on a spectrum which spans the

barely democratic (unitarist) to the highly democratic (pluralist, although such
classification oversimplifies the complex nature of the form that each issue may
take (…) (Lucas, 1995, p. 166).

Shamir (1978) claims that flexibility is a characteristic of all hotels:

Behind the seemingly ‘‘mechanistic’’ structure, there are various accepted

practises that are totally ‘‘organic’’ in nature, and are used to retain its
flexibility and ability to cope with unpredicted pressures (Shamir, 1978, p.149).

Charm seemed none the less to be more flexible than Style. This can be due to the size
of the hotel. Because it is relatively small it is necessary to have employees who can
be readily transferred to other departments if necessary. This also opens up the
possibility for promotion. This can be so because on the one hand the management
cannot demand that the employees undertake other jobs, while on the other denying
them the possibility of trying new jobs in the hotel. Because it is relatively small, it
was easier for everybody to become visible and show ambitions and qualifications.
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 301

This again is associated with the degree of cooperation. According to Burns and
Stalker (2001) cooperation is one of the characteristics of organic organizations:

The individual’s jobs ceases to be self-contained; the only way in which ‘‘his’’
job can be done is by participating continually with others in the solution of
problems which are real to the firm, and put in language of requirements and
activities meaningful to them all. (p. 125)

A mutual flexibility is derived.

The Style personnel manager’s attitude towards the question of transfer to other
jobs indicates that what he perceived as professional management differed from the
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management’s attitudes in Charm. There is likelihood that the flexibility in Charm’s

organization was not only a matter of need, but also a matter of will, which was not
present the same way in Style.
This must presumably account for the immigrant women’s lack of interorganiza-
tional mobility. The lack of praise of the employees in Style may be a consequence of
the mechanistic organization where there is a hierarchic structure of control,
authority and communication. The authoritative ways in which orders were
communicated and the formal control of their work may be viewed as predominantly
mechanistic. The effect was degradation and loss of self confidence.
The mechanistic and organic organization of Charm and Style had further
implications for how the women felt about their work and their work situation.

Work Satisfaction and Occupational Mobility in Charm

The women in Charm seemed to feel safe in their jobs – an impression likely to have
been enhanced by the fact that no one was fired during hard times. It is probable that
the women in Charm also found safety both through their relationship to their
superior as well as through their work environment and the friendship they had with
their colleagues. They provide the close and satisfying social work environment
themselves by recruiting newcomers among their own family and friends, producing
an ‘‘ethnic ghetto’’ (e.g. Borchgrevink, 1996; Ehn, 1981; Ferrari de Carli, 1993;
Goldstein, 1997; Knocke, 1986; McAll, 1992; Næss, 1985; Rogstad, 2000; Sollund,
2004a).
The demands of a pleasant physical environment and thus one’s work value
seemed satisfied both in Charm and Style. Shamir found that this can be a
compensation for the negative elements connected to the job of a chambermaid:

Room-cleaning offers certain compensations, such as relatively pleasant

working environments and freedom of close supervision. The latter permits
employees both a degree of control over individual work-rates and methods,
and opportunities to develop strategies to overcome monotony (e.g. by visiting
sister maids or gathering with other workers at convenient points in order to
talk). (Shamir, 1975 here in Lennon and Wood, 1989, p. 229).

The offers of promotion to assistant positions and transfer to the reception must also
be interpreted as trust and positive feedback on their work and confirms that the
 302 R. Sollund

women have the possibility to advance if they wish to. The hotel seems to reflect well
the myths about the hotel industry saying that:

(Similarly), a view is promulgated of career development in the industry as

open and meritocratic: even the kitchen pan-washer can rise to become general
manager of the hotel with hard work and dedication. (Wood, 1997, p. 1).

However the strong social control among the immigrant women produced by kin-
and friendship relations seemed to impede the offered possibilities of promotion as
this would entail that they would both break with their friends, and either control or
be controlled by their peers. This finding is supported by Goldstein (1997), and
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suggests that the organic organization may be too dense to offer career possibilities
when there is a homogenous recruitment of immigrants.
The offers of promotion which may have been caused by the visibility of the small,
organic organization, are however likely to have contributed to produce job
satisfaction and commitment, not only to their leader and to their work, but even to
the hotel, which is supported by Kalleberg (1977), and Kalleberg and Mastekaasa
(2001). The relative flexibility in the definition of work areas in Charm also provides
employees, even at the lowest levels, with the opportunity of making suggestions for
change and improvement, and thus empowerment (Lucas 1995) as well as exhibiting
ambitions. Thus dehierarchization may produce benefits for those at the bottom of
the organization, a finding which is in concordance with Kvande and Rasmussen
(1990) and Rasmussen (2001).
On the other hand, it may be more difficult in such a system for the staff to claim
rights because the organization’s well-being is so dependent on the social
relationships within the firm. To claim rights could imply jeopardizing social
relationships of extra importance for immigrants who may have a smaller network in
the Norwegian context than ethnic Norwegians. The employees may extend their
efforts to increase the organization’s earnings much more than what could be
expected from employees in the jobs the immigrant women have in the hotel. This
may lead to an excessive workload on the employees, like when Sara work 12 hours a
day to get all the rooms ready. If no strict divisions of work exist between the various
positions in the organization, the distribution of work may be unjustly distributed
because some have more sense of responsibility than others, as observed by Sennet
(1998) with reference to other kinds of work. Employees may also feel obliged to do
jobs that they are neither contracted to do, nor interested in doing.
It is a moot point whether the chambermaids’ work may be defined as challenging,
and fulfilling this work value, but the women in Charm seemed to like it, they said
they had learnt to like it and show ways in which they make it meaningful, like
imagining that the rooms are their own. This indicates that they did not find it very
interesting to begin with, and we may therefore look for other explanations for their
work satisfaction. It is likely that the work becomes meaningful through the financial
reward it gives, which is better in Charm than in Style since the chambermaids have a
piece rate system. But it is also likely that the work becomes meaningful by the
housekeeper’s stress on the importance of their work and because of the response
they get which confirms that they are doing a good job. This is likely to have
contributed to make the work meaningful.
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 303

Therefore we can assume that work values may be connected to still other aspects
of work than the salary, as recognition, offers of promotion, safety, a good social
work environment and empowerment, which is supported by Kalleberg (1977).
However, the immigrant women’s work values in Charm also seem related to
what they expected to achieve, and what they actually have achieved in Norway
through work. Immigrant women’s work satisfaction thus seem related to their
expectations of what work in exile may bring. Those who are most satisfied with
their work seem so despite doing heavy work under difficult conditions, because
their expectations were low and because they compare themselves to others in their
reference group who have not achieved as much as them. This finds support in other
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studies of immigrant women (Segura, 1989; Pesquera, 1991; Knocke, 1986; Lie,
1983).
This, in combination with the qualities of the organic organization as described
above, may be the reason why the women in Charm were a stable labour force. They
had been working in the organization since they came to Norway. For the majority
the job as a chambermaid was the first in Norway, and the ten immigrant women in
Charm had been working there 17 years on average. The woman who started most
‘‘recently’’ had been there 10 years, while the assistant had been there 25 years. The
median was 19 years. But this work stability was not only valid for the immigrant
women. With the exception of the general manager, the rest of the informants had
also been working in the hotel for up to 30 years. Sarker, Crossman &
Chinmeteepituck’s (2003) results indicating that there is a relationship between
tenure and job satisfaction support this. Another element of the work stability was
that the employees were very seldom absent from work because of illness. Hence, it
seems that the organic organization has some qualities of importance for the
employees’ work satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Work Satisfaction and Occupational Mobility in Style

The extensive use of extra help in Style may be reflected by the immigrant women’s
experiences of job safety in the hotel. Those who were on permanent contracts felt
safe regarding their work situation. Several of the immigrant women had, however,
been working as stand-ins for two years. They worried whether they would be
contacted again, and as a consequence a couple of them had been working although
they had become ill at work. This suggests that the feeling of safety in Style follows
hierarchical lines where those who may be regarded as beneath the permanently
employed chambermaids at the very bottom of the organization risked exploitation.
It is likely that such tendencies will be increased in large mechanistic organizations
where the individuals that are not in a position to claim rights, become ‘‘invisible’’.
Safety thus seemed to be a job value unevenly distributed.
It is likely that the management style of the housekeepers became possible because
of the mechanistic features of Style, where each employee has a definite task to
perform and where authority lines seemed rigorously maintained. In such an
organization the employees may be less likely to interfere with a manager’s way of
performing his tasks, even though it should merit criticism. This authoritative style
of leadership seemed to counteract job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
 304 R. Sollund

The lack of offers of promotion may have been connected to the size of the firm, but
also to the way leadership was exercised.
This may be connected to homosocial recruitment, which is known to be typical in
hierarchic organizations (Kanter, 1977; Kvande & Rasmussen, 1990). Leaders
recruit new leaders among those who are similar to themselves. Thereby the
immigrant women in the hierarchic organization will have a handicap because of
their different background. This may be a consequence of the size of the hotel, which
made it less flexible than Charm. For those who succeed in getting other jobs, the
lack of work values in Style, such as self-direction, recognition and challenges, may
paradoxically lead to individual success.
The chambermaids seemed to be divided along ethnic lines where only those with
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the same national background had any social contact at work. This likely reflected
the women’s job satisfaction as those who came from a large national group thought
they had a good social work environment, and thus one work value fulfilled. Those
who came from small groups, or were the only ones from their country, seemed less
happy with the work environment. The social work environment was not a reason
for them to remain in the job like it was for the women in Charm, neither did it seem
to be an obstacle for promotion due to informal, social control. Language problems
led to misunderstandings and conflicts among the chambermaids, and there were
also traces of racism among some who expressed that they never spoke to the
‘‘blacks’’. The managers’ insistence on cultural heterogeneity may, despite their good
intentions, fail to provide a good social work environment for the employees, and it
is possible that if ‘‘ethnic ghettoes’’ are allowed, maybe even encouraged, this will
also produce work satisfaction and organizational commitment.
What the immigrant women expected to gain from the migration also seemed
important in Style, but there several had come to Norway expecting to get jobs on
the same level as in the country they left, and were consequently disappointed when
the only job they could get in Norway was as a chambermaid. It appeared as the
hotel was the only place they could get a job, as it is found to be in general for hotel
workers:

For many employees – probably the majority – labouring in hotels and catering
is a last-ditch option characterised by exploitative and conflictual relationships.
(Wood, 1997, p. 5).

For these women there seemed to be nothing in Style’s organization that could
compensate the feeling of degradation, and although there were traces of pride in
some, and especially among the new staff, for working in a glamorous hotel, most of
them did not seem to have much commitment, neither to their leaders, nor to their
work or the hotel itself. For others the job in Style seemed to be an adaptation to the
Norwegian labour market, which was most likely to be of temporary character. It
thus seemed to be easier to cope with the negative features of the mechanistic
organization such as vigorous control and lack of empowerment.
While the women in Charm had a pretty good salary, compared to other
chambermaids, the women’s salary in Style could not compensate for the fact that
the work was: ‘‘Repetitive, unskilled and low in status’’ (Wood, 1997, p. 26), and
obviously a decent salary was desired by these women as much as by others, which is
 Mechanistic vs. Organic Organizations’ affect on Immigrant Staff 305

supported by the conclusion that: ‘‘the people in low paid jobs possess aspirations
and money values that are similar to others who are better off in society’’. (Sumeetra,
Thozur, Riley & Szivas, 2005, p. 169).
The immigrant women in Style seemed thus to have less job satisfaction than the
women in Charm and seemed to be less stable workers. Two, however, had been in
the hotel for ten years, while some had only been in the hotel a few months. The
average time in the hotel was four years and seven months, while the median was five
and half years. Many of the women did however want to leave the hotel. Another
aspect of stability is the employees’ presence at work, and in Style there were major
problems connected to the high number of employees who were on sick leave.
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Conclusion
This study suggests that interorganizational mobility among immigrant women is
possible, but not always desired, and may be encouraged or impeded by
organizational features. The attribution of four dimensions of the mechanistic
versus the organic organization, comprising division of work, hierarchy, commu-
nication and empowerment, seem central in defining and analysing hotel
organizations as either mechanistic or organic. Albeit the organizations of both
Charm and Style have features from the mechanistic as well as the organic type of
organization, Charm seems more organic and Style more mechanistic.
Although it seems through this inquiry like the organic organization produces
more job satisfaction and organizational commitment, the mechanistic organization
type may have its assets, like more predictability and work division. In this way the
employees’ work capacity runs less risk of being abused, and it may be easier to
maintain rights. This can give reassurance that is of special importance for
immigrants who may feel uncertain about what is expected of them at the workplace,
where many other things, like lack of language proficiency and cultural competence
can produce uncertainty.
However, a managerial implication of this study seems to be that in order to
achieve immigrant employees’ work commitment and stability in the hotel sector,
one should aim at an organic form of organization, with a flexible work division, not
maintain too strict a hierarchy, and be aware of the ways in which communication
may affect job satisfaction.
This study further suggests that the organic organization will provide more
possibilities of occupational mobility for immigrant women, although such offers
may not be accepted due to the risk of losing the social network and due to the
informal social control within it if the employees are too close. As found before
(Mottaz, 1987; Kalleberg & Mastekaasa, 2001), work satisfaction and organizational
commitment seem interrelated, and job satisfaction, as measured against a number
of work values, such as empowerment, recognition, offers of promotion and a
satisfactory physical and social work environment, seem to enhance organizational
commitment and produce stability.
This study enlightens the effect organizational features of two hotel organizations
have on immigrant women’s work satisfaction, organizational commitment and
occupational mobility.
 306 R. Sollund

However, more research should aim to establish whether such an effect is widely
distributed. This would provide more insight into factors which facilitate and
obstruct immigrants’ interorganizational mobility, and thus more nuanced answers
to questions regarding their position in the labour market than the traditional ones
connected to formal competence and discrimination provide.

Notes
1. I am grateful to Anne Krogstad and three anonymous referees for critical comments to earlier
versions of this paper.
2. Five immigrant women whose occupational mobility had been somewhat greater than that of the
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women in the hotels were also interviewed in order to explore more thoroughly which factors
facilitate occupational mobility, and to explore hypothesis raised by the hotel fieldwork. These
women were at the time of the interviews in other jobs, but one of them had started her career in
Norway as a chambermaid.

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