Understanding culturally diverse temporal structures in the workplace

This dissertation explores the organizational culture of a ski hill nestled in the Kootenay region of British Columbia. Conducted through qualitative methods, the study seeks to understand ski hill employees’ perceptions of their work environment, unveiling the temporal structures associated with the organization. The term temporal structure is defined as a patterned organization of time, used by humans to help them manage, comprehend, or coordinate their use of time. Through the insights of five participants, a vivid portrayal of the Kootenay lifestyle emerges, shedding light on how ‘place’ significantly influences an organization’s temporal structure. Drawing from Edward T. Hall’s work, specifically the concepts of monochronic and polychronic cultures, the study categorizes the temporal dynamics inherent in the Kootenay ski hill. Additionally, John J. Ivers’ work on subcultural disparities was also relied on to better understand where temporal structures may emerge. The participants collectively agreed they had never heard any terms associated with temporal structures, yet they all described polychronicity perfectly when sharing their perspectives on their work environments. This study revealed how management and employees in a Canadian organization, situated in a country historically aligned with a monochronic way of life, comprehend and appreciate this supposedly foreign concept that is a polychronic lifestyle. There are numerous avenues one should consider if one wishes to expand upon the findings presented in this dissertation. The strongest opportunity would be to target a large-scale ski hill outside the Kootenays and conduct the same qualitative method in order to determine if ‘place’ influences the temporal structure at play within that organization.