Abstract
M.A.
In a busy office park in Rivonia, a small IT company goes about its daily business. The office of The Matrix is found on a quiet street, occupying one floor of a two story office block. The Matrix has 27 employees, and has been in business for eight years, much longer than what was expected from a small IT company. As the kettle boils and the keyboards click to the background noises of ringing telephones, business seems to come alive through the interactions of people known as employees once they enter the building.
In The Matrix, the relationship between professional and personal spaces, and identities, are intertwined and negotiated within and through space and objects. Relationships between the employees were emphasised, as employees were encouraged to think of themselves as family to each other. These kinship bonds and relationships were created through rituals and played an important role when it came to the negotiation between the different ideologies that were at constant play within the company.
These relationships and bonds were used to stabilise the switching between a hierarchal structure and an egalitarian culture, the business and information technological outlooks, as well as to serve as an anchor in the change from leadership to management. This duality of notions added to the company’s organisational culture, creating a unique pattern of events and processes that was specific to The Matrix. The organisational history and culture found itself being re-written due to the changes that occurred within management. The family started “dying” as a more corporate image was being sought after in an attempt to make more money. Personal issues amongst employees affected their work performances and output levels. As the two intertwined in this ethnography, Business appeared to be not just business. Personal lives not only entered the professional sphere but professional lives become personal.