Abstract

Using the organizational detective metaphor, this study explores the influences of set pieces and properties associated with “the unique sense of place” that shape ethnographic interpretations of organizational cultures. The subject of the essay is a regional office of a Boston-based computer software firm that exhibits distinctive features of a strong culture, and the focus of the study is on how changes in cultural identity and meaning were fostered by the move to a new office building. Conclusions are drawn about the subtle and nuanced aspects of cultural display and interpretation, the writing of interpretive organizational ethnography, and the dramatic interplay of meanings associated with the firm’s Softball season and everyday organizational life.