| dc.description.abstract | Both decision-makers and scholars argue that following a caring approach has the potential to create new ways of being in the world that can address complex social and environmental problems. Although several scholars from different disciplines have taken the initiative to research how a caring approach could fulfil this potential, the topic of caring in organisations, as a way to create a more socially and environmentally just world, remains under-researched. Recently, organisations have started adopting organisational models that reflect an orientation towards well-being and acting in more relational and caring ways. This thesis researches one of these new organisational models, the Herenboeren-model. This way the thesis aims to create a theory about the caring organisation and to uncover how caring is adopted in organisations. Two research questions are central to this pursuit: “What ethics and practices of care do organisations adopt?” and “How is care adopted into an organisation?”. In the theory chapter a bridge between care and (sustainable) organisations literature is made to create two interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks. Following a constructivist approach, an abductive qualitative ethnography was chosen as the research design. The results show that a caring organisation has a vision of being in the world where the organisation is viewed as a means to support livelihoods and to address environmental and/or social issues. Caring organisations actively engage in relationships with non-humans taking up partnership, stewardship and neighborship roles. In the relationships they have with humans they not only relate to them as consumers, but also as partners in care-giving and as a community. The organisation takes up the responsibility for the care work for all these relationships in both their decision making processes as in the practices that they embody. Two new ways of care, care-coordinating and care-making, that come at play at the organisational level are identified. Stories, conflict resolution strategies and rules support the organisation to practice care relationships. The adoption process of care shows that care relationships are added and deepened over time. Organisational structures are added or adapted to facilitate the caring of the organisation. This way care is not adopted into the organisation at once, but can be conceptualised as a process of being in relation to humans and non-humans. This includes identifying where caring needs are not met, which way of caring would be appropriate and including actors into the care of the organisation. | |
