Can a Company Have Fun and Make Money? An Ethnographic Study

• In Event: Scholarship in Business Communication

Abstract

This ethnographic study explores the implementation of an entrepreneurial software company’s founding philosophy to “Have fun and make money.” The philosophy was paraphrased within a formal list of ten principles that encapsulated the company’s values. However, employees and executives differed on how the values were defined and practiced. The majority of employees’ fun was found to occur while in work related tasks, not in the scheduled events management intended as fun for company personnel.

Author

• Nancy M. Schullery, Western Michigan University