Organizing With Kairos An ethnographic study of Kairos moments within a start-up company during the events prior to a new product launch

Abstract

Time is a complex matter, and how people experience time could differ significantly. The focus of organizational researchers has shifted from organizations as stable entities, to processes of organizing changing over time. The aim of this study is to examine how time is constructed within an organization, as well as how the construction of time contributes to the process of organizing. The subject of the study is a Norwegian start-up company facing a first product launch. The subject has been thoroughly studied through an ethnographic approach, observing the events leading up to the release of the product. The theoretical framework is based on the notion of Kairos time, and a definition of a Kairos moment was designed and applied to the empirical findings. The study identified several Kairos moments within the start-up company, constructed in the past, present and future. The analysis focused on the social construction of time, and the findings suggest that moments perceived as Kairos moments contribute to the process of organizing.