Summary The complex processes and phenomena that are taking place in the contemporary world require new and adequate methods of acting also in the area of management. This means the need for a fresh approach to the process of organization development and change. This paper presents the key concepts stemming from the psychoanalytic approach to organization and management. Its main aim is to discuss the major categories (concepts) derived from psychoanalytic theories, which pertain to the issues related to organizational change. Theoretical considerations are complemented by presentation of the data collected during interviews with managers from the examined organization and identification of the defence mechanisms of representatives of the organization’s management.

BACKGROUND: Top managers are heavily exposed to strong negative emotions due to the difficult decisive situations that they experience and the persistent pressure of time and uncertainty. At the same time, the relationships they build within TMTs shape their decisions, experiences and reactions at work. The paper refers to defence mechanisms as relatively persistent means of individual response to unwanted emotions and affects. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the paper is to examine the defence mechanisms of TMT members as antecedents of perceived trustworthiness of other team members and positive relationships in the team. METHODS: The empirical study was conducted in a sample of 123 members of top management teams representing furniture industry companies in Poland. RESULTS: The results show that defence mechanisms determine TMT members’ perception of trustworthiness of other team-members and that perceived trustworthiness mediates the relation between the defence mechanisms of TMT members and their evaluation of relationships within a team. CONCLUSIONS: The study explains links between individual characteristics of TMT members and processes within the teams. It contributes to upper echelon theory and literature on trust and positive relationships at work. It also contributes to the line of research introducing unconscious processes and emotions to management studies.

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Informacje o naborze artykułów i zasadach recenzowania znajdują się na stronie internetowej Wydawnictwa www.wydawnictwo.ue.wroc.pl Kopiowanie i powielanie w jakiejkolwiek formie wymaga pisemnej zgody Wydawcy

The article is of empirical nature. It presents the results of research dedicated to identification of the organizational culture and the commitment of the employees of an international corporation operating on the financial services market. The OCAI questionnaire, used to identify the dominant type of organizational culture, and a questionnaire concerning the commitment and loyalty of employees in three selected branches of the company, located in Poland, England and India, were used in the research. The main aim of the research was to identify the types of the organizational culture and to define the level of commitment of employees and loyalty, taking into account factors like branch location and nationality of the surveyed people. The assumption that organizational culture is positively correlated with the level of commitment and loyalty has been only partially confirmed and requires further verification. However, the differences between the results from the three branches (Poland, India, England) encourage continuation of that type of research.