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Waiting and Rejection: An Organizational Perspective

'Cooling out' rejected applicants

Department of Sociology, Lund University, Box 114, S-22100 Lund, Sweden, Ann_Mari.Sellerberg{at}soc.lu.se

Time spent waiting is frequently regarded as time wasted, and therefore as something to be avoided or at least minimized. In this article, however, waiting is viewed from an organizational perspective: delay and waiting are seen as integral to the strategic functioning of organizations, and to their handling of individual requests. Various kinds of waiting or intended organizational delays are described in terms of their contribution to `cooling out'. Waiting as cooling out means that waiting pacifies those frustrated (or possibly frustrated) by the organization. The analysis also addresses various manifestations of the social dialogue between the organization and the rejected, including those cases where waiting does not have a cooling out effect.

Key Words: applicant • cooling out • organization • rejection • time • waiting

Time & Society, Vol. 17, No. 2-3, 349-362 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0961463X08093428


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