Organising and Social Relationships in Non-traditional Contexts: A Study of the Organisational Behaviour of Software Test Engineers, Contributing to the Digital Transformation of Banks in the Irish Financial Sector

Note: Paper not published. Abstract: Identity & sensemaking are influential concepts for scholars in the management and organisation field and are the central focus of this paper, which will examine the organisational behaviour (OB) and social relationships of Software Test Engineers (STEs) within the non-traditional context of a recently conceived digital first banking environment; with a focus on how such professions appropriate and subsequently enact their own realities, which will be of interest to readers invested in identity/sensemaking work. Insider research methods combined with principles of auto-ethnography and reflectivity will be used as the researcher presents himself as an ‘object of research’. The cohorts studied represent a diversified range of individual identities/experiences, with varied educational backgrounds including business/IT, bank staff/contractors and traditional finance stock; representing a unique research opportunity to study the human relations of a ‘virtual team’ leveraging technology to transcend traditional organisational boundaries, including the relational, geographical, and even temporal; as team members combine their efforts across cultures, locations, and time zones. The research will contribute to practice by highlighting the OB of a specific team with growing prominence/importance within the organisation. Contributions to theory will emerge as the research process develops and will be centred around sensemaking/identity, and the development/maintenance of non-traditional professional relationships of STEs within an Irish financial institution. Keywords: identity, sensemaking, diversity, professions, organisational dynamics, qualitative approaches