Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Bertrand Pauget and Ahmed Dammak
The question <strong>of</strong> identity fosters <strong>the</strong> questioning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> traditional relations <strong>of</strong> authority. Over <strong>the</strong>
generations, differences have increased. Even as Baby Boomers challenged <strong>the</strong> brands <strong>of</strong>
established authority to create a new society, Generation “Y” took it for granted that it was possible,
even legitimate, to question authority. More precisely, <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> its relationship with authority
changed.
Members <strong>of</strong> Generation “Y” do not have any problems with considering <strong>the</strong>mselves equal to <strong>the</strong>ir
superiors, despite <strong>the</strong>ir inexperience. Only pro<strong>of</strong> by example counts. Authority is not granted; ra<strong>the</strong>r, it
is acquired by example and for a given time only. Generation “Y” individuals are interested in <strong>the</strong>
trajectories <strong>of</strong> lives that are different from <strong>the</strong>irs. Any experience, even one that is not aligned with
one’s career, is worth having. Generation “Y” molds new ideas and practices by combining different
and apparently contradictory worlds. Generation “Y” is also more curious than its predecessors:
individuals in this generation seek to broaden <strong>the</strong>mselves. Recent studies have shown that though
individuals in Generation “Y” process five times more information on <strong>the</strong> internet, <strong>the</strong>y are five times
less in-depth than <strong>the</strong> Baby Boomer generation.
Flexibility is a part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> priority <strong>of</strong> Generation “Y”. The concept <strong>of</strong> schedules and constraints must be
adjusted to situations that are different than those in <strong>the</strong> past. We cannot expect Generation “Y” to
adapt more easily without expecting <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side (i.e., <strong>the</strong> flexibility <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization in its daily
work) to adapt as well. At <strong>the</strong> same time, Generation “Y” seeks to work as a team, but without
necessarily having rules.
Our goal in this study was to understand <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> managerial impact <strong>of</strong> Generation “Y” on
French social and health organizations.
This led us to produce three hypo<strong>the</strong>ses:
H1 – Generation “Y” has a problem in positioning itself within organizations.
H2 – Management is challenged by Generation “Y”.
H3 – Organizations struggle to meet <strong>the</strong> expectations <strong>of</strong> Generation “Y”.
3. Methodology
The idea for this research was proposed by individuals in <strong>the</strong> French social and health fields. Three
nursing schools contacted one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> researchers to organize conferences on Generation “Y” and its
impact on <strong>the</strong>ir organizations. Management has said that <strong>the</strong>y employ a very different generation <strong>of</strong>
student nurses with whom <strong>the</strong>y are struggling to cope. We sought to confirm this perception.
We constructed a questionnaire in three stages. In <strong>the</strong> first stage, we sought to distinguish between
stereotypes and <strong>the</strong> perceptions <strong>of</strong> people working with Generation “Y”. We sought to measure <strong>the</strong>
impact <strong>of</strong> Generation “Y” on management and <strong>the</strong> organization. We based our questionnaire on <strong>the</strong>
three French traits <strong>of</strong> Generation “Y”: questioning identity, questioning authority, and <strong>the</strong> search for
flexibility. The first trait was examined in terms <strong>of</strong> relationships with superiors and colleagues. The
second trait raised <strong>the</strong> question <strong>of</strong> authority and traditional functions <strong>of</strong> control and decision-making
by management. The third included <strong>the</strong> need for personal flexibility (hours, salary, etc.) and
organizational flexibility (<strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> technology tools, information sharing, teamwork, etc.).
We contacted respondents in <strong>the</strong> health and social field training fields. Our respondents were
directors or deputy directors <strong>of</strong> nursing homes, members <strong>of</strong> hospital management, and <strong>of</strong>ficials from
health and social organizations (e.g., organizations that assist <strong>the</strong> sick and disabled). We <strong>the</strong>n
administered qualitative and exploratory questionnaires during April 2011. We subsequently returned
<strong>the</strong> questionnaire results to our respondents to confirm <strong>the</strong> relevance <strong>of</strong> our analysis and ensured that
<strong>the</strong> respondents were informants in <strong>the</strong> ethnographic sense (Mehan, 1978). That is, <strong>the</strong>y were
capable <strong>of</strong> understanding and explaining <strong>the</strong>ir interactions with <strong>the</strong> people and <strong>the</strong> institutions around
<strong>the</strong>m. In an exploratory sense, those with a Master’s Degree in management appeared engaged in a
reflexive attitude with respect to <strong>the</strong>ir pr<strong>of</strong>essions and <strong>the</strong>ir practices.
The challenge was to avoid individuals that were too critical <strong>of</strong> management or <strong>the</strong>ir organizations
because <strong>the</strong>y were seeking to leave <strong>the</strong>ir organization. These people existed in our sample but were
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