2. Before you read…
0 Explore a few writings about the organization you are
following this semester.
0 What can you determine about the “culture” of that
organization?
0 Why would scholars need more than just the classical
and humanistic theories?
3. Limited views
Scholars wanted
more…
How could you
explain…
0 Classical and
Humanistic theories
were too limiting
0 Unspoken
norms, values, and
beliefs of
organizational
members seemed to
guide their daily
behavior
0 Earlier theories
could NOT explain
all forms of
behavior
0 Disregarded
differences among
organizations
4. Culture!
0 Anthropologists study groups of people to
understand their culture—this leads to a
better understanding of people AND their
behavior
0 Culture provides a lens through which
members of a group interpret, interact
with, and make sense of reality
Think about it:
You belong to a variety of cultures. These cultural
groupings provide you with meanings for routine
events. In your daily life, the values you are
enculturated with help you make sense of what is
going on around you.
5. Organizational Culture
0 Apply this understanding of
culture to an organization (a non-
profit, a religious group, a
business, a school, etc.)
0 Researchers in Organizational
Culture believe an ORGANIZATION
has the same characteristics as the
societies they studied – therefore
organizations can be understood
best through a cultural lens.
Do you see the value in this?
Instead of focusing on a misunderstanding, we can develop insight into
organizational behavior and WHY things happen.
6. 0 Think about
“tradition” – we can
value and respect our
traditional heritage
0 “Traditions” may
have been the way an
organization built its
success in the past
0 But, we can become
entrenched in our
traditions
0 Change becomes
difficult
0 Adaptation begins to
be problematic
0 We struggle to fit the
marketplace
Misunderstandings
Organizational culture can explain many parts of our
daily interactions.
7. Subcultures
0 Within the primary culture, there may be many
subcultures. An organization, like an individual, can be
part of a variety of subcultures.
0 As members of different subcultures interact, they
may encounter misunderstandings
0 These misunderstandings are based on:
0 different values, practices, and
meanings for events and even language
Think about it:
List your subcultures—as an individual which
subcultures do you belong to? Have these
changed over the years?
8. The merger
0 As we explore misunderstandings, we have to
consider the merger
0 Mergers have ALWAYS been part of organizations
0 Mergers are more common in our global community
0 When organizations merger, misunderstandings
caused by the clash of cultures will happen
0 This clash is intensified if the organizations are based
in different societal cultures
9. What is Organizational
Culture? (1st trait)
0 We’ve learned some traits and terms, but what exactly
is organizational culture?
01. Org. Culture involves something members SHARE
0Members share a way of understanding/interpreting
phenomena
0Org. Culture provides members with frameworks for
understanding and interpreting events
0 Members may vary in their level of enculturation and
socialization
10. What is Organizational
Culture? (2nd trait)
0 Organizational culture is intangible
0 While often confused with tangible objects or
observable activities, it is important to note culture is
intangible.
0 For example, a dress code of an organization is an
ELEMENT of its culture, it REFLECTS the culture, but it
is not THE culture.
What tangible elements might be a
part of organizational culture?
11. What is Organizational
Culture? (3rd trait)
0 Organizational culture affects human behavior
0 The concept of organizational culture is not just another
way we attempt to run an organization. The culture is a
construction of human interaction and is affected by the
behavior of all members of the organization.
0 The organizational culture provides frameworks for the
way members of the organization interpret
organizational events
0 If researchers are to understand HOW and WHY
organizational members behave as they do, they
must understand the organizational culture that
guides and constrains them.
12. Conrad (1990)
0 Organizational cultures
are COMMUNICATIVE
creations
0 Stories
0 Memos
0 Meetings
0 Members communicate
based on the values of
the culture
0 Organizational cultures
are HISTORICAL
0 Our organizations are
rooted in the history of
events and
communicative actions
0 Tradition
13. Organizational Culture
defined
0 “Organizational culture is a communicatively
constructed, historically based system of assumptions,
values, and interpretive frameworks that guide and
constrain organizational members as they perform
their organizational roles and confront the challenges
of their environment.”
0Modaff & DeWine
15. Values
0 The common beliefs and priorities of a group of
people.
Think about it:
What values are held in the organization you
selected to follow this semester?
16. Symbolic elements
0 Physical objects or icons that represent the
organization
0 Logos, mascots, buildings, websites
0 Stories
0 Language/nonverbal behavior
0Certain vocabulary (the jargon of that organization,
handshakes, signs)
0 Metaphors
Consider Greek life on campus as an organization. These
groups generally have their own hand
signals, images, historical traditions, and even vocabulary
that does not make snese to those outside of the
organization.
17. Role
elements
0 Heroes – individuals or groups who are respected by a
large number of individuals within the organization
because they embody group values.
0 Outlaws – individuals who seem to be paradoxes in
the organization, who defy organizational practices or
values yet remain as valued members of the
organization because they exemplify countercultural
values that the organization wishes to cultivate
18. Interactive Elements
0 Rituals
0 Informal cultural rules
0 Organizational style
Think about it!
How do you know what behavior is preferred,
allowed, or against the rules?
19. Context Elements
0 The context elements show how organizational
cultures are shaped by aspects that may be OUTSIDE
the direct control of the current organizational
members.
0 Examples might include history, location/place, or
external events.
20. Cultural Perspectives
Culture as variable Culture as root
metaphor
0 Organizational
culture is something
the organization HAS
0 It is a by-product of
organizational
activities
0 Culture is changeable
0 Change happens at
management level
0 Organizational
culture is something
the organization IS
0 It is the process of
sense-making created
and sustained
through
communication and
interaction
0 Not easy to change,
no quick fixes
21. Root metaphor
- Below the surface
MANY things happen
(values, beliefs,
attitudes, sense-
making, assumptions)
- The items above reside
in the individuals of
the organization
- Artifacts/symbols are
surface-level
descriptions of the
complex culture
- Culture is created and
re-created over time
by MEMBERS, not
MANAGERS
- There are many
subcultures and
countercultures
22. Sub- &Counter-Cultures
Think about it!
Which subcultures and countercultures
have you experienced?
0 Subcultures diverge only slightly from the
organizational culture
0 Countercultures are in opposition of the accepted
culture
24. Organizational Culture
Go back and consider your selected
organization for this semester.
How does this idea of organizational
culture differ from our previous theories?
What role does culture play in that
organization?
