Cultural Approaches Chapter 5

Culture (Schein) “Pattern of basic assumptions-invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration-that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems” (textbook, p. 88)

Culture Both the ideology of a society and the actual, concrete practices that occur in a society. Man is an animal suspended in webs of significance which he himself has spun. Culture is the web. The totality of socially transmitted and constructed behavior patterns, arts, beliefs , institutional habits, & all other products of human work and thought characteristics of a community or population.

Culture Culture consists of the abstract values, beliefs, practices, & perceptions that lie behind people’s behavior. They are often shared by members of a society, & when acted on produce behavior considered acceptable by the community.

Overview Something an organization has Something an organization is Something an organization does Something that impacts organizational and individual identity An org. is greater than the things that make it up!!!!

Strong cultures (Deal and Kennedy) Prescriptive Approach: Seek to Explain What’s Wrong & Prescribe a Solution Strong cultures (Deal and Kennedy) Values Beliefs Heroes Exemplify an org.’s values Rites and rituals Ceremonies Cultural network Communication system through which cultural values are instituted and inforced

Excellent Cultures-Themes (Peter & Waterman) A bias for action Prescriptive Approach: Seek to Explain What’s Wrong & Prescribe a Solution Excellent Cultures-Themes (Peter & Waterman) A bias for action Close relations to the customer Autonomy and entrepreneurship Productivity through people Hands on, value-driven Stick to the knitting Simple form, lean staff Simultaneous loose-tight properties

Descriptive Approach: Seek to Describe & Understand Individuals make sense of their world through their communicative behaviors Seek to describe an organization’s unique sense of place Distinction b/t prescriptive and descriptive Culture is complicated Culture is emergent-socially constructed Culture is not unitary co-cultures w/in org. Cultural penetration (slices) Culture is not static

Schein’s Model of Organizational Culture Org. culture is complex Group phenomenon Communication is important in developing, maintaining, and displaying culture Pattern of basic assumptions Often ambiguous Culture is emergent and developmental

Scheins’s Levels of Culture Level I: Behaviors and artifacts Manifestations of the culture Markers such as communicative behavior, objects, things Level II: Values Preferences of what ought to happen Level III: Basic assumptions Core beliefs/world views

Methods of Inquiry Object of inquiry should drive method of assessment (refer to the reading by Burke posted on the additional reading page) Empirically, traditional research in organizations has been quantitative Qualitative research is also useful in getting at changing nature of culture Ethnography, Observation, & Interviews For consultants, this is often the first step of a Communication Audit in an organization

Check it out! Case in Point-Red Sox Nation (p. 83) Spotlight on Scholarship (p. 86) Case Study-The Cultural Tale of Two Shuttles (p. 97)