Organisational culture
The components of culture, Schein's three levels, its functions and its limits, including the clash of cultures in a merger.
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- 5 topics
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Organisational culture: what is it?
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The set of values, beliefs, ways of doing things and symbols shared by an organisation's members, which guide their conduct.
It has three functions: giving an identity, binding members together, steering behaviour without written rules. It can also slow down change.
The booklet given to new employees carries the sentence "here, anyone can say no to their manager". At which of Schein's levels does this sentence sit?
- At the stated values: the company says what matters to it
- At artefacts, as it is printed and visible to all
- At basic assumptions, as it guides everyone's conduct
- At no level: a written document is not culture
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At the stated values: the company says what matters to it
Stated values are what the organisation says about itself. The booklet is an artefact, but what it proclaims is a stated value. A basic assumption, by contrast, is never written down, and what really guides conduct may be quite different.
Schein distinguishes three levels: visible …, stated … and implicit ….
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Schein distinguishes three levels: visible artefacts, stated values and implicit assumptions.
They run from the easiest to observe to the deepest. To understand a culture, one does not stop at premises and charters: one looks for the hidden givens.
Rite: what is it?
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A collective practice repeated at set times that recalls the values and strengthens belonging.
The welcome breakfast for newcomers, the New Year address or a leaving drink are examples. It differs from a symbol, which is an object or a sign.
A year after a large group bought a start-up, half of the acquired team has resigned. The group's procedures and approvals were imposed on it. What is the likely cause and the best response?
- A pay problem: bring salaries into line with the group's
- A lack of information: send out a memo detailing the procedures
- A hiring mistake: replace the leavers with people from the group
- A culture clash: give back part of its decision-making autonomy
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A culture clash: give back part of its decision-making autonomy
A team used to deciding alone experiences approvals as distrust. Adjusting pay, explaining procedures or replacing the leavers does not fix the cultural gap. The answer is to integrate without imposing everything at once: preserve some autonomy, explain what must change and why.