CULTURE

While the mission statement formally articulates organizational purpose, it is the

organization’s culture that gives life to the organization and helps make the realization
of its mission possible. The concept of organizational culture has been the focus of
much attention, with analysts associating it with superior corporate performance,
increased productivity, improved morale, and high rates of return on investment. In an
interview with the Harvard Business Review, the president of Levi Strauss stated:

We have learned that the soft stuff and the hard stuff are becoming
increasingly intertwined. A company’s values—what it stands for, what its
people believe in—are crucial to its competitive success. Indeed, values
drive business.

Organizational culture is the collectively accepted meaning that manifests itself in the
formal and informal rules of an organization or a sub-group. The culture embodies the
collective symbols, myths, visions and heroes of the organization’s past and present.
For instance, culture finds expression in the collective pride (and even embellishment)
of the accomplishments of individuals. Values important to the organization are
illustrated through stories about past successes and failures; these form a living history
that guides managers and drives members’ behavior. Culture involves what you wear,
how you address staff, and what is rewarded and punished. It is often not written. When
individuals join an organization, in addition to learning about its formal aspects, they
spend much of their time being socialized into the less formal aspects of organizational
life—namely its culture.

Dimensions

Diagnosing organizational culture helps us understand the relative levels of consistency

or inconsistency of “meaning” that exist in an organization. In some ways, culture is like
an iceberg; it has both seen and unseen aspects. From an anthropological perspective,
culture has material and non-material dimensions. Culture has both physical artifacts—
mission statements, policy guides—as well as basic beliefs that direct the thinking,
feelings, perceptions and behaviors of the people in the culture. To know why
some people are in trouble, are rejected or punished, or are not appreciated by an
organization, you need to know the belief system and norms that underlie the
organization’s behavior. In this context, four dimensions of organizational culture can be
identified: artifacts, perspectives, values, and assumptions.

Artifacts are the most tangible aspects of an organization’s culture. These are the
physical aspects of an organization: the type of office, the logo, dress, rituals (Christmas
parties), stories, language and so forth. Artifacts are the physical manifestations of the
organization’s culture.

Perspectives are the ideas that people hold and use to act appropriately. For example,
a perspective includes how the organization handles customer complaints or, for that
matter, employee complaints. In some organizations, people go to great lengths to help
customers obtain the products and services they say they need. In other organizations,
customers are ignored.

Values relate to the ideals held by the organization, including concepts of standards,
honesty, quality and integrity.

Underlying or basic assumptions are “the taken for granted” beliefs of an organization.
This refers to what members of the organization feel is appropriate behavior for
themselves and others. Since assumptions are considered a given, they are rarely if
ever questioned. The set of tacit assumptions helps form the uniqueness of the
organizational culture.
Assessing Culture

Those who study organizational culture argue that it takes time to diagnose and
understand the culture(s) of an organization. While dominant themes might be relatively
easy to identify, an effective cultural diagnosis requires an exploration of sub-themes,
sub-cultures and underlying assumptions that provide more profound diagnostic
insights. The concept of organizational culture can provide diagnosticians with a
framework for articulating how the culture of an organization contributes to its motivation
and, ultimately, to its performance.

Questions: Culture

• What are the key defining artifacts, values and assumptions that move the organization to
perform well or poorly? Why?
• Does the organization attempt to learn about its culture?
• Does the culture support the priorities of the organization?
• Do underlying assumptions support the improvement of performance?
• Do most people in the organization identify with the organization’s values?
• Is there a positive attitude toward change?
• Are organizational values and assumptions aligned with the organization’s actions?
• Is the dominant organizational culture supported by the various sub-cultures?
• Does the dominant culture seem appropriate for the mission?
• Do the organization’s stories and symbols support a desirable culture?