MSJ11344 Internal Communication

Lecture 3
Spring 2014
Culture is a web of significance and shared
system of beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and
actions among a group of people that
endures over time

Culture is the way in which a group of people
solves problems and resolves dilemmas
Culture is the sum total of how an
organization accomplishes all that it has to
do to fulfill its purpose or mission

All the overt and subtle patterns of behaviour
in organizations do indeed weave themselves
together to create an unmistakable
personality or character of the organization
If the organization demonstrates long-term
success, its abiding culture is identified as
the cause of its capacity to not only cope in
challenging times but to thrive and prosper

If an organization fails, its culture can be
blamed for being change resistant: closed to
new ideas, lacking an innovative spirit, and
too slow to respond to fast-changing
customer needs
Every organization has FOUR basic elements:
strategy, structure, people and process

The organizations culture is formed, shaped,
and reinforced through the interplay of these
elements
The strategy articulates how resources will be
focused and applied to accomplish the
organizations mission

The structure determines how the organization will
arrange itself to carry out this strategy to ensure
the mission is achieved

People are deployed within the structure to carry
out the required work

The procedures, the hows of work and the way
the organization actually functions, capture the
meaning of process.
According to Charles Handy, there are four
types of organizational cultures

Power Culture
Role Culture
Task Culture
Person Culture
Power culture is like a spider
web with the all-important
spider sitting at the centre.

The closer you to the spider, the more
influence you have

Founder is often the voice of the organization