1.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS AND (MY) INITIAL THOUGHTS

Author: Meek, V. Lynn | University of Melbourne professor (organisational change,

governance and management) | PhD. Sociology of Higher Education, University of
Cambridge
Title: Organizational Culture: Origins and Weaknesses
Publisher: Organization Studies
Year: 1988

>> start writing here any initial thoughts about possible implications due to
biased, obsolete, asymmetric or uninformed background.

2. FACTS AND EVIDENCE (AUTHOR)

◾ Key factual information + Evidence
◾ Source of the Evidence
- (1st): historical primary resources (primary ≈ direct)
- (2nd): recent critical texts within the discipline (≈ secondary sources)
- (SR): scientific research
- (EM): economics models
- (EXP): experiments / fieldwork
◾ N.B.: Note down the number of the page!

◾ Conditioned power is the most important in modern industrial society, and

organisation is the locus of conditioned power. It is through ‘persuasion,
education, or the social commitment to what seems natural, proper or right’ that
the corporation ‘cause the individual to submit to the will of another or of
others.’
(Gailbraith, 1983) p.461
◾
 
3. ARGUMENTS AND CLAIMS (AUTHOR)
◾ What is the main overarching argument?
◾ What are the claims used to support his argument?
◾ A claim is not persuasive on its own. It can be: a definition, a
recommendation, a prediction, an opinion.
◾ An argument is a series of claims (substantiated with reasons and evidence)
which leads to a conclusion.
Example of an (Argument) advanced by Oscar Wilde:
- (Claim 1): ‘History’ is what historians write, but they do not write
it for all time.
- (Claim 2): We do not have to accept the judgements made by historians
of an earlier generation.
- (Conclusion): The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.
◾ N.B.: Note down the number of the page!

◾ Increased emphasis on organisational and cultural problems at a time when the

structures of many Western institutions are under strain (end of 1980s). Collective
organisational culture seen as the means for enhancing organizational
effectiveness. (p.453)
◾ The idea of organisational culture is borrowed from older and established
disciplines, namely anthropology and sociology. However, there is a danger that
during the transfer of this idea, some concepts become either stereotyped or
distorted, or they may not be borrowed in toto — selecting only some aspects of
the concepts that suit specific interests and thinking, which may result in a
biased application or a dilution of their analytical power. (p.454)
◾ The structural-functional theory used to describe organisational theory is
weak, as it is based on a biological metaphor. (p.459)
◾ The human relations theory (scientific management) was one of the first to
explore informal social relations and to take the concept of organizational culture
seriously. Also, it is based on a medical/biological theory, speaking of
healthy/unhealthy organisational culture and organisational hygiene. (p.460)
◾ Organisations are often arenas for disputes and conflicts; they are not
homogeneous, but multicultural. (p.461)
◾ The culture of the modern organisation is a form of social control, which is
not controlled by the management, but it is instead a process in which management,
workers, and the community at large participate. (p.462)
◾ The nature of organisational culture is dynamic ( ≈ not static) (p. 462)
◾ There is a sharp difference between positive and normative considerations of
the role of management in organisational culture: (p. 462)
- positive (P): an empirical assessment of management intervention in culture
- normative (N): the theoretical reasoning whereby management creates, changes
and imposes ‘culture’ on a subjected and powerless workforce
◾ The various theories about organisational culture fall into two camps:
(p.463)
1. culture is a constituent part of an organization (Cummings and Schmidt, 1972;
Schwartz and Davis, 1981; Deal and Kennedy, 1982; Peters and Waterman, 1982)
2. culture is itself the organisation (Smircich, 1983; Harris and Cronen, 1979;
Weick, 1979; Morgan, 1980; Wacker, 1981) ( ≈ anthropologists' view)
◾ Culture and social structure cannot be directly observed by the researcher,
as they are both abstract entities; they are only to be used to interpret
behaviour. Instead, the focus should be shifted towards the concrete behaviour of
individual actors. (p.465)

4. MY RESPONSE AS THE READER

◾ What is my opinion of this written work?
◾ Do I see any major flaws in the argument? (✘)
◾ Do I find any claim particularly compelling or original? (★) (✔)
◾ Is the evidence provided appropriate for these claims and arguments?
◾ Do I have any questions?

◾ This paper is in contrast with Schein (1985: p.5), because it consider

culture as being itself the organisation, while Schein proposes that ‘there cannot
be a culture unless there is a group that owns it,’ and that ’‘culture is best
thought of as a set of basic assumptions that member and organisations possess, and
which leads them to think and act in certain ways’.
◾ Meek and Barney propose two interesting points:
- Meek: culture as a whole cannot be consciously manipulated by management, as
the creation of subcultures is inevitable and will inexorably oppose cultural
change.
- Barney: culture can indeed be changed, but if so is possible, it will not
bring any sustained competitive advantage
◾

MEEK (1988)
◾ This paper is in contrast with Schein (1985: p.5), because it consider
culture as being itself the organisation, while Schein proposes that ‘there cannot
be a culture unless there is a group that owns it,’ and that ’‘culture is best
thought of as a set of basic assumptions that member and organisations possess, and
which leads them to think and act in certain ways.'
◾ Meek and Barney propose two interesting points:
- Meek: culture as a whole cannot be consciously manipulated by management, as
the creation of subcultures is inevitable and will inexorably oppose cultural
change.
- Barney: culture can indeed be changed, but if so is possible, it will not
bring any sustained competitive advantage (it will only be temporary, because their
advantage is not imperfectly imitable and so can be replicated sooner or later, in
the long term).
◾