People & Organization

4th Lecture

 .
The Three Lenses!
Outcome/Objectives

The objectives of this chapter are:-

· To describe what is meant by "culture" and the numerous ways

which have been devised to study it.

· To give an understanding of how "culture" effects global and

business planning.

· To show why the study of "culture" is important to organization.

What is Culture?
Terpstran (1987)
"The integrated sum total of learned behavioral traits that are
manifest and shared by members of society"

The elements of culture

Material Culture:
Material culture refers to tools, artifacts and technology. E.g
like transportation, power, communications and so on.
What is Culture? (Cont’d)
 Language:
 Language reflects the nature and values of society. There
may be many sub-cultural languages.
 Some countries have two or three languages. In Zimbabwe
there are three languages (English, Shona and Ndebele).
 Aesthetics
 Aesthetics refer to the ideas in a culture concerning beauty
and good taste as expressed in the arts -music, art, drama
and dancing and the particular appreciation of colour and
form
What is Culture? (Cont’d)
 Education:
 Education refers to the transmission of skills, ideas
and attitudes as well as training in particular
disciplines.
 Religion:
 Religion provides the best insight into a society's
behaviour and helps answer the question why
people behave rather than how they behave.
A Definition of Culture
A Definition of Culture
Culture refers to the symbolic or expressive side of

human life
 Actions, objects, and ideas that carry specific

meanings to particular groups and hence stand for

something
Culture provides a template on which meanings are

read and actions are based

Cultural Perspective
 Cultural perspective focuses on meanings people assign to
their respective work experiences
 Key to cultural perspective is symbolism
 Symbols:
 Are cultural objects or artifacts whose form, appearance,
logic, and type can be categorized
 Are produced and used by people and groups within
organizations for certain purposes
 Are always put forth in a particular period and context
 Mean different things to different people
Organizational Culture
 Culture and control—changing culture to motivate workers:
 Alter the organizational structure to bring employees closer
to centers of control and decision making
 Create preferred organizational culture directly by
recruitment, selection, training, placement, etc.
 Promote conceptual models of thought and action for
employees to follow
 Employees that exhibit exemplary behavior become models
of desirable behavior
Organizational Culture (Cont’d)
 Subcultures
 Groups of people who share common identities based on
characteristics that override their prescribed roles and
relationships
 May form along class or ethnic lines because of cultural
similarities
 Focus on subcultures emphasizes segmentation of
organization culture
 Divisions form by organizational role, gender, religion,
ethnicity, age, etc
Cultural Diagnosis of Organizations

Six important features of the cultural lens on

organizations:
Symbols and meaning

Identity

Social control

Subcultures

Cultural relativity

Habits and history

Concepts!
 Social Control: the enforcement of conformity by
society upon its members, either by law or
by social pressure
 Cultural relativity. A concept that cultural norms
and values derive their meaning within a specific
social context.
Some Underlying Dimensions of
Organizational Culture
 1. The organization’s relationship to its environment
 2. The nature of human activity
 3. The nature of reality and truth
 4. The nature of time
 5. The nature of human nature
 6. The nature of human relationships
 7. Homogeneity vs. diversity
Safety culture definition!
 Safety culture is the attitude, beliefs, perceptions
and values that employees share in relation to
safety in the workplace.

 Safety culture is a part of organizational culture,

and has been described by the phrase "the way we
do things around here".
So What? Using The Lenses
 Using all the lenses is a way to be more comprehensive –to
get “unstuck” from the familiar (what we pay consultants
for)

 Useful for design of interventions, change management,

etc.

 Continual adaptation to new technology, knowledge, social

issues, regulation, etc.
Organizational Culture: Basics
 A Working Definition: ―The way we do things around here

 •Or, in a word: ―Tradition

 •Cultures are:

 –Passed on generation to generation, usually by stories

and word of mouth
Summary!
 The Cultural Lens is the one which highlights
whether a company is more Strategic or Political
when it comes to decision making, and influential
tactics.

 The bottom line is that Culture lens is definitely

important to understand that before mounting any
kind of campaign for change.
Summary! (Cont’d)
 To learn about the different cultures of various
organizations. Some are rigid, some are flexible,
some light-hearted, some serious.
 One must first learn what the history is within the
company, and how to motivate change given that
environment.
 There is no “right” or “wrong” in terms of culture,
there is only “fit.”
Related questions!
 What is the origination story of this company? How
did it start? Are the original founders still team
players?
 What values does this company adopt? (Ask
many people: How well does the company actually
follow these?)
 Why do people enjoy working here?
 What do people feel could be improved here and
why?
Related questions! (Cont’d)
 Do people talk freely about concerns, or are they
mostly discussed behind closed doors?
 What are some success stories in the company,
both with sales and internal operations?
 What are some “challenge” stories – things the
company had to overcome – and how did that
happen?
 Do colleagues often spend time together out of
work, and if so, what do they do together?
Activity!
In one word give your basic impression or image of the following:

a) English people....................................
b) Africans...........................................
c) Indians (Asians).................................
d) Japanese............................................
e) Americans..........................................
f) Italians...............................................
g) Russians............................................
h) Arabs................................................
Activity!
Why do you think these people are what you say they are
a)English.............................................

b) Africans...........................................
c) Indians (Asians)................................
d) Japanese..........................................
e) Americans........................................
f) Italians..............................................
g) Russians...........................................
h) Arabs...............................................

1. Which of these people do you think you would most like to do
business with and why?
2. Which of these people would you least like to do business with

and why?
Activity!
 Give an example using three lens.
 Take one organization as an example and describe
the benefits and limitations of these three lenses
for that organization.
Political Lens!
 Model: organizations contest for power and
autonomy among internal stakeholders
 Key processes: conflict, negotiation, coalition building
 Key concepts: power, influence, networks, autonomy,
interests, dominant coalition
 Leader: coalition builder, negotiator
 Drivers of change: shifts in power of stakeholders
(can be influenced by changes in design,
environment, or strategy)
References
 Managing for the future (Organizational Behavior
and Processes) By Ancona
 Managing People and Organizations (2010) by
Guido Stein
 Rouse, W. B. (2007. People and
Organizations: Explorations of Human-Centered
Design.