MGMT2008-

OrganisationalBehaviour
Lecture 10: Organisational Culture
Dr. Nicole Knight

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 Organisational Culture
Definition
• “The pattern of shared beliefs, attitudes, assumptions, norms
and values in an organisation which may not be articulated
but, in the absence of direct instructions, shape the way
people act and interact and strongly influence the ways in
which things get done.”
– (Michael Armstrong)

• “Culture is the commonly held and relatively stable beliefs,

attitudes and values that exist within the organisation.”
– (Alan Williams, Paul Dobson, Mike Walters]

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 Organisational Culture
Definition (continued)
• “How things are done around here” (popular view)
• “Reflects the underlying assumptions about the way work is
performed; what is acceptable and not acceptable; and what
behaviour and actions are encouraged and discouraged.” (P E
Atkinson)
• “The collection of traditions, values, policies, beliefs and
attitudes that constitute a pervasive context for everything
we do and think in an organisation.”
(A McLean and J Marshall)

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 Organisational Culture
• Edgar Schein, (1984) -culture is:
– a pattern of basic assumptions
– invented, discovered or developed by a given group
– as it learns to cope with problems of external
adaptation and internal integration
– that has worked well enough to be considered valid
and therefore
– is taught to new members as the
– correct way to think and feel in relation to those
problems

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 Schein’s 3 culture levels
Surface manifestations Visible but not interpretable

Debatable, overt and espoused

Values values

Basic assumptions Taken for granted, non-debatable,

invisible

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 Organisational Culture
ARTEFACTS AND CREATIONS

Rites and
Norms VALUES AND BELIEFS ceremonies

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
Trust e.g. Honesty
the basis on which individuals are respected
the basis of the firm’s ability to compete
whether competition or collaboration between Symbols
Language
individuals is the most desirable mode of
behavior
how and by whom decisions should Basis of
Effort be made reward

Myths and Taboos

stories

Schein’s Layers
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 Organisational Culture

Components
1. Norms
• Basic Assumptions
• Unwritten rules of behaviour
• Tell people what they are supposed to be
doing, saying, believing and even wearing

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 Organisational Culture
Components (continued)
2. Values
• What’s good for an organisation - what’s important?
• Based on convictions
• Deeply embedded
• How people justify their actions and behaviours
• Translated into reality through norms, behaviours and
artefacts.
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 Organisational Culture
Components (continued)
3. Artefacts
• The visible and tangible aspects of an
organisation
• What people hear, see or feel

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 Organisational Culture

Culture and Behaviour - The Iceberg Diagram

Observable
Behaviours

Attitudes and Values Reportable

Beliefs Unconscious
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 Organisational Culture

Characteristics
• Culture is learnt
• Culture is both an input and an output (i.e. The
product of action and a conditioning element of
future action)
• Culture is partly unconscious
• Culture is historically based
• Culture is commonly held rather than shared
• Culture is heterogeneous (i.e. varies according to
department etc) 11
 Origins of a culture
• Founders of the company
• Experience with the environment
• Contact between groups/individuals in the
organisation

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 Culture types
• Williams, Dobson & Walters (1989):
Power Dominant, competitive, control, personal
orientation gain

Role Bureaucratic, hierarchy, status, rules

orientation

Task Task focused, competence, knowledge

orientation

People Relationships, consensus, helpfulness

orientation
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 Culture types
Charles Handy’s four main types of organisational culture:
• Power Culture - central power source
– example: entrepreneurial organisation
• Role Culture - “bureaucratic”
– example: nationalised industries
• Task Culture - job orientated
– example: project management
• Person Culture - individual is the central focus
– example: architects, doctors, barristers

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 Culture types
• Wallach 1983
– Bureaucratic
– Innovative
– Supportive

• Organizations can be a blend of these cultures

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•
Culture
Graves (1986)
types
Monarchical
Barbarian

Pharaonic
Presidential 16
 Organisational Culture

Importance
• An ingredient of effective organisational
performance
• Reduces complexity and uncertainty
• Provides consistency in outlook and values
• Makes possible the process of decision
making, co-ordination and control
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 Organisational Culture

Peters and Waterman’s Study of 62 successfully

performing US companies
• “Without exception, the dominance and coherence of culture
proved to be an essential quality of the excellent companies.
Moreover, the stronger the culture and the more it was
directed to the marketplace, the less need there was for policy
manuals, organisation charts or detailed procedures and rules.
In these companies, people way down the line know what they
are supposed to do in most situations because the handful of
guiding values is crystal clear.”

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 Organisational Culture
The Goffee and Jones contingency framework – 1

• No such thing as RIGHT or BEST culture

• What is the most appropriate culture for an
organisation?
• Must be based on one that best helps an
organisation cope with the EXIGENCIES OF THE
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

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 Organisational Culture
The Goffee and Jones contingency framework – 2

2 basic dimensions of how humans relate to one

another (from Sociology)
SOCIABILITY - the degree of friendliness
between members of a
community or group
SOLIDARITY - the degree of collectiveness in
the relationships between
people

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 Organisational Culture
High Sociability in organisational culture
Positives:
• High morale – work is pleasurable
• Work is fun
• Teamwork is encouraged – creativity, openness, ideas
• People genuinely want to help each other – thus they’ll go the
“extra mile”
• Innovation and cross-fertilisation of ideas
• People will work until the job is done – no “there for the CV”
mentality

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 Organisational Culture
High Sociability in organisational culture
Negatives:
• Strong friendships lead to tolerance of poor
performance
• Reluctance to disagree / criticise
• Can degenerate into cliques / cabals / in - groups and
politicking
• Can be unpleasant for those who value privacy

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 Organisational Culture
High Solidarity in organisational culture
Positives:
• Ruthless commitment to getting done what by consensus needs
to be done
• Stimulating for people to work towards mutually agreed goals
• Behaviour of other people is a constant reminder of the
behaviours that are considered acceptable
• People are clear about the rewards for good behaviour

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 Organisational Culture
High Solidarity in organisational culture
Negatives:

• Dissenters can be suppressed even when they are

innovators
• Too strong a focus on group goals may hurt
individuals

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 Organisational Culture
Double “S” Cube
Using high and low values for Sociability and Solidarity = 2 dimensions and
gives a matrix of 4 cultural types

Negative
Positive
S
O The The
High
C Communal Network
I Culture Culture
A
B The The
I Low
Mercenary Fragmented
L
I
Culture Culture
Y High SOLIDARITY Low
3rd Dimension (depth) shows that both sociability and solidarity can
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have +ve and –ve aspects ( -ve is shaded)
 Organisational Culture

1. Communal Culture

− High in Sociability and Solidarity

− Usually small – to medium sized organisations
− People protect the organisation
− Hewlett –Packard, Johnson & Johnson

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 Organisational Culture
2. Network Culture
− High in Sociability but low in Solidarity
− Usually large organisations which face highly
competitive environment
− Free and open flow of information across
functional, geographic borders
− Unilever, Heineken, Philips (electrical)

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 Organisational Culture

3. Mercenary Culture
− Low on Sociability
− High on Solidarity
− Beneficial to fast-changing business
environments
− ‘All hands to the pumps’
− Goal orientated
− Mars, Pepsi Co, Citicorp

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 Organisational Culture
4. Fragmented Culture
− Low on Sociability and Solidarity
− Applies to companies in which inter-dependence
between different activities is low
− Critical success depends on having star performers
in particular fields
− Law firms, Merchant Banks, Bennetton

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 Organisational Culture

Goffee and Jones framework

• Is a true contingency theory
• Authors point to sub-cultures being prevalent beneath
the dominant culture
• No culture will last forever
• Life cycle between 3 of the 4 cultures
Communal – Network – Mercenary
• None of the cultures are inherently good or bad
− It is the blend between Sociability and Solidarity which is
key

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 Organisational Culture
The Influence of Organisational Culture
• Affects the decisions made, goals and standards sought and
the pattern and manner of behaviour.
• Dependent on the degree of fit between organisational
demands and personal beliefs, attitudes and values, it
results in commitment and feelings of satisfaction, or
antagonism, dissatisfaction, anxiety and stress.
• Is a pervasive influence on organised behaviour and a
significant determinant of organisational performance.

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 Organisational Culture
Does Culture need changing?
Brown – Need to be sure that problems to be addressed through culture
change are actually caused by the existing culture (e.g. organisational
structure may be the problem)
Schein – Need to understand the nature of the existing culture and how
this is sustained before changing it
Hassard - Before a change programme is begun:
& Sharifi 1. Senior managers must understand the implication of the
new system for their own behaviour; senior managers
must be involved in all the main stages preceding change
2. Special attention must be given to the Company’s opinion
leaders
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 Sathe (85)
• Can effect change of culture by:

Changing the behaviour of employees

Provide justifications

Provide cultural communications

Socialise new members

Remove ‘cultural misfits’

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 National cultures
• Stereotypes of cultures exist
• What is the effect of national culture on
organisational culture?
• Important for multi-national organisations

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 Hofstede (84, 86, 91)
• Found differences between national cultures in same
organisation:
– power distance = extent that unequal distribution of
power is accepted
– uncertainty avoidance = extent to which ambiguous
situations are tolerated
– individualism-collectivism = self interest versus work
together for the greater good
– masculinity-femininity = assertive masculine values versus
sensitivity and concern

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 QUESTION TIME
• WHAT EFFECT CAN
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE HAVE
ON ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR??????

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