MGMT20001 Lecture 9: MGMT20001 Notes - Lecture 9

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copperspider388

7 Jun 2018

School

University of Melbourne

Department

Management

Course

MGMT20001

Professor

Victoria Roberts

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L9:OrganisationalCulture

WhatisOrganisationalCulture?

 Thewaywedothingsaroundhere…

 The‘customaryandtraditionalwayofthinkinganddoingthingswhichissharedtoa

greaterorlesserdegreebyallmembersandwhichnewmembersmustlearn…inorder

tobeacceptedintotheservicesofthefirm’



Cultureassharedmeaning:

 Sharedunderstandingsormeaningabouttheorganisation’spurpose,itsmembersand

howtheyshouldbehave

 Relatestovalues,beliefs,assumptions

 Whicharereflectedinpatternsinphysicalartifacts,languageuse,symbols,rituals,

practicesthathaveevolvedovertime



Howtoidentifyaculture:



Observablesymbols:

 Logos,uniforms

 Ritualsandceremonies

 Performancewithbeginningsandendings

 Welldefinedrolesfortheparticipantsandobvioussymboliccontent

 Deliberate;meanttobeobservedandmeaningusuallyclear

 Canbe‘hijacked’or‘subverted’

Physicallayout

 Dresscodes,decor,furniture,offices

 Physicalappearanceandattire

 Easytoobservebywalkingaroundbuttheirmeaningcanbedifficulttointerpret

Communicationpatterns

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 Jargon,acronyms

 Metaphors,nicknames,etc.

 Specialwordsorphrases,knownonlytoorganisationalinsiders

 Frequentlyused,oftenunconsciouslyso,andwidelyshared

 Canlistentothewaypeopletalkalthoughmayneedsomeinterpretation

Stories

 Legends,myths,anecdotes,jokes,etc.

 Wellknown,sharedandpassedonbyorganisationalmembers

 Drawnfromtheorganisation’spast,andoftenaboutothermembers

 Needtotalktodifferentpeoplebutheckwheretheysupportorchallengetheculture;

storiesandjokesareoftenaformofresistance

Practicesandbehaviours

 Howdoestheorganisationregularlydothethingsthatishastodo

 Worklate/weekends,holdmeetings,havecoffeebreaks

 Informalandformal

 Haveto‘hangaround’butthemeaningmaynotbeimmediatelyobvious

Values,beliefs,assumptions,feelings

 Maybedeeplyheldbutpeopleareunawareofhowtheyaffectbehaviour

 Maybeespousedratherthaninuse(statedbutnotenacted)

 Askquestionsbutmaynotgetusefulanswersbecausepeopleareunaware;saywhat

theythinkyouwanttohear;keepthemprivate



Cultureasselfreinforcing:

 Beliefsandassumptionsthatformourconceptsof‘reality’

 Influenceshowweperceiveeventsandhowweinterpretthem

 Wetakebeliefsandassumptionsforgrantedoftenonlynoticethemwhenwemoveto

adifferentculture



IntegrationistTheoryofCulture

 organisationshaveuniformcultures

 Asingle,uniformstrongcultureisbetter

 Anorganisation’scultureinfluencesitseffectiveness(functionalist)

 Providesacommonsetofvaluestoenablememberstoworktogether;reducesneedfor

formalrules

 Cultureisreproduced;organisationisstable

 Cultureenablestheorganisationtosurviveintheenvironmentinwhichitoperates

Cultureisa“patternofbasicassumptionsthatagivengrouphasinvented,discoveredor

developedinlearningtocopewithitsproblemsofexternaladaptationandinternalintegration,

andthathasworkedwellenoughtobeconsideredvalidand...taughttonewmembersasthe

waytoperceive,thinkandfeelinrelationtoproblems”

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MGMT20001 Lecture 9: MGMT20001 Notes - Lecture 9

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