Tags
Administration
Benefits
Communication
Communication Programs
Compensation
Conflict & Dispute Resolution
Developing & Coaching Others
Employee Satisfaction/Engagement
Executive Coaching
HR Metrics & Measurement
HR Outsourcing
HRIS/ERP
Human Resources Management
Internal Corporate Communications
Labor Relations
Labor Trends
Leadership
Leadership Training & Development
Leading Others
Legal
Management
Motivating
Motivation
Organizational Development
Pay Strategies
Performance Management
Present Trends
Recognition
Retention
Staffing
Staffing and Recruitment
Structure & Organization
Talent
The HR Practitioner
Training
Training and Development
Trends
U.S. Based Legal Issues
Vision, Values & Mission
Work-Life Programs & Employee Assistance Programs - EAP
Workforce Acquisition
Workforce Management
Workforce Planning
Workplace Regulations
corporate learning
employee engagement
interpersonal communications
leadership competencies
leadership development
legislation
News
Onboarding Best Practices
Good Guy = Bad Manager :: Bad Guy = Good Manager. Is it a Myth?
Five Interview Tips for Winning Your First $100K+ Job
Base Pay Increases Remain Steady in 2007, Mercer Survey Finds
Online Overload: The Perfect Candidates Are Out There - If You Can Find Them
Cartus Global Survey Shows Trend to Shorter-Term International Relocation Assignments
New Survey Indicates Majority Plan to Postpone Retirement
What do You Mean My Company’s A Stepping Stone?
Rewards, Vacation and Perks Are Passé; Canadians Care Most About Cash
Do’s and Don’ts of Offshoring
Error: No such template "/hrDesign/network_profileHeader"!
Blogs / Send feedback
Help us to understand what's happening?
Reason
It's a fake news story
It's misleading, offensive or inappropriate
It should not be published here
It is spam
Your comment
More information
Security Code
Pearls Aren´t the Only Things Cultured
Created by
Sylvia Henderson
Content
As I define "organizational culture" for a course I am writing, this seems equally appropriate for a blog. So here goes. <br> <p>As I define "organizational culture" for a course I am writing, this seems equally appropriate for a blog. So here goes.</p>
<p><b>What is organizational culture?<br>
</b>In defining "culture" as it refers to an organization, we first define the word as it pertains<br>
to individuals.<br>
</p>
<p><b>Culture: Individual and Societal</b></p>
<p>According to the definition and description of "culture" at the online encyclopedia Wikipedia<br>
(<a target="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/</a>), culture "refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance". Varying theories for understanding and criteria for evaluating, human activity result in different definitions of culture.<br>
One suggested definition of culture from the 19<sup>th</sup> century is that culture (civilization) "is a complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by [man] as a member of society". (Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, 1832-1917. English anthropologist.) This definition seems focused on individuals as cultural entities.<br>
A more-recent 21st century definition of culture suggests that culture is the "set of distinctive<br>
spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it<br>
encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems,<br>
traditions and beliefs". (UNESCO-United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization's Declaration of Cultural Diversity <a target="_blank" href="http://www.unesco.org/education/imld_2002/unversal_decla.shtml">http://www.unesco.org/education/imld_2002/unversal_decla.shtml</a>.) This definition seems focused on groups as cultural disseminators.<br>
<br>
<a target="new" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0822602261/hrcom">The Dictionary of Modern Sociology</a> (Thomas Ford Hoult. Littlefield Adams.) notes that culture consists of three elements-values, norms, and artifacts. Values consist of ideas about what in life seems important, and guide other aspects of culture. Norms are expectations of people's behaviors, based on values, communicated and enforced by laws, sanctions, or rules. Artifacts are material things that represent, in some manner, the culture's values and norms. <br>
<b>Organizational Culture</b><br>
</p>
<p>Take from the previous definitions and apply them to organizational or corporate culture, we define said culture as the attitudes, values, beliefs, norms and customs of an organization. Organizational culture differs from an organization's structure in that structure is the hierarchy of how people organize within and relate to the organization. (Too many "organizations", yet?) Organizational culture is more esoteric in that it is less tangible. Yet, it can be identified and measured through appropriate instrumentation and evaluation techniques.<br>
<br>
<b>Cultural Levels<br>
</b>Individual and societal cultures encompass as many levels as there are identities to own. On some broad, encompassing levels, societal culture defines the individual. (Ex: culture of the human race; culture of being female or male.) On another level, regional culture defines the individual. (Ex: nationalities; ethnicities; regions of a country.) Yet another level of culture lends itself more to how individuals identify themselves. (Ex: beliefs; professions; socio-economics; races; abilities; orientations; interests.)<br>
<br>
Serious students and practitioners of sociology, anthropology, psychology, and the like can debate and dissect my above statements as much as they / you deem necessary. Remember that I am a businessperson with an organizational, humanistic, behavioral focus rather than a specialist in scientific fields. I netted-out what are, in reality, complex, detailed, continually researched definitions and concepts.</p>
<p>I like Edgar Schein's description of three cultural levels within an organization. (Edgar Schein.<br>
Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management, author of "<a target="new" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0787975974/hrcom">Organizational Culture and Leadership</a>". Jossey-Bass.) Schein notes that culture is an organizational attribute posing the greatest challenge to organizational change. Culture overrides and outlasts the products, services, people, processes, and other physical attributes of an organization.<br>
<br>
[NOTE: Next blog entry will continue with the second of culture in his model of organizational culture.]<br>
<br>
<b>Resources:</b><br>
- Google "organizational culture". Prepare to spend a day reading the results!<br>
- Book: <a target="new" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738203300/hrcom">Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life</a>. Deal T. E. and Kennedy, A. A. Penguin Books.</p>
<p>- Book: <a target="new" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0066620996/hrcom">Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't</a>. Collins, Jim. Collins.<br>
Sylvia</p>
Copyright © 1999-2025 by
HR.com - Maximizing Human Potential
. All rights reserved.