6.3 Understanding culture

Question 1

John suggests three main cultural frames that must be considered to understand how and why an individual behaves in a certain way:
1 g_______ - mixture of national and regional influences
2 organisational field - the sector of the industry with its differing professional influencers
3 organisation - the intermix of subcultures and divisions within the organisation itself.

Answer 1

geographic

Question 2

Hofstede recognized cultural differences in attitudes to work, and suggested four key dimensions to consider regarding national culture. What were these?

Answer 2

1 The relationship with authority and acceptance of inequality.
2 The relationship between an individual and groups of people.
3 The longevity of the vision
4 The tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity.

Question 3

The concept of an organisational f____ describes any group of organisations that have frequent contact and relationships, and have therefore developed a shared cultural approach.

Answer 3

field

Question 4

Johnson suggests that it is useful to consider three different types of concept when considering the cultural impact of an organisational field. These are:

1) Categorisation - labeling activities/products/services
2) Recipes - assumptions, norms and routines held in common
3) L________ - institutionalisation of both categories and recipes across time, leading to people following particular strategic routes.

Answer 4

Legitimacy

Question 5

Schein (2004) suggests that organisational culture is the basic a_________ and b______ that are shared by members of an organisation, operate unconsciously and define in the basic taken for granted fashion an organisation’s view of itself and its environment.

Answer 5

assumptions

beliefs

Question 6

The culture of an organisation can be thought of as described by its

1) M______
2) M______
3) P_______
4) V_____

Answer 6

Mission
Methods
Principles
Values

Question 7

Wearden offers three models of organisational culture:

1) Harrison and Handy - c________ types
2) Deal and Kennedy - o__________ cultures
3) Johnson - the cultural w___

Answer 7

Cultural
Organisational
Web

Question 8

What are Harrison and Handy’s (1993) four cultural types?

1) P____
2) R___
3) T___
4) P______

Answer 8

1) Power
2) Role
3) Task
4) Person

Question 9

Deal and Kennedy (1982) suggested culture was based around six interlocked elements.

• history
• values and beliefs
• rituals and ceremonies
• s______
• h______ figures
• cultural network

Answer 9

stories

heroic

Question 10

Deal and Kennedy found four distinct types of culture:

1) M_____, t____-g__ culture - people enjoy excitement and work hard to become organisational stars
2) P______ c______ - no individual is likely to have a notable impact on the success of the organisation
3) W___ a__ p___ h___ culture - e.g sales teams
4) B__-y___-c_______ culture - decisions are high risk, but the impact is slow to materialise.

Answer 10

tough-guy
culture
hard
company

Question 11

Johnson’s cultural web consists of 6 aspects:

1) Organisational s________
2) P____ structures
3) Sy_____
4) St____
5) R______ and routines
6) C_____ systems

Answer 11

Organsational structures
Power structures
Symbols
Stories
Rituals and routines
Control systems