ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

Question 1

What is organisational culture?

Answer 1

customary and traditional way of thinking and doing things which is shared to an extent by all members and which new members must learn from in order to be accepted into the services of the firm.

Question 2

what does shared culture mean?

Answer 2

culture is a collective thing - single individuals dont have cultures, though may be part of a culture or a number of subculture in different contexts

Question 3

Integrationist theory of culture

Answer 3

• has 1 dominant, uniform culture
• clear organisational boundaries between who’s inside and what’s outside
• top down control

Question 4

management in integrationist theory of culture

Answer 4

managers “engineer” the right type of culture via::
- founders
- selection
- leadership
- socialisation
- rewards and punishments

Question 5

limitations/weaknesses of integrationist theory of culture

Answer 5

• no theoretical or empirical basis for a relationship between culture and performance
• strong culture may not change easily, which may lead to failure of companies when they are unable to adapt to market change
• strong, integrationist cultures can be dysfunctional
• not all organisations are appropriate for a single, uniform, culture

Question 6

strength of integrationist culture

Answer 6

• convergence may lead to commitment
• can be managed top-down

Question 7

what is differentationist theory?

Answer 7

• organisation is a cluster of sub-cultures related to particular challenge, task, responsibility of a unit or a group
• consensus is found not at organisational level but in sub-cultures
• boundary between what’s “inside” and “outside” is permeable

Question 8

strengths of differentiationist theory of culture

Answer 8

• may be more meaningful for individual experience
• allows for adaptation
• allows more scope for middle managers to manage culture

Question 9

weaknesses of differentiationist theory of culture

Answer 9

• unclear on how different sub-cultures are supposed to fit together
• may be conflicts among sub-cultures
• movement between sub-units may become difficult
• balkanisation; sub-cultures work for self-interest rather than common interest

Question 10

critical theory of culture

Answer 10

• looks at how employees are affected
• focuses on the way in which power is embedded in culture
• especially interested in how strong culture is a way to control employees