Chapter 5: Cultural Approaches

From the lecture and tutorial, I was enlightened on the various approaches to organisational culture such as Deal & Kennedy’s Strong Culture components and Peters & Waterman’s Excellent Culture. The Schein’s Model of Orgnisational Culture was particularly intriguing as it was an alternative approach to the subject.

Schein’s Model of Orgnisational Culture

Schein defines culture as ‘a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaption & internal integration’ (Miller, 2009, p.88) This definition is considered to be ‘a three layered phenomenon’ Reiman & Oedewald (2001) as shown in the diagram below:

Level 1 – Artefacts: This layer looks at the ‘physical and social environment’ Miller (2008, p.89) that organisational members create and reside in. It focuses on physical entities such as the technology used and dress code as well as the behavioural patterns such as communication and decision making styles.

Level 2 - Espoused Values: This layer showcases an organisation’s ‘official objectives, declared norms and operating philosophy’ Reiman & Oedewald (2001) For instance, managers who believe in recognition will compliment and reward his employees when necessary and employees who value time and hard work, will work long hours to meet deadlines and increase productivity.

Level 3 – Core Assumptions: The innermost layer portrays the notions a group perceives about ‘the world and how it work’ which also involves, human nature,, time value and reality itself. Individuals of a group base their organisational behaviour according to these assumptions.

In summary, Schein’s “onion model” illustrates the link between the three layers. The innermost layer on assumptions influences the second layer; the way a group’s ‘value towards products and services’ Miller (2008, p.89) The outermost layer comprising of artefacts and social conduct is reflected off such values (the second layer)

References:

Miller, K 2008, Organizational Communication: approaches and processes, 5th edn, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Boston, MA

Reiman, T & Oedewald, P 2001, ‘The assessment of organisational culture: A methodological study’, VTT Industrial Systems, viewed on 5 November 2011, <http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/tiedotteet/2002/T2140.pdf>