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“Organisations Need Strong Culture”. Consider This Statement in Relation to How We Understand and Make Sense of Culture in the Post-Bureaucratic Era.

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“Organisations need strong culture”. Consider this statement in relation to how we understand and make sense of culture in the post-bureaucratic era.

I will outline why a strong culture is required for organisations in a post-bureaucratic era. Culture “represents the totality of everyday knowledge that people use habitually to make sense of the world around them through patterns of shared meanings and understandings passed down through language, symbols, and artefacts” (Clegg 3rd Edition, 2011). It is the ‘glue’ that binds the workforce of an organisation in a post-bureaucratic organisation, which is heterarchical, meaning information flows across divisions and is more equally given to people and different managements. I will also …show more content…

There is a “blurring of boundary between self and organisation” (Rosen 1988), giving workers a chance to develop more personal relationships with fellow workers, which I believe is an important consideration in driving culture. However subtly it is a form of normative control which reinforces the organisations hierarchy. Nevertheless, bosses, co-workers, and inferiors in the organisation socialise in the social setting, not as “subordinates” (Rosen 1988) but as equals. This further “blurs the boundaries between that which is work and play, instrumental and moral, inside and outside” (Rosen 1988), where familial bonds are forged and comradeship created. Here, workers’ life and work become indistinguishable. Creating and maintaining a strong culture is thus beneficial for both employees and employers as they feel “belonging as family and profession” (Rosen 1988). Greater bonding among workers helps develop a sense of connection and a feeling of belonging, which therefore increases the productivity of the employees and therefore make the organisation more profitable. The Christmas party is ultimately “a collection of members forming an organic unity” (Rosen 1988), creating a culture which “encourages an informal, flexible, and dedicated membership, one not constrained by extensive rules, and one capable of accomplishing ill-defined and complex tasks” (Rosen 1988). It is the ongoing drive to succeed which continues to grow the

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