Organizational Culture: Analysis of the Views of Schein and Kouzes and Mico

The term "culture" has been used more and more recently but what exactly does it mean? Some have even regarded culture as "the most central problem of all social science" (Malinowski, 1939). According to Merriam Webster (2016), culture is defined as the arts and other manifestations of human achievements. If culture was as simple as Merriam-Webster defines it then the lives of anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists would be much easier. As we know, culture varies greatly across religion, countries, and some cases in just states; the difference between the north and the south. We can conclude that culture is a set of shared thoughts, values, and cognitions (Geertz, 1973). With culture in itself varying tremendously based on values and location, then surely organizational culture is no simple concept either. The term "organizational culture" has just recently become to be used more (Barley, 1988). Though there may be disagreements on defining culture universally, researchers tend to agree that culture is of vital importance in an organizational context, whether that organization is a company or a government (Kilmann, Saxton, & Serpa, 1986).

Due to this, the effort to identify and understand how trends and traits making up organizational culture have been a priority amongst most organizations seeking to improve the effectiveness of strategic leadership. According to Schein (2004), the reason why such issues as culture and leadership is important stems from one of the critical factors, that is the fact that certain trends and traits are shared among a group hence forming a shared culture. Schein also explains other critical elements of culture such as structural stability. The definition of culture within an organization creates some sense of stability as it defines the identity

However, in order for any organizational culture to be successful, Schein (1992) underscores several requisites that corporate consultants and managers alike must take into account. These are: (1) an organization must not just be reactive but

After reading through the chapter and doing some research on Schein I learned that culture can be analyzed at three different levels. At the surface is the level of artifacts, this includes all the things that one hears, sees and how they feel whenever they encounter a new group with a culture that is not in any way familiar to them. The next level being espoused beliefs and values. Schein states that (2004) "When a group is first created or when it faces a new task, issue, or problem, the first solution proposed to deal with it reflects some individual’s own assumptions about what is right or wrong, what will work or not work" (p.28). The last level and the most pivotal according to Schein is basic underlying assumptions. With this Schein is saying that after a solution to a problem works time after time it becomes customary to solve a problem in that way. I work for a landscaping company called Piatt 's landscaping, which is located in New Castle, PA. It is a very small company with only four employees. I have been working for Piatt 's landscaping for three summers now and I am starting to understand the type of culture that they are trying to create and what the culture actually is. I will discuss the type of culture at Piatt 's landscaping, how it is compared to Schein 's three levels of culture, and I will also compare it to a thriving software company named Twitter to compare the levels of culture.

Additionally, Schein (2004) also implies that organizational culture is an energy built over time, which can move people to act or impede them from acting. Culture will develop by an organization’s ability to shape its culture is determined primarily by its level of intention.

Organizational culture is system within an organization that drives the values, standards, and beliefs. Everyone within the organization should have a vested interest in the culture, as it sets a standard of expectations throughout an organization to which everyone performs their job. Organizational culture will influence how and when certain uniforms are worn, the level of professionalism while on a call, doing inspections, or out in public, and what type of behavior is tolerated and not tolerated around the station. One of the greatest attributes of organizational culture is that it is fluid. In other words, this culture can be studied and refined for improvement which can result in a better culture. A good example of this is the use of

Corporate culture is an element of organizational design that is very difficult to define. Culture is described as the “unwritten, feeling part of the organization” (Daft, 2016, p. 386) and can be formal, informal and intangible. Daft explains that “the visible elements of culture…reflect deeper values in the minds of organization members” (2016, p. 387). The deeper values that Daft is referring to are the essence of culture and are therefore difficult to qualify and quantify. Large or global companies additionally and frequently develop subcultures, and this further complicates an outsider’s perspective and ability to discern a culture accurately (Daft, 2016).

Beneath the visible layer of corporate culture, is another stratum made up of “underlying values, assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and feelings” (Daft, 20116, p. 387). Cian and Cervai (2014), espouse that identifying culture is not limited to the “observation of visible artifacts, but rather should also include the analysis of the interaction between the members of the organization to understand the deeper meaning…” (p. 189). These underlying values are a conglomeration of “openness, collaboration, egalitarianism and teamwork” (Daft,

What is organizational culture? This indefinable combination of values, beliefs, and practice that a corporation posses, which makes the difference between surviving and thriving, succeeding and failing. Most large corporations typically have a strong culture with values and norms appropriate to the organizational purpose. In a big organization, sub-cultures also exist, division to division, office to office. In this part of this group assignment I will describe the organizational culture of one of the most famous internet companies in the world, which is also the largest marketplace in the internet – EBay.

Edgar Schein outlines those characteristics in better understanding and assessing the culture and climate of an organization. A lot energy and emphasis is focused on the identification and application of an organization’s guiding principles. Schein suggests that our guiding values and principles are important, but it is in the organizations structure, culture, action that describes the true character of an organization. He spends time focusing on artifacts, indicators of an organizations true culture, values and beliefs. When someone better understands an organization, they know that observation is a key to find out their true make up. This will also lead to finding about some of the reinforcing and extinguishing characteristics of the organization.

In his book Organizational Culture and Leadership, Schein defines the culture as: “The climate and practices that organizations develop around their handling of people, or to the espoused values and credo of an organization”.

Each company has its own beliefs and values that define it. A company culture determines how employees and customers perceive the company, client treatment and how the company should react to various changes in the environment. An organizational culture is a mirror of the company leadership. Different styles of leadership ensure maintenance of various corporation cultures. The climate within an organization determines a company’s financial performance. To ensure their propositions are deemed important, a quality company culture integrates each employee or customer. Job-related problems, either personal or work related, are listened to, and the top management find the best means to solve them. Work is delegated to employees while managers work by the employees’ side to ensure perfection (Alvesson, 2002).

Culture affects and governs all facets of life by influencing values, attitudes and behavior of a society, while organizational culture relates to the unique modes of carrying out their activities (Dartey-Baah, 2013). Furthermore, the nature of organizational culture is largely influenced by the cultural orientation of the individual forming

Corporate culture is considered a relatively new field of study in business. Management scholars started paying attention to the concept in the 1980s. Moreover, one of the first papers about the subject was published by Andrew M. Pettigrew in 1979 under the title “On studying organizational cultures” (Pettigrew, 1979). Further investigation of the subject followed by Ouchi (1981), Pascale and Athos (1981), Deal and Kennedy (1985), Sathe (1985), or Denison (1990). However, the accomplishments of an MIT professor under the name of Edgar Schein introduced more complexity and sophistication to the study field. He established the conceptual framework of how culture operates with in the organization by introducing the three levels of culture and the three stages model of learning (Montaña, 2011). E. Schein defines corporate culture as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in

What is organizational culture? Organizational culture can be referred as culture and behavior of an organization that affect how people make interaction with other. Every organization had culture that is unique and therefore difficult to be change. Thus, it can be used as a management tool for an organization to operate efficiency. The need of this title is to find out which organizational culture that I preferred to fit in.