- This week’s readings have me eager to learn more about organizational culture and its impact in our society. It seems to be a blueprint for some, and a cancer to others. In what ways does organizational culture help success in an institution? In what ways does it harm success? Does it cultivate success for only some and the opposite for others? I’m interested in learning more about how an organizational culture came to be in our society, and how it didn’t in other societies. What is t that has society suddenly questioning our organizational default, and is it good or bad to begin to move away from it?
-
“Organizational culture is the sum of values and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate the members of the organization.” — Richard Perrin
Culture is a carrier of meaning. Cultures provide not only a shared view of “what is” but also of “why is.” In this view, culture is about “the story” in which people in the organization are embedded, and the values and rituals that reinforce that narrative. It also focuses attention on the importance of symbols and the need to understand them — including the idiosyncratic languages used in organizations — in order to understand culture.
This definition can be misleading because it relates to the bad realm of organizational culture which attempts to force its parts in line and make them all similar, taking away their individuality. This goes away from a newer call for diversity within organizations, which has proven to bring great success. The idea of “reinforcing a narrative” does the opposite of this.
Writing and organizational cultures