Chapter 7

Question 1

Handy - Four Cultural Types

Answer 1

Power (Zeus)

Role (Apollo)

Task (Athena)

Person (Dionysius)

Question 2

Power (Zeus)

Answer 2

There is one major source of power and influence. This is most likely to be the owner(s) of the organisation, who strive to maintain absolute control over subordinates. There are few procedures and rules of a formal kind.

Question 3

Role (Apollo)

Answer 3

People describe their job by its duties, not by its purpose. It is a bureaucratic organisation, where the structure determines the authority and responsibility of the individuals and there is a strong emphasis on hierarchy and status

Question 4

Task (Athena)

Answer 4

Best seen in teams established to achieve specific tasks, e.g project teams. People describe their positions in terms of the results they are achieving. Nothing is allowed to get in the way of task accomplishment. If individuals do not have the skills or technical knowledge to perform a task they are retrained or replaced

Question 5

Person (Dionysus)

Answer 5

Culture is characterised by the face that it exists to satisfy the requirements of the particular individual(s) involved in the organisation. The person culture is to be found in a small, highly participatory organisation where individuals undertake all the duties themselves, for example, a barrister in chambers

Question 6

Schein Three levels of culture

Answer 6

Artefacts - things that can be easily seen

Espoused values - strategies and goals of organisation

Basic assumptions/view - unseen, difficult to identify

Question 7

Hofstede 6 traits

Answer 7

Individualism (vs collectivism)
Uncertainty avoidance
Power distance 
Masculine (vs femininity)
Long-term orientation (vs short-term)
Indulgence (vs restraint)