Organizational Culture Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is Culture?
Organizational culture can be defined as a set of important shared assumptions about the organization and its goals and practices.
[1]
How are cultural assumptions reproduced?
These assumptions are reproduced through cultural expressions.
[1]
What happens if cultural assumptions are not reproduced?
If these assumptions are not reproduced, then the assumptions change.
[1]
What is a common saying about culture?
A common saying is ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’
[1]
Why do we care about culture?
Culture acts as guidelines for how to think, feel, and behave within an organization.
[1, 2]
How does culture guide perceptions?
It guides the ‘correct’ way to view certain things, showing how deep culture is.
[3]
How can culture influence thoughts about a new employee’s attire?
Culture can guide how one thinks about a new employee’s attire (e.g., lazy, unprofessional, substance-focused, obsessed with work) or a team member being late (e.g., anger, concern, opportunity, covering for them).
[2, 3]
What are the implications of culture for organizational functioning?
Because culture acts as a guide for thinking, feeling, and behaving, it has major implications for organizational functioning.
[2]
Do all organizations have culture?
All organizations have culture.
[2]
Can culture be controlled by management?
Management can attempt to control culture, but this is not a simple task.
[2]
What are some reasons why controlling culture is difficult?
Reasons include management may not understand culture, people may resist changes, the existence of subcultures, and culture becoming ingrained and habitual.
[2, 4]
How do we ‘see’ culture?
We can understand or observe organizational culture through various relevant constructs, facts, practices, vocabulary, metaphors, rites and rituals, and stories.
[4]
What are relevant constructs in culture?
Relevant Constructs are the labels we use to organize our experiences, pointing out what is normal and important.
[4]
What are facts in the context of culture?
Facts are social knowledge, not objective truths, that are often widely shared and believed regardless of their accuracy.
[4, 5]
What are examples of practices in organizational culture?
Practices are routine features of everyday organizational life, such as how people interact in meetings.
[5]
How does vocabulary reflect culture?
Vocabulary reflects culture by how members talk about organization-relevant concepts.
[6]
What are metaphors in the context of culture?
Metaphors use something simpler to describe something more complex, which is a basic part of how we perceive and describe the world.
[6]
What are rituals in organizational culture?
Rituals are rule-governed activities of a symbolic character that draw participants’ attention to thoughts and feelings they are expected to hold in special significance.
[6, 7]
What role do stories play in organizational culture?
Stories communicate ‘what we’re about’ to newcomers and illustrate cultural norms.
[7, 8]
How does culture relate to power?
Organizational culture can have a relation with power, specifically linking to Agenda-Shaping and Domination.
[8, 9]
What is Agenda-Shaping in relation to culture?
Agenda-Shaping occurs when culture guides how we are supposed to think, feel, and behave, potentially punishing alternative views.
[9]
What is Domination in the context of culture?
Domination operates as a form of power by shaping what is considered normal and creating a taken-for-granted way of doing things.
[9, 10]
