BUSMGT711 Chap.8 Organisational Culture
Organisational Culture
Culture is the shared set of values, norms and assumptions that steers how members behave and interpret their environment. This chapter uses Schein's three levels, artefacts, values and basic assumptions, and the distinction between espoused and enacted values, then compares strong and weak cultures and the strong-culture, fit and adaptation views of performance.
It covers how leaders shape and change culture, the dark side of nice cultures, the Netflix culture principles, hybrid-work pillars and how to read culture at interview. Culture is a required final presentation segment.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Defining organisational culture as shared values, norms and assumptions
- 02
Schein's levels: artefacts, values and basic assumptions
- 03
Espoused versus enacted values and why consistency matters
- 04
Strong versus weak cultures and the limits of strength
- 05
Leadership levers for creating, maintaining and changing culture
- 06
The dark side of culture, including nice cultures and us-versus-them dynamics
- 07
Netflix's six culture principles and reading culture as a job applicant
Worked example · free
Diagnosing a gap between espoused and enacted values
- +1Identify the espoused value: the agreement states inclusive decision making, which Schein places at the values level as an explicitly stated belief.
- +1Identify the enacted value: private meetings show that, in practice, decisions belong to two senior roles, revealing a different underlying assumption.
- +1Explain the consequence: the course notes that discrepant espoused and enacted values can harm attitudes and performance, and enacted values carry more weight.
- +1Recommend a lever: introduce a routine in which each director presents a recommendation before the CEO decides, with the CEO role-modelling the practice.
Key terms
- Organisational culture
- A shared set of values, norms and assumptions that guides members' attitudes and behaviour and shapes how they react to their environment.
- Artefacts
- The visible layer of culture, including stories, heroes, rituals, physical layout, dress codes, language and symbols.
- Enacted values
- Values that employees actually display in their behaviour, as opposed to values the organisation merely states.
- Basic assumptions
- Taken-for-granted, often unconscious beliefs at the deepest level of culture that guide behaviour and resist change.
- Organisational socialisation
- The process through which employees learn an organisation's culture and pass that knowledge on to others.
Organisational Culture FAQ
What are the three levels of organisational culture?
Schein's model separates artefacts, values and basic assumptions. Artefacts are visible, such as rituals, language and dress. Values may be espoused, meaning stated, or enacted, meaning displayed. Basic assumptions sit deepest, are often unconscious and are the hardest level to change. A good analysis moves from an observed artefact down to the assumption it reveals.
Is a strong culture always better?
Not necessarily. Strong cultures help organisations cope with change and crisis, but the culture must also be positive. Strength can make change harder, limit creativity and innovation, act as a barrier to diversity and blind people to customers or competitors. The adaptation view argues only cultures that help firms adjust to environmental change deliver long-term performance.
How can a leader change an existing culture?
Changing behaviour alone is insufficient because behaviour is only an artefact. Leaders must address the reasons behind it, keep artefacts and messages consistent, communicate credibly and by example, use informal channels, revise selection where needed and judge success by whether new behaviour is intrinsically motivated. Expect a long process that can easily slip back.
Assessment move
Draw Schein's iceberg from memory and place three items from your own simulation team on it: one artefact you could photograph, one value written in your team agreement, and one assumption nobody ever discussed. For each value, add a short note on whether the team actually enacted it, with the moment that proves it.
Then rehearse the strong-culture, fit and adaptation perspectives by applying all three to the same team outcome and deciding which explains it best; write two sentences defending the choice. Read the six Netflix principles and rank your top three, because the workshop asked groups to justify exactly that kind of ranking, and prepare one sentence linking each to a Schein level.
List the leadership levers for shaping culture and match each to something your CEO did or failed to do. Since culture is a dedicated segment of the final presentation and teammates may be questioned on it, prepare two short answers of your own: which Schein level best explains a recurring team habit, and where your team's espoused and enacted values parted company.
Practise each aloud in about ninety seconds, finishing with the artefact or routine that would need to change. Finally, review the nice-culture critique and check whether avoiding conflict cost your team any decision quality.
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