Starter Question
When you think of the U.S. Postal Service’s culture, what
kinds of words come to mind?
Where do these impressions come from?
Do you think your impressions are accurate?
What has the potential to make them inaccurate?
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is a system of shared meaning within an
organization that is used to interpret events and guide behavior.
 Culture provides the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and
behaviors of employees
 Culture helps internal integration and external adaptation
 Culture is a means by which organizational members develop a collective
identity, relationships within the organization, and ways of working together
Espoused values are the beliefs, philosophies, and norms that a
company explicitly states.
 A mission is the purpose or reason for existence of the organization.
 A vision is an image of the future the organization seeks to create.
Measures of organizational culture include:
-teamwork-conflict -climate-morale -information flow
-involvement
-supervision
-meetings.
Culture Components
Observable artifacts are the manifestations of an organization’s
culture that employees can easily see or talk about.
 Symbols can be found throughout an organization, from its corporate logo
to the images it places on its Web site to the uniforms its employees wear.
 Physical structures are the organization’s buildings and office designs.
 Language reflects the jargon, slang, and slogans employees use
 Stories consist of anecdotes, accounts, legends, and myths that are passed
down in an organization.
 Rituals are the daily or weekly planned routines that occur
 Ceremonies are formal events, generally performed in front of an audience
of organizational members.
General Culture Types
Fragmented culture = employees are distant and disconnected
from one another.
Mercenary culture = employees think alike, but are not friendly to
one another.
Communal culture = employees
are friendly to one another, but
everyone thinks differently and
does his or her own thing.
Networked culture = employees
are friendly to one another and all
think alike.
Specific Culture Types
Customer service culture focuses on quality of service provided.
Safety culture centers on the safety of employees and offerings.
Diversity culture concentrates on fostering or taking advantage
of a diverse group of employees.
Creativity culture focuses on fostering a creative atmosphere.
ACTIVITY: Provide an example of an organization of each type
Can organizations be of multiple types?
 LucasFilm example
Culture Strength
Culture strength exists when employees have high consensus
and feel high intensity
 High consensus is when employees agree with the way things are
supposed to happen within the organization
 High intensity is when employee behaviors are consistent with the
organization’s expectations
Subcultures unite a subset of the organization’s employees.
Countercultures exist when a subcultures’ values do not match
those of the organization.