Worksheet: Applying The Cultural Web Model
The purpose of this task is to help you explore the culture of an organisation
you are familiar with (either as a member of staff or as a customer). You may
even prefer to apply this model to a novel you have read or film you have
seen. In any of the above cases, by using the prompt questions below, you
will build a cultural picture which helps us to understand the organisation (or
characters etc) better. You will find that some questions are more relevant
than others – don’t try to answer them all – they are intended to stimulate your
thinking, rather than to force an answer in every case. In an organisational
context, examining culture by using a model can help us understand the core
beliefs and values held. This in turn is useful if we are proposing for example
to change strategic direction or introduce new initiatives or policies. It is felt
that by understanding the cultural context, change is more easily introduced
and managed.
Johnson and Scholes’ model is given below:
Symbols
Stories
Power
Structure
The
Paradigm
Rituals
and
routines
Company
structure
Methods
of Control
Adapted from Johnson and Scholes (2006)
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Using the headings from the model, Johnson and Scholes suggest
some useful questions to ask include:
Stories (think about news coverage etc.)
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What core beliefs do stories reveal?
How do these beliefs pervade through the organisation’s levels?
Do stories relate to
Strengths or weaknesses?
Successes or failures
Conformity or mavericks?
Who are the heroes and villains?
What norms do the mavericks deviate from?
Routines and Rituals
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Which routines are emphasised?
Which would look strange if changed?
What behaviour do routines encourage?
What are the key rituals?
What core beliefs do they reflect?
What do training programmes emphasise?
Would it be easy to change rituals/routines?
Organisational Structures
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How mechanistic/organic are the structures?
How flat/hierarchical are the structures?
How formal/informal are the structures?
Do structures encourage collaboration or competition?
What types of power structure do they support?
Control Systems
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What is most closely monitored?
Is the focus on reward or punishment?
Are controls related to history or current strategies?
Are there too many/few controls?
Power Structures
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What are the leadership’s core beliefs?
How strongly held are these beliefs (idealists or pragmatists)?
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 How is power distributed in the organisation?
 Where are the main blockages to change?
Symbols
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What language and jargon are used?
Would an outsider understand them?
What aspects of strategy are highlighted in publicity?
What status symbols are there?
Are there particular symbols which denote the organisation?
Overall
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What is the dominant culture?
How easy is this to change?
(adapted from Johnson and Scholes, 2006)
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