Summary Learning Unit 3: Corporate culture

MNG2602 Learning Unit 3: [Corporate culture]


Learning Unit 3: Corporate culture
Chapter 6 – Prescribed book

INDEX


DESCRIBE THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE……………..
………………………………………………………………………………2
DEFINE ORGANISATIONAL
CULTURE………………………………………………………………………………………………
…2

EXPLAIN THE LEVELS OF CULTURE………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………3

DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE VARIOUS TYPES OF CULTURE IN
ORGANISATIONS…….……………………..4

DISCUSS THE ELEMENTS OF
CULTURE……………………………………………………………………….
……………………..6

COMPARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CULTURE……….
……………………………………………………………………….7

EXPLAIN HOW ORGANISATIONS CAN CHANGE CULTURE…..
…………………………………………………………….8




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, MNG2602 Learning Unit 3: [Corporate culture]




1. DESCRIBE THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE
- An early description of culture is that it is a refned understanding of the arts
and other human intellectual achievement.
- However, from a social sciences perspective, the word “culture” has a far
broader meaning. Social scientists see culture as a fundamental aspect of
life. According to them, all people have culture and the only requirement for
being cultured is to be human.
- Many studies dating back to 1930 focussed on the distinctive cultures of
organisations, which are considered to be communities on their own with their
own cultures.
- According to Morgan Organisations are mini societies that have their own
distinctive culture and sub-culture, patterns of believe or shared meaning,
fragmented or integrated, and supported by various operating norms and
rituals can exert a decisive infuence on the overall ability of the organisation
to deal with the challenges that it faces.
- History plays a crucial part in the culture of societies, and as “mini societies”
history shapes the cultures of organisations.
- How people speak about the history of an organisation also relates to the
organisational culture.




2. DEFINE ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
Many of the subsequent defnitions of organisational culture derive from the
defnition of the concept by Edgar H Schein.
He defned organisational culture as followsij
- Organisational culture is the pattern of basic assumptions,
- That a group has invented, discovered or developed in learning to cope with
its problems of
- External adaption and
- Internal integration , and
- That have worked well enough to be considered to be valid, and,
- Therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to
- Perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.
What, according to Schein, does external adaption include?
It include developing consensus onij
o The mission, functions and tasks of the organisation within the context of
its environment.
o The goals of the organisation
o The resources the organisation uses to accomplish its goals


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