The concept of culture has roots in the study of ethnic and national differences in disciplines such as anthropology and sociology. According to Wilson (2001, p. 363)
“Organisational culture is multi-faceted and complicated, encompassing
a variety of forms, and is determined by myriad influencing factors.”
Regarded today as one of the newer perspectives in organisation theory, Brown (1995) suggests that organisational culture is both a departure from, and an elaboration of, contemporary organisational behaviour studies. While it is still concerned with the formal and rational aspects of organisations, it also develops on established theory relating to group dynamics, power and politics. As it became incorporated in management research, organisational culture was
Page | 99 first considered as an internal element of the organisation i.e. something the ‘organisation had’ which could be used as a managerial tool to affect performance (Wilson, 2001). From this conception of culture as a formal and objective entity, the understanding of culture has evolved to encompass socially constructed metaphors, where organisations are viewed as forums with socially constructed meanings, expressed through social interaction (Shwartz and Davis, 1981; Tunstell, 1983; Schein 1991). Thus culture has shifted theoretically from a rational entity to be managed, to a more abstract phenomenon to be understood.
Four schools of theory have contributed to the study of organisational culture and these are summarised in Table 3-2 below.
Table 3-2: Organisational Culture and Schools of Influence
Source: Adapted from Brown, 1995
1. Human Relations (50’s and 60’s) Theories on motivation and group dynamics,
beliefs and values
2. Modern Structural Theory (60’s) Organisations as rational, goal–oriented and
mechanistic. Authority and hierarchy
3. Systems Theory: (40s - 60s) Organisations as interdependent systems
linked by inputs, outputs and feedback loops. (Katz and Kahn, 1966) Influence on cultural theory today through analysis of organisation it its environment/ context.
4. Power and Politics (late 70s) Organisations composed of groups/ coalitions/
subcultures. Organisations act irrationally, objectives emerge through negotiation and influence ( Pfeffer, 1981)
Page | 100 Definitions of organisational culture abound from the generalised to those specific to a root discipline. Nevertheless, there are some definitions that are cited consistently in the literature over the last 60 years:
Table 3-3: Definitions of Organisational Culture
“...customary and traditional way of thinking and doing things..” (Jacques, 1952, p.251)
“Pattern of beliefs and expectations shared by the organisations members.
These beliefs and expectations produce norms that powerfully shape the
behaviour of individuals and groups in the organisation.” (Shwartz and
Davis, 1981, p. 33)
“Corporate culture may be described as a general constellation of beliefs,
mores, customs, value systems, behavioural norms, and ways of doing
business that are unique to each organisation, that set a pattern for
corporate activities and actions.” (Tunstall, 1983, p.15)
“Culture is ‘how things are done around here’. It is typical of the organisation, the habits, the prevailing attitudes, the grow-up pattern of accepted and expected behaviour.” (Drennan, 1992, p.3)
Page | 101 Schein (1991) characterises organisational culture as having 3 layers: values, beliefs and taken-for-granted assumptions or organisational paradigms (See Figure 3-4). Values are seen as the most superficial layer, often encapsulated in mission statements, objectives and strategies/strategic intent. Beliefs are less vague than values, but still identifiable and easily communicated. At the heart of an organisation’s culture are taken for granted assumptions which are less easily explained and are reinforced by a number of elements illustrated in the cultural web (Johnson, 1992 – see Figure 3-5).
Figure 3-4: Layers of Organisational Culture
Source: Schein, 1991
The different aspects of the cultural web capture the essence of inherent assumptions in the organisation. The routines in an organisation refer to ‘the way things are done’, and behaviours of people within the organisation, while
Values Beliefs Paradigm: Taken-for granted assumptions
Page | 102 rituals are the events or activities that reinforce routines. The stories told by members of an organisation fix the culture in the organisation’s history, affirm certain types of behaviour, and highlight successes and failures.
Figure 3-5: The Cultural Web
Source: Johnson, 1992
Symbols such as job titles, language or logos can represent the character of an organisation while power structures in the organisation lead to the beliefs and assumptions of dominant groups being adopted. Control and measurement systems, as well as the organisational structure highlight key foci and important relationships in the organisation (Johnson and Scholes, 2002).
These theories or characterisations of organisational culture again provide the necessary terminology by which to explore and map the organisational culture of the case study organisation, which through its operating companies and
Symbols Power Structures Organisational structure Control systems Rituals and routines Stories The Paradigm
Page | 103 subsidiaries brings together different HAs all over England with varied heritage and sub-cultures.
Moving on to sub-cultures within an organisation, Gregory (1983, p. 359) contends that
“...many organisations are most accurately viewed as multi-cultural. Sub-
groups within different occupational, divisional, ethnic, or, other cultures
approach organisational interactions with their own meanings, and senses of
priorities....”
In a paper advocating the adoption of ‘native view’ paradigms in the study of organisational culture Gregory (1983) critically considers earlier research on organisational culture in industrial contexts (Peters and Waterman, 1982; Deal and Kennedy, 1982 among others). Illustrating this ‘native view’ perspective, rooted in anthropological interpretations of organisational culture, in an empirical investigation of ‘Silicon Valley’ professionals, the author proposes that:
“Societies, and many organisations, can more correctly be viewed in terms of
multiple, cross-cutting cultural contexts changing through time, rather than as
stable, bounded, homogenous cultures.” Gregory (1983, p. 365)
Martin and Meyerson’s (1998) widely adopted framework cites three perspectives on organisational culture and sub-cultures: the integration, differentiation and the fragmentation perspectives respectively. An integration
Page | 104 perspective is indicative of a consensus or consistent culture, with values and formal practices aligned to beliefs, attitudes and norms. Inconsistencies, a lack of shared commitment or variations in sub-cultures reflect a weak culture according to this view. The differentiation perspective acknowledges the specific mix of sub-cultures as contributing to the uniqueness of an organisational culture. The final perspective of fragmentation proposes ambiguous rather than shared cultural or sub-cultural values or norms, with transient variations of consensus and disagreement occurring over specific issues or events. On the basis of primary case study research, Martin and Meyerson (1998) also propose that organisational culture in practice includes aspects of all three perspective types. In the context of this case, the differentiation and fragmentation perspectives are most relevant in exploring the multiple sub-cultures of an organisation that shift as the organisation goes through strategic changes, which echoes Gregory’s (1983) depiction of the nature of organisational sub- cultures.
Hofstede’s (1980) commonly cited text on Culture’s Consequences:
International Differences in Work Related Values, may initially not seem the
most relevant to this in-depth case study of one housing association. However extending (or reducing) the paradigm of cultural variances between organisations in different countries to the difference in cultures across the management strata and geographical spread of HAX’s operating companies could make Hofstede’s work applicable on a different scale. Building on earlier work, subsequent research based on surveys of IBM employees around the
Page | 105 world (Hofstede, 1991) provided the evidence for identifying five dimensions along which national cultures differ i.e. Power distance; Individualism/ collectivism; Masculinity/femininity; Uncertainty avoidance, and Confucian dynamism. Again, employing these national characteristics in an intra- organisational context provides the cultural adjectives to uncover and describe cultural variation or organisational sub-cultures within HAX. For example, low power distance is symptomatic of lower inequalities in power, greater decentralisation, and a less hierarchical structure manifest with fewer status symbols. High power distance countries (hence organisations or companies) are more centralised with power concentrated at the top of management structures, and clearer boundaries expressed with salaries and status symbols. Individualistic societies have a higher degree of individual independence, with a focus on skills and rules while cohesive, loyal groups are more indicative of collective societies. The masculinity/ femininity dimension indicates the extent to which social gender roles are clearly separated while uncertainty avoidance refers to the degree to which people feel threatened by unknown or uncertain conditions. Finally, confucian dynamism indicates how long or short-termist countries are in terms of a national outlook, or attitude, epitomised by the search for ‘truth’ or ‘virtue’. Hofstede (1991) describes short-termism in an organisational context as being more closely related to Western values concerned with social and status responsibilities, respecting traditions, conspicuous consumption and quick results. This is contrasted with the
Page | 106 Confucian or long-term focus which is less concerned with status obligations while emphasising perseverance and adapting traditions to a modern context.
While not all these dimensions may be applicable to understanding the sub- cultures of a single organisation, they indicate some possibilities for mapping aspects of organisational culture.
Finally since strategy and culture are both key concepts in this research enquiry, it is worth noting that there are also a number of well-cited theories linking strategy and culture (Miles and Snow, 1978; Shwartz and Davis, 1981). Miles and Snow’s (1978) typology identifies 3 types of organisational culture or patterns: the Defender, Prospector and Analyser. The centralised defender organisation adopts a strategy of cost efficiency in a stable environment, emphasising efficiency to secure the market. The decentralised or flexible prospector operates a growth strategy to seek new opportunities in a dynamic environment. Finally the analyser type organisation uses a mixed or loose-tight structure to both expand and protect in order to achieve steady growth in a moderately dynamic environment. 13
Shwartz and Davis (1981) on the other hand illustrate the links between strategy and culture through a cultural risk framework, where levels of culture compatibility are plotted against importance to strategy to create high, medium and low acceptability of risk. While both these frameworks can be broadly
13
Czischke and Gruis (2007) and Gruis (2008) adapt the Miles and Snow (1978) model to conceptualise types of social housing providers in the defender and prospector dimensions, diversifying into market segments or the public sector respectively.
Page | 107 applied to explore the cultural position of an organisation in relation to both its strategic positioning and as a management tool to identify risks to the effectiveness of strategy through cultural incompatibility, they have not been selected to uncover the multi-layered sub-cultures within an organisation as per the aims of this case study,
As the introduction to this chapter explained, the grounded approach of this PhD project using scoping fieldwork to uncover not only key issues but possible theoretical connections between them, led the researcher to concentrate on the links between sub-cultures and driving institutional logics as related to the changing directions of CI at HAX. Thus the overlap between organisational culture and institutional logics can be regarded as the main theoretical contribution of this study. For this reason (and reiterating the similar argument at the end of section 3.2) the theories on organisational culture cited in this section of the discussion have been highlighted in that they provide theoretical assumptions by which to frame and refine the concept of organisational culture in the context of this case study. Furthermore, they provide the theoretical bases to explore the existence of multiple sub-cultures within a single organisation and the tools to describing these sub-cultures in a coherent and legitimate way. In a sense, through incorporating theoretical assumptions on key concepts, the researcher would hope to achieve a theoretical validity on which to build arguments on institutional logics in the context of this project. The following section provides a background to, and initiates, some of those arguments.
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