Organizational Culture and Leadership
Chapter One
THE CONCEPT OF
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE:
WHY BOTHER?
Culture is an abstraction, yet the forces that are created in social
and organizational situations that derive from culture are powerful.
If we don't understand the operation of these forces, we become victim
to them. To illustrate how the concept of culture helps to illuminate
organizational situations, I will begin by describing several
situations I have encountered in my experience as a consultant.
Four Brief Examples
In the first case, that of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), I
was called in to help a management group improve its communication,
interpersonal relationships, and decision making. After sitting
in on a number of meetings, I observed, among other things, (1)
high levels of interrupting, confrontation, and debate; (2) excessive
emotionality about proposed courses of action; (3) great frustration
over the difficulty of getting a point of view across; and (4)
a sense that every member of the group wanted to win all the time.
Over a period of several months, I made many suggestions about
better listening, less inte ... read full excerpt from Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition ebook
