Part A – Chapter Extension: Organizational Subcultures
Organization and Culture
The organization can be depicted in terms of the culture that exists in it. The organization can have an image which pertains to its culture as culture plays a significant role in the formation, development and the progressive growth of an organization. The work practices, business orientation as well as human relations in an organization are formed on the basis of the organizational culture. “The concept of culture has been linked increasingly with the study of organization. With the recognition of the symbolic aspects of organized settings have come calls for a cultural perspective on organizations.” (Smircich, 1983)
The theory of leadership and culture in an organization depicts that leadership and culture in an organizational are inter related with the culture affecting the way business is carried out in an organization. “The intersection of culture theory and organization theory is evident in five current research themes: comparative management, corporate culture, organizational cognition, organizational symbolism, and unconscious processes and organization.” (Smircich, 1983) The role of culture in an organization is such that the environment in the business, the interactions amongst the different functions, strategic decisions as well as day to day activities are affected by the predominant culture in the organization.
The following sections depict how the organization is a collection of different systems having essentially different subcultures.
Organization as a Complex Anagram of Subcultures
The culture in an organization is derived from its people. The relationship between an organization, the culture of the organization and its people is such that the culture is formed from the regional culture of the people and their ideology. Specially in the dynamic world of today, where organizations are increasingly become diverse entities having diverse work groups the culture of the organization can more aptly be referred to as a collection of subcultures. “When one brings culture to the level of the organization and even down to groups within the organization, one can see clearly how culture is created, embedded, evolved and ultimately manipulated, and , at the same time how culture constrains, stabilizes and provides structure”(Schein, 2004).
Derivation and Background
The derivation of the culture of any organization is base don the culture of the region, particularly that of its workforce. An organization is made up of the different components, much like a system, and as a result the culture of the organization is also made up of a collection of subcultures. “Organizational psychology is slowly evolving from an individualistic point of view toward a more integrated view based on social psychology, sociology, and anthropology.” (Schein, 1996).
A research conducted by Hofstede on the identification of organization subcultures depicted that it is possible for multiple subcultures to exist in an organization. “The dendrogram showed that within the company there were three distinct subcultures: a professional subculture, an administrative subculture, and a customer interface subculture.” (Hofstede, 2002) Similarly another research undertaken by Sackmann (1992) also explored the concept of organization having subcultures and the research depicted that subcultures can exist in regards to the different kinds of cultural knowledge that exist in the organization and the cultural overlay in place.
“Although organizations are often said to have cultures, it is perhaps more accurate to conceive of organizations as collections of subcultures.” (Maanen and Barley, 1983) The organizational subcultures are different from the organizational culture itself. Even through they combine together to form the organizational culture, and share similarities with the organizational culture in terms of the ideologies and the sets of cultural forms, they differ as well specially in terms of their enhancement or deviation of certain characteristics of the core organizational culture. “The notion that organizations may have specific cultures is found sprinkled in a vast array of publications on strategy and business policy, on organizational behavior and theory” (Allaire and Firsirotu, 1984). The subcultures in an organizational setting develop usually in informal groups in the form of coalitions, while in the formal groups they can develop in the form of departmental and management interactions. Aside from this subcultures in an organization can be based off the demographic characteristics of the human resource in the organization, making way of a diverse metropolitan organizational culture. Such subcultures can be defined in terms of the age, sex and ethnicities that can provide significant source of influence for the development of more subcultures in an organization.
Application of Subcultures in Organizations
The application of the body of knowledge on the subject of organizational culture and subculture shows that the different functions, groups and even levels of management in an organization can have different subcultures. The subculture of kaizen based on hard work, long hours and efficient operations as depicted by the Japanese firms is based on the cultural influences of the region as well. Similarly the bureaucratic framework of the organizations in India and the Middle East is also based on their cultural influences which develop a bureaucratic subculture for the middle and top management at the companies. This effects how business is conducted, how people interact in the company as well as how the work is conducted in the organizational context.
As a result it is possible for the different levels of management to have different subcultures as well. “One of the most powerful subcultures is made up of the higher echelons of management. One set of beliefs among members is that they dictate how to organize work and arrange division of labor amongst employees. They believe that they should decide how tasks are divided, who will do them and who should control the selection and training of employees.” (Trice, 1993) Aside from this the different functions in organizations can also be based on different subcultures. As a result it is possible for the finance department to be more bureaucratic and audit oriented, while the marketing function can be more creative, open minded, adventurous as well as more active and gob getting than the human resource or the finance departments. The differences between the departments and functions of the organizations are largely based on the social interaction, the cultural norms and the sun cultural influences based on management style and demographic influences.
Justification of Placement in the Chapter
The chapter can be included in the book in conjunction with fifth 5 of the book or just after the fifth chapter of the book. However the most appropriate positioning for the chapter extension ‘Organizations as Subcultures’ would be as an insert in the fifth chapter. This is because the content of the extension would be better comprehended and understood by the reader after the reader has undergone the overview of the role of culture in organizations as presented in the fifth chapter of the book. In the book by Gareth Morgan, the fifth chapter titled ‘Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures’ deals with the aspect of organization and cultures building on how the cultures are significant in different organizations based on their origins in Britain, Japan, America and different management hubs in the world. The relationship between the organization and the culture is explained in detail in this chapter and as a result the reader should first read the fifth chapter of the book before reading the chapter extension titled ‘Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures’ which should ideally be placed at the end of the fifth chapter as an insert.
The chapter extension titled ‘Creating Social Reality: Organizations as Cultures’ can also be referenced in the fifth chapter, specifically where the fifth chapter of the book discusses the cultural influences of the regions on the management, particularly those of Europe, Britain, The United States of America as well as that of Asian countries like Japan. The referencing can be made in context with the subcultures of the society and how they mold management in the company in these regions. Similarly the references can also be made also made where diverse organizational settings are discussed as the influence of the different subcultures in the organization can be highlighted where diverse work environments are being discussed.
Extension of Existing Strengths and Weaknesses
The strengths that are presented by the organization having subcultures is that the organization becomes more representative of its people and through the process of progressive development the organizational culture on the whole for the organization can develop and evolve though the inclusion of the positive subcultures, and the removal/ elimination of the subcultures which hamper the growth and the development of the organization and the achievement of its goals. In the dynamic and multicultural market of today, and organizational culture based on subculture is more representative and better performing as the company can understand its customers in a better manner. The agility and the dynamicity of the subcultures make way for positive influence son the organization cultures depicting them as a major strength. The sub-cultural factors that strengthen the overall culture in an organization pertain to their characteristic of not disrupting the overarching couture, and the fact that they are a response for organization change. IN times of turbulence the subcultures can present themselves as outlet for the members of the organization. It is possible for the subculture to make way for change in the organization while not obstructing the overarching core cultural values of the organization which is one of the main strengths of subcultures in organizations. In fact some opposing subcultures can also exist simply because of the difference that exists between the peripheral and the pivotal values in an organization.
The weakness however that can be associated with organizational subcultures in organizations is that the presence of such multiple subcultures can create conflicts in the organization. It is possible for the subcultures to be different even though they may exist as part of the same organizational culture, however as subcultures are developed through the interactions in the organization, the presence variant subcultures can create friction through conflict as well
Part B – Cross Match
The following sections discuss the Frocky Horror show with the case of Emanuel and Ahmed and to what extent the provided reading list addresses the issue highlighted in the video. The recommendation for the inclusion of two additional journal based articles is also provided, depicting the justification of their inclusion and how they add more to the context of the issue discusses in the video.
The Frocky Horror Show: Blood on the Carpet
The Frocky Horror Show by BBC which was launched in 1999 depicts the various high profile business clashes and cases where the businesses were ill managed or involved in unscrupulous activities. In the Frocky Horror Show the case of Elizabeth Emanuel and Joe Bloggs is depicted. Elizabeth Emmanuel is a well known courtier and clothing designer who has been favored by many high profile people as well as the royalty in the United Kingdom. However in the event of her falling business fortunes, Elizabeth sought support for financial backing from a prospective business partner to make the company and the brand name survive, and in this regard she went into a partnership with Shami Ahmed who had a separate clothing empire of his own by the name of Joe Bloggs. However the documentary video depicts that the partnership of the two designers became a nightmare and fell into despair sue to the differing opinions of the two designers, their different business management styles and their diverse thinking process in terms of creativity. Shami Ahmed was looking to move into a more classy market with the Emmanuel deal; while Emmanuel sought to help her company survive by sharing finances with Ahmed. However the partnership was on the rocks due to the clash of their ideology and essentially the different corporate culture they proposed.
Reading List How the Reading List extends the Video
In the first chapter of the book Images of Organization, Morgan (2006) presents the different metaphors and images of the organization, whereby he depicts the organizations as brains, as a culture, as psychic prisons, flux and transformation and as instruments of domination. However as the perspective of this paper is from the perspective of cultures, the image of the organization as a culture is applicable here. Further on in fifth chapter Morgan (2006) describes organizations in detail as cultures having distinct values, ideals, norms, believes and practices which shape the organization, making it what it is. As per Morgan (2006) the people in the organization are depicted as the drivers of culture in an organization. Similarly in the article ‘Elements of the Cultural Network: The Communicators of Corporate Values’, Sutton and Nelson (1990) also depict that it is the top managers of the organization who are responsible for the corporate culture and are able to influence the culture through the policy and the business practices. The video is based on the conflict between Elizabeth Emmanuel and Shami Ahmed that took place due to their differing opinions, business practices and essentially their differing ideology regarding their work and business. In conjunction with the video the text as helps the reader comprehend how the culture of the organization as well as that of the people that make the organization can influence the business. This is the extent to which this text provides insight into the comprehension of the video.
The successful management of strategy and the implementation of the business strategy for success also require that involvement of the organizational culture as depicted by Higgins and McAllaster (2004). The culture of the company is made up of cultural artifacts according to Higgins and McAllaster (2004) and in order to develop a new strategy, the cultural artifacts which support the old strategy need to be evolved and changed to support the new strategy. This is applicable to the case depicted in the video as the new partnership required a new strategy to run the business; however both Elizabeth Emmanuel and Shami Ahmed were unable to set aside their differences to work together towards the same objective resulting in conflicts of their ideologies, their business practices and their culture of organization.
As organizations have distinct cultures which form the organizational culture for the entities, according to the sociology theory is also possible to influence the perspective of organization based on the principles of sociology (Jaffee, 2001). In their book ‘Organizational Theory’ the authors Crowther and Green (2004) discuss social constructionism when it comes to organizations and people in organizations. According to the social constructionism, they depict that the concept of people having essential characteristics is rejected, and instead its shown that people are motivated and influenced based on their different circumstances and the different scenarios they are subjected to. Some of the factors of influence that are presented by Crowther and Green (2004) pertain to language, identity based on contextual factors. Additionally the authors also present that as per social constructionism, the thinking process of the people is also influenced by such factors thus affecting their decision making. This provides relevant insight into the problems faced by Elizabeth Emmanuel and Shami Ahmed as depicted in the video. The problems were based on their different perspectives, way of running an organization and their differing business practices, i.e. their proposed organizational. Moreover the text related to social constructionism also can help explain why Emmanuel was forced due to her situation at the time to seek partnership with Shami Ahmed for financial backing of her business.
In the article ‘Lure of the Bloodstained Gems Hits Home’, Russell (2008) presents the case of the Australian government and the jewelry industry and the trade of illegal conflict diamonds. IN the article it is presented that there have been sightings and collection of undocumented rough diamonds of undoubtedly suspicion origin, the Australian government as well as the gems and jewelry industry adamantly admits that there is no market for conflict diamonds in Australia as the market is too small. This is an indication of the corrupt organization culture at play where the business practices of the individual gem and jewelry based businesses are shrouded in secrecy leading to unawareness and lack of knowledge of the possible trade of illegal diamonds in the country. The application of the text to the case of Elizabeth Emmanuel and Shami Ahmed is somewhat ambiguous as no relevant connected could be gauged between the two, however the aspect of corruption and latent trade depicted in the article can be associated with the business practices of Shami Ahmed in the case to which Elizabeth Emmanuel was in strong opposition to.
Proposed Journal Articles
This section depicts the other peer reviewed journal based literature which can be used instead if the assigned reading list as it better shows the relationship between the content of the Frocky Horror Show and the image of Organization as cultures while providing better understanding on the case highlighted between Elizabeth Emmanuel and Shami Ahmed.
The first proposed article that can extend and add to the context of the Frocky Horro Show video is an article by Vijay Pothukuchi, Fariborz Damanpour, Jaepil Choi, Chao C. Chen, Seung Ho Park, titled ‘National and Organizational Culture Differences and International Joint Venture Performance’. The article was published in the Journal of International Business Studies and depicts that joint ventures and partnerships are risky and require careful consideration in terms of their formation to assess the possible problems that can arise due to cultural conflict based o the organizational cultures, traditional business practices as well as the cultural dimensions of the organization.
The second article which is proposed is titled ‘An Expanded Model of Business-to-Business Partnership Formation and Success’ by Tracy Tuten and David Urban The article was published in the Journal of International Marketing Management and depicts models for partnership formation which can provide success of the partnership venture. The article highlights the analysis of prospective partnership problems that should be assess and addressed prior to the formation of the partnership in order to make way for reduced conflicts of interest and the clash of cultures in the business agreement.
Justification for Inclusion
The inclusion of the journal article titled is justified as ‘National and Organizational Culture Differences and International Joint Venture Performance’ as the article presents through study the importance of not just organizational cultures but the organization cultural distance which needs to be examined in order to determine how the joint ventures are effected by cultural dimensions (Pothukuchi et al, 2002). The article discusses the national cultures; however this can be applied to the personal business ideologies and the culture of businesses for Elizabeth Emmanuel and Shami Ahmed providing better understanding into how the cultural aspects provided discourse in their business. The article by Tuten and Urban (2001) is also justified for inclusion in the reading list as in accordance with the case of Elizabeth Emmanuel and Shami Ahmed as depicted in the video, the article can help explain the partnership formation essentials (Tuten and Urban, 2001) that were ignored by the parties which led to irreconcilable differences and the lack of conflict resolution strategies implemented in the formation of partnership which led to the highlighting of the differences the two parties had in terms of their management style, their creative process, their objectives and vision for the company, and the culture of business that they sought to follow.
References
- Allaire, Y., Firsirotu, M.E., 1984, Theories of Organizational Culture, Journal of Organization Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 193-226.
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1999), The Frocky Horror Show: Blood on the Carpet
- Crowther, D., Green, M., 2004, Organizational Theory, London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development
- Higgins, J.M., McAllaster, C., 2004, If you want strategic change, don’t forget to change your cultural artifacts, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 63-73
- Hofstede, G., 2002, Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 35, Issue 1, p1 – 12.
- Jaffee, D., 2001. Organization theory: tension and change, Boston: McGraw Hill
- Maanen, J. V., Barley, S., 1983, Cultural Organization: Fragments of a Theory, Alfred P Sloan School Of Management Cambridge.
- Morgan, G., 2006, Images of Organization, Sage, California.
- Pothukuchi, V., Damanpour, F., Choi, J., Chen, C.C., Park, S.H., 2002, National and Organizational Culture Differences and International Joint Venture Performance, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 33
- Russell, M., 2008, Lure of bloodstained gems hits home, The Sunday Age, p. 10.
- Sackmann, S.A., 1992, Culture and Subcultures: An Analysis of Organizational Knowledge, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 37.
- Schein, E.H., 2004, Organizational Culture and Leadership, Ed. 3rd, Jossey-Bass
- Schein , E.H., 1996, Culture: The Missing Concept in Organization Studies, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 41.
- Smircich, L., 1983, Concepts of Culture and Organizational Analysis, Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 339-358.
- Sutton, C.D., Nelson, D.L., 1990, Elements of the cultural network: The communicators of corporate values, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 11, No. 5, p. 3-11
- Trice, H.M., 1993, Occupational subcultures in the workplace, Cornell University Press
- Tuten, T.L., Urban, D.J., 2001, An Expanded Model of Business-to-Business Partnership Formation and Success, Journal of Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 30, Issue 2, p149-164