Organisational culture, climate and cross-cultural OB
Culture is the shared assumptions and values of an organisation; climate is how members perceive it day to day. Hofstede's dimensions compare national cultures for managing a diverse workforce.
Schein's levels of culture
| Level | Visibility | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Artefacts | Visible; easy to see but hard to decode | Office layout, dress, logos, rituals, stories, jargon |
| Espoused values | Stated | Mission statements, codes of conduct, declared priorities |
| Basic underlying assumptions | Invisible, taken for granted | Unspoken beliefs about people, time and truth: the essence of culture |
Culture typologies
| Model | Author | Types |
|---|---|---|
| Gods of management | Charles Handy | Power (Zeus), role (Apollo), task (Athena), person (Dionysus) |
| Competing values framework | Cameron and Quinn | Clan, adhocracy, market, hierarchy |
| Corporate cultures | Deal and Kennedy | Tough-guy macho, work hard/play hard, bet-your-company, process |
| Seven characteristics | Robbins (from O'Reilly and colleagues) | Innovation and risk-taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, stability |
Culture vs climate
Culture is what the organisation is; climate is how it feels to work there.
Hofstede's dimensions of national culture
| Dimension | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Power distance | How far less powerful members accept unequal power |
| Individualism vs collectivism | Loose ties to self and family vs strong loyalty to the in-group |
| Masculinity vs femininity | Competition and achievement vs care and quality of life |
| Uncertainty avoidance | Discomfort with ambiguity; preference for rules |
| Long-term vs short-term orientation | Added later from Michael Bond's Chinese Value Survey; thrift and persistence |
| Indulgence vs restraint | Added in 2010 with Michael Minkov; freedom to enjoy life |
Workforce diversity and cross-cultural OB
- Diversity covers gender, age, ethnicity, religion, caste, language, disability and sexual orientation; deep-level diversity covers values and personality.
- Benefits: wider talent pool, creativity, better market insight. Risks: conflict, communication gaps, tokenism.
- Managing diversity: inclusive policies, diversity training, mentoring, flexible work and fair grievance channels. The Code on Wages, 2019 bars gender discrimination in pay; the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 requires equal opportunity.
- Trompenaars (with Hampden-Turner) gives seven dimensions, such as universalism vs particularism and achievement vs ascription.
- Edward Hall separates high-context and low-context cultures; the GLOBE study (Robert House) uses nine dimensions.
- Cultural intelligence (CQ) is the ability to adapt across cultures (Earley and Ang).
NET asks you to order Schein's levels, match Handy's cultures with Greek gods, and identify Hofstede's dimensions from a one-line description.
Typical MCQ: “Which Hofstede dimension came from Michael Bond's Chinese Value Survey?” Long-term vs short-term orientation. Trap: indulgence vs restraint was added later, in 2010, with Minkov.
Typical MCQ: “What is the deepest level of culture in Schein's model?” Basic underlying assumptions. Trap: espoused values are stated beliefs, not the deepest level.
Schein's iceberg: you see artefacts, hear espoused values and only sense basic assumptions.