Cultural Islands Edgar Schein model of organization culture According to Edgar Schein - Organizations do not adopt a culture in a single day, instead it is formed in due course of time as the employees go through various changes, adapt to the external environment and solve problems. They gain from their past experiences and start practicing it every day thus forming the culture of the workplace. The new employees also strive hard to adjust to the new culture and enjoy a stress free life. Schein believed that there are three levels in an organization culture. 1. Artifacts The first level is the characteristics of the organization which can be easily viewed, heard and felt by individuals collectively known as artifacts. The dress code of the employees, office furniture, facilities, behavior of the employees, mission and vision of the organization all come under artifacts and go a long way in deciding the culture of the workplace. 2. Values The next level according to Schein which constitute the organization culture is the values of the employees. The values of the individuals working in the organization play an important role in deciding the organization culture. The thought process and attitude of employees have deep impact on the culture of any particular organization. What people actually think matters a lot for the organization? The mindset of the individual associated with any particular organization influences the culture of the workplace. 3. Assumed Values The third level is the assumed values of the employees which can’t be measured but do make a difference to the culture of the organization. There are certain beliefs and facts which stay hidden but do affect the culture of the organization. The inner aspects of human nature come under the third level of organization culture. Organizations where female workers dominate their male counterparts do not believe in late sittings as females are not very comfortable with such kind of culture. Male employees on the other hand would be more aggressive and would not have any problems with late sittings. The organizations follow certain practices which are not discussed often but understood on their own. Such rules form the third level of the organization culture Corporate Culture is no longer the relevant topic. The relevant topic is macro culture, nations, corporations, corporate culture (where all these nationalities and occupations play out), and micro cultures where you have problems in the operating room and in 1 teamwork because you have multi-nationals, people from different occupations that cultures, all interplaying. We have already recognized that a doctor views the world different than a nurse; that a manufacturing engineer looks at the world different than a finance person. We need to understand that these are occupational cultures very strong. Leaders have to become much more humble and learn how to seek help, because the subordinates under them will be much more knowledgeable than they, and secondly leaders will have to create cultural islands where people from differently occupational and national cultures can spend suspend some of the rules and talk to each other more directly, for example, about how they view trust, how they view authority, or how they deal with bosses that make mistakes. If leaders can’t create those kinds of cultural islands, they won’t be able to create teams that can actually work. Please include the discussion answers to each of the following questions. • Highlight one organization that is currently utilizing this concept of ‘cultural islands’ in the workplace and identify its impact. • What are the benefits of onboarding a ‘cultural island’ with an organization? • What are the challenges that the organization or group will encounter? Provide detailed examples and explain how they are doing it. In this assignment, you will be articulating an understanding of the use of the concept (cultural islands). Discuss the benefits and challenging that companies will face implementing this concept and process. Each written assignment will be reviewed for accuracy, relevance, and its relationship to the lecture, the discussion, the group exercise, assigned readings, and any of the associated resources and reading briefs on the on the course homepage. 2
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