Organizational Culture and Leadership

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Introduction

Organizational culture is defined and studied in a multitude of ways by a variety of different scholars. One of the best known organizational culture scholars is Edgar Schein. Schein (2004) explains organizational culture as the shared norms, beliefs, and values that guide the organization. Of course, this short definition of organizational culture does not fully elucidate the concept. The following paragraphs will give a synopsis of some of the basic tenets of organizational culture, borrowing liberally from the work of Edgar Schein and a few other authors. A list of references is included so that the reader can research the concept further on their own.

Major Concepts of Organizational Culture

An organization's culture can be both corporeal and mental in nature. What does this mean? Organizational culture is shared by members of the group and guides day-to-day activities of the work environment. Organizational culture is comprised of those items that guide action; including the written value statements or visions of the organization. This is an example of the physical aspect of organizational culture. The mental components of organizational culture include behavior norms; how people relate to coworkers and customers during the business day (Schein, 2004).

Think back to a time when you took a new job or joined a ...