Organizational Culture

Richard Hopper

Workshop on Strategy for the New University - Kazahkstan

Senior Education Specialist

The World Bank

December 17, 2008

What is it?

• shared philosophy

• shared values

• shared behaviors

• shared habits

• Shared rules

• shared climate

Leadership

• Combination of…– Management– Culture

• Creation (or destruction) of culture is a key function of leadership

• Leaders create cultures – managers and administrators work within the cultures created by leaders

Leaders, founders, process

• Leaders are generally individuals who can influence the group to adopt a certain approach to a problem

• Culture stems from three elements:– founders values– shared learning experiences of members– new beliefs brought in by new members or leaders but adopted by

the group.

• To generate culture is less about the content of a plan and more about the process of learning during the planning process.

• What kinds of questions do leaders ask and how they set the agendas for meetings?

Questions and rituals provide clues

• What happens in conflict or when someone is insubordinate?

• How budgets are created in an organization reveals leader beliefs

• Ritualizing certain behaviors can be a powerful reinforcer.

Values and assumptions

• Can be imposed by leader on a group

• Culture is stable and the result of group experiences and learning

• Become accepted and internalized by the group

How to determine theorganizational culture

• Ask questions– There should be a coherence to the responses…

even though it is intangible.

• Do not ask: “what is the culture here?” – Such a question won’t tell you much

• Ask instead questions that get to the root of the shared concept…

Questions to ask…

– What is important here?

– What does it take to succeed here?• Success can be defined differently by faculty, administrators,

students… depending on their role and their tasks

– What was it like to join this organization?

– What is the history of this organization (department, program)?

– Who was involved in its establishment? In its development?

– Who was instrumental in making it what it is today?

More questions to ask

– What are the critical problems?– What is the basic mission?– What are the specific goals?– How do you achieve these goals in your role?– What are the ways of working?– How do people feel around here?– What gets done? Who does it?– Who thought of that idea? Who thought of that method

of practice?– Tell me the story about the founder of this program...

More clues

• Examine published documents, brochures, applications, handbooks for staff, materials, etc.

• A consensus on mission and goals (how to achieve mission) is important and not always present

• If you challenge cultural assumptions, people generally get defensive… that’s when you know that you’re challenging the established or shared norms.

• Group stability is important – universities have students moving through in a short time, so the stability is diminished 

Even more clues

• Examine what are new members taught• Architecture, lore, myths, stories, slogans, published

values, rituals, ceremonies

• Easy to see; hard to understand• Not all groups develop integrated cultures … there can be

conflict and ambiguity • Can a large organization or university have a uniform

culture?

Midlife crisis

• In midlife organizations the leadership issue is more complex... [new] CEOs do not have the same options as the founders and owners.

•  • At this stage, the culture defines leadership more than

leadership creates culture. •  • All organizations undergo a process of differentiation as

they grow… can work on sub cultures•  • The objective is to socialize the culture