Module III·Article IV·~1 min read
Corporate Culture: Formation and Transformation
Teams and Culture
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Culture Levels According to Schein
Edgar Schein: culture operates on three levels:
Artifacts (visible): physical space, dress code, rituals, language, stories. Easy to observe, hard to interpret.
Espoused values: mission, company values, official norms. What the company says about itself.
Basic assumptions: unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs. “It’s not customary here to criticize the boss”, “The customer is always right”. Hard to change—they are invisible.
The Leader’s Role in Shaping Culture
“Culture is not created by the values you proclaim, but by the behaviors you encourage and the violations you tolerate.”
Leader’s mechanisms of influence on culture (Schein):
- What they pay attention to and control (what is measured, what is discussed at every meeting)
- How they react to critical incidents (accidents, failures, successes)
- Whom they hire, promote, fire
- What they model with their own behavior
Toxic Culture: Signs and Consequences
Signs: fear of retribution for telling the truth; “guilt-based” thinking; status cult; internal politics more important than results; double standards for “favorites”.
Consequences: high turnover (especially A-players), risk avoidance, underachievement of potential, reputational damage.
Uber 2017: Travis Kalanick created an aggressive, toxic culture which resulted in crisis—sexual harassment, competitor raiding, lying to regulators. The outcome—CEO forced to resign.
Practical Assignment
Describe three “artifacts” of your organization’s culture (rituals, symbols, stories). For each: (1) Which basic assumption does it reflect? (2) Does the espoused value officially support it? (3) One artifact you would like to change—and how would you do it?
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