Chapter 5: Cultural Studies

Transcription

1 Chapter 5: Cultural Studies The Cultural Approach A. Organizational Culture Overview 1. Sahlins (1976): Meaningful orders of persons and things. Meaningful Orders: Complex processes and relationships in a social grouping that are revealed through symbols. We learn about a culture not only by what its members say, but also by the tools they create and use, by the values they display in cultural artifacts, and by their development and possession of things. 2. Like a religion, in that both locate a set of common beliefs and values that prescribes a general view of the way things are and an explanation of why they are that way. 3. More about common recognition and intelligibility than agreement. Many subcultures (ways of carrying out beliefs) exist beneath larger culture. 4. Summary: Schein (1991) says culture is defined by six formal properties: Shared basic assumptions that are invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration in ways that have worked well enough to be considered valid, and therefore can be taught to new members of the group as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. B. Culture as Symbolic Constructions 1. Stands for actions, practices, stories, and artifacts of a particular organization. 2. Symbolic environment: parking lots, office spaces, conference rooms, windows, etc. 3. Use of symbols: vocabulary, jargon, topics of discussion, treasured accomplishments and awards. 1

2 Symbols do not only stand for things; they also help shape our understandings of those things and help us identify their meanings and uses. Symbols are instruments of human understanding and action. The culture of an organization induces its members to think, act, and behave in particular ways. 4. Burke s Definition of Man: (p. 115) a. Symbol-Using: The words we use induce us to think and behave in particular ways. b. Inventors of the Negative: Our actions involve choice we know what to do because we also know what we cannot or should not do. c. Separated from our natural conditions by instruments of our own making: Culture is made of the technology of language, and culture further separates us from nature. And we love progress, motivated by technology. d. Guided by a sense of order: Divisions among social classes, divisions of labor, divisions of race, age, or gender start as divisions of language and end up as divisions in how we act toward each other. e. Rotten with Perfection: We are driven to strive toward absolutes progress, good, true, right. Historical and Cultural Background A. Social Trends 1. Tremendous economic growth and business opportunities post- WW II. (even as Western colonialism ended) 2. Cold War 22 minutes to total annihilation of life as we know it. Conflicts of capitalism, socialism, and communism. 3. Social, ethnic, racial, political, sexual, and economic tensions voiced by groups. (It was NOT Happy Days or Andy Griffith. ) Questions of power, equality, participation, domination, resistance. Women s Movement; SDS; Black Panthers; NAACP; other groups. 2

3 As each subgroup struggled to redefine itself and its future, other groups were forced to deal with them, and to redefine themselves in light of the new knowledge or new reality. 4. Emergence of multinational corporations. Cheap Third-World Country labor, inequities in life-quality. The need for cross-cultural understanding and communication. (Michael Keaton: Gung Ho) 5. Cultural studies grew out of this climate: Increased participation by those impacted, globalization, diversity, and resistance to domination on the part of minority (or powerless) groups. B. Methodology 1. Prior to this time, view of corporate communication and organization was based on psychology, sociology, management, and communication theory... and focused on performance, motivation and rewards, work units, procedures, hierarchies, and the outcomes of group problem-solving, decision making, and leadership. 2. Paradigm shift. A chance to look at rituals, values, and socialization. Values are found in language of the organization, it s cultural artifacts, use of space, parking spaces (near the door?), and in such things as cartoons, jokes, etc. (Chart p. 119) 3. Ethnography. The writing of culture. Requires the researcher to experience culture firsthand. Three types: Realist Tale: Conveys the basic elements of the culture in an objective way. Impressionist Tale: Presents research experience along with the findings, often in creative ways. Confessional Tale: Focus is on the emotional experience of the ethnographer in the cultural setting. 4. Rich Text provides deep details, often missed by traditional, quantitative research. (Feelings, power, sense-making) 5. The best studies capture the spirit and diversity of an organization s values and practices by using evocative vocabulary or metaphor. (Smile Factory for Disney) 3

4 C. Practicality 1. Ouchi (1981) Theory Z a. Survival and prosperity of organizations depends heavily on their ability to adapt to their surrounding cultures. (National standards of performance, for example.) b. Theory Z integrates individual achievement and advancement while also developing a sense of community in the workplace. 2. What types of culture are most productive? a. Deal & Kennedy: Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life 1) Supportive business environment 2) Dedication to a shared vision and values 3) Well-known corporate heroes 4) Effective rites and rituals 5) Formal and informal communication networks. b. Peters & Waterman: In Search of Excellence 1) A bias for action: If change occurs in the business environment, they act. 2) Close relations to the customer: Remember that service, reliability, innovation, and a constant concern for the customer are vital. 3) Autonomy and entrepreneurship: empower employees by encouraging risk-taking, responsibility for decisions and actions, and innovation. 4) Productivity through people: A quality product depends on quality workers throughout the organization. 5) Hands-on, value-driven: Strong core values that are widely shared among employees; an overall vision that guides everyday practice. 6) Stick to the knitting: Stay focused on what you do best. 4

5 7) Simple form, lean staff: a lack of complicated hierarchies and divisions of labor. 8) Simultaneous loose-tight properties. Neither centralized nor decentralized in management style; they adapt to new situations with whatever is needed to get the job done. c. Many companies once on the list of top performers are now off. They misread market trends in some cases, but partly because no single approach will work everywhere and for all time. Also, cannot engineer culture. Cultures that support unethical behavior will fail: 1) A culture of broken promises. 2) A culture where no one takes responsibility. 3) A culture that denies participation and dissent. 5