WHAT IS ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE? WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
             Organisational culture is a complex phenomenon, usually related to shared values and shared meanings in an organization, but also related to common ways of dealing with, or ignoring, commonly experienced problems. It is a form of commonsense, an outcome of cultural processes at work in a particular setting. The benefits of paying attention to culture are that it focuses on people but in particular on the symbolic significance of almost every aspect of organisational life. It emphasises shared meanings, even if implicit, and alerts us to the influencing potential of values, beliefs, ideology, language, norms, ceremonies, rituals, myths and stories. It constructs leaders as shapers of meaning. It also emphasises the importance of communication and learning; it emphasises the importance of how others perceive us; and it alerts us to the fact that organisational environments are also socially construct.
             ARE COMPANIES WITH STRONG CULTURES ALWAYS SUCCESSFUL?
             No! Strong cultures can be barrier to change if they are negative cultures, but, even so, with the happiest, most creative there are still other factors that can frustrate performance, such as the economic climate and competitive situation, that are out of the organization's control.
             WHAT ARE THE DYSFUNCTIONS OF CULTURE?
             Culture tends to select and socialize people who are alike, and so often there is a lack of diversity and critical thinking in strong cultures, and the tendency to stick to old recipes even when things change. There can be a focus on the emotional and non-rational to the extent that simple but important technicalities - like structural arrangements, inventory control or quantitative analysis of the market - can be neglected.
             WHAT ARE SUBCULTURES, AND ARE THEY HEALTHY?
             Subcultures are groups who are part of a wider group, subscribing to the overall culture but with some distinctly different values of their...