Organizational Culture

In Schein’s (1990) model of organizational culture, he described three basic levels at which culture can be observed, felt, or heard: artifacts, espoused values, and basic underlying assumptions: 

• Artifacts are the visible aspects of the organization--structure, processes and other physical evidence that can be observed or felt; as such, they are difficult to measure.  Artifacts might include buildings, art work, dress, stories, or historical artifacts on display.
• Espoused values are the goals, ideals, norms, standards, and moral principles of the organization. This is commonly the level of culture that is measured through surveys or questionnaires.
• Underlying assumptions are phenomena that are unexplainable when insiders are asked about the values of the organizational culture; they constitute “basic assumptions about reality” and are complex, value-driven theories that explain the world in ways important to organizational problem-solving. For example, a basic assumption might be whether people are fundamentally trustworthy.

Based on the article “Culture at Work: The Tyranny of 'Unwritten Rules,” and Schein’s elements of culture, described above, discuss the following:

• Provide an example of an artifact, an espoused value, and an underlying assumption that reflects a positive organizational culture and a negative one.
• Provide an example of a common unwritten rule in your experience that had a profound impact on performance.
• Do leaders create the culture in an organization, or are they created by the culture? Why?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/2014/02/13/culture-at-work-the-tyranny-of-unwritten-rules/#2133a34c760f