Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
Mountain Top School District is located in one of the New England states and serves
eight communities over two states. The district operates two elementary schools with preschool
through eighth-grade students and one comprehensive high school. There are approximately 250
total employees that span many different departments. The final governance of the school district
is made by seven elected school board members who serve three-year terms. No requirements,
other than residency, prohibit anyone from running for one of the school board seats.
Cultural Analysis
According to Milacci and Kuhne (n.d.), system theorists overlook the human factor in
analyzing organizations, whereas cultural theorists look at workers' origins, development, and
organizational behavior. They further state that two school systems can look identical on paper
regarding demographics and supports; however, they operate very differently because of human
and cultural differences. In the symbolic frame, organizational leaders drive organizational and
cultural change by clarifying roles' misunderstandings, promoting the organization's established
mission and vision, and providing support (Holmes & Scull, 2019). Bolman and Deal (2021)
state that leaders must understand and use the organization’s myths, metaphors, stories, tales,
rituals, and ceremonies to help inspire workers through the symbolic lens.
Culture/Cultural Differences
Organizational culture can be defined as “the collection of values, expectations, and
practices that guide and inform the actions of all team members” (Wong, 2020, para. 3). Bolman
and Deal (2021) discuss that culture is a product that reflects the knowledge and belief from
experienced members and as a process where newcomers can influence the culture and become
the new teachers of future members. Paais and Pattiruhu (2020) conducted an empirical study to
determine whether organizational culture positively impacted employee satisfaction and job
Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
performance. The researchers found that organizational culture has a significant positive impact
on performance and a moderate effect on employee satisfaction. Understanding the culture of an
organization and leveraging important aspects of the culture are essential for leaders to promote
teamwork and growth (Bolman & Deal, 2021).
The Mountain Top School District has seen a transformation in the demographics of
administrators, staff, students, and community members. The school district was formed as a
cooperative in the mid-1960s and consisted of five similar towns. Over the past ten years, one of
the communities has been transformed into a community mainly composed of second homes for
wealthier families from out-of-state cities. This has created a situation where it is a property-rich
town; therefore, their taxes are much higher through the established funding formula than the
other communities. This relates to the symbolic frame because the new members of this
community need to become more familiar with the funding culture and have more of a personal
investment in the communities. The school district’s leadership needs to connect with the new
inhabitants to demonstrate the value of a comprehensive education and garner more taxpayer
support (Alm & Torgler, 2006).
There are many rituals and ceremonies that the school district, and community, hold in
high regard and help contribute to a positive culture. The community supports the students and
athletes in the annual homecoming parade. With an average graduating class of 65 students, the
annual graduation ceremony has more than 1000 attendees each year, and many of these are
alums with no direct relationships with the school. Open houses are critical for establishing a
positive relationship with parents and communities (Tomaszewski, 2011). The district spends a
lot of time planning and designing open houses, locally called exhibition nights so that parents
Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
and community members can see what students are learning and what traditions still exist within
the educational community.
Very few significant cultural differences exist in the Mountain Top School District.
While there are only a small number of minority and ethnic members, the school district does
celebrate these differences several times a year with a variety of World Culture days. Amongst
the staff, there are cultural work differences between younger teachers and teachers who have
been in the system for over 20 years. Like Romanes and Veniegas’s (2018) research findings,
many younger teachers do not have 21st-century solid work skills and seem to show up to work
instead of spending extra time evaluating and planning lessons. Additionally, younger staff has
an easier time incorporating instructional technology and becoming teachers of veteran staff.
Organization Consensus
Once an organization recognizes and understands the current culture, it can develop a
plan through shared mission and values to chart its future direction (Busby, 2017). Busby further
states that it is essential for an organization’s values and culture to match to prevent “cynicism”
(p. 16) amongst the stakeholders. Developing shared missions and goals can lead to effective
change and a positive culture when created through a process where all stakeholders feel heard,
and their ideas are incorporated (Doten-Snitker et al., 2020; Kaiser et al., 2021). Bolman and
Deal (2021) discuss that organizations that understand the development of a consensus-based set
of values, mission, and goals will be more “cohesive” (p. 277) and will have a clear direction for
the organization.
Two years ago, the Mountain Top School District went through a sixth-month process of
developing a shared mission, vision, and a set of core values. A subcommittee of teachers,
administrators, parents, and students was created to drive the work in these areas. The
Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
committee’s first task was to survey all constituents of the school community to find what they
value most in the school system and what they thought was missing from the educational culture.
Using the feedback, the committee drafted several example statements and presented them in
open forums for additional stakeholder feedback. The result was a mission, vision, and core
values that reflect the cultural beliefs because they were developed with input from all levels of
the chain of command and span of control (Kaiser et al., 2021).
An area with an opportunity for growth is to consistently evaluate, elicit feedback, and
update the mission and core values. As demographics continuously change, the district must
ensure that they are culturally sensitive to all stakeholders. The Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment (2014) state that leaders can make organizations culturally competent by developing
mission and visions that reflect the cultural beliefs of their current stakeholders. Therefore, it is
essential for the Mountain Top School District to regularly revisit its mission, vision, and core
values to ensure they are culturally competent and reflect the changing demographics.
Role versus Job Description
Job descriptions can best be viewed as the “blueprint of the position and outlines the
essential duties and responsibilities of a job” (Gan & Kleiner, 2005, p. 48). Furthermore, the
authors state that compelling job descriptions should define the organization’s accountability,
which prevents duplication of efforts. Rohr (2016) discusses that job descriptions should be used
outside of the hiring process and should be the foundation of assessing an employee’s
effectiveness in a given position. Roles are a broader category encompassing tasks,
responsibilities, and expectations associated with an organization's specific job or function
(Akida, 2022).
Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
A review of several job descriptions at the Mountain Top School District reveals that
some staff members have roles that need to be explicitly written in the documents. The Career
and Technical Education (CTE) director’s job description describes responsibilities for federal
compliance with Perkins legislation, overseeing all aspects of student access to CTE, ensuring
students have access to industry experiences, researching best practices, and filing appropriate
reports with the state office. Historically, the CTE director position also had the role of
leadership over building maintenance staff, organizing safety drills, establishing duty schedules,
and supervising support staff. While these roles are not found in the job description, the
functions are made clear during annual meetings with high school administrators so various
duties and roles can be assigned to all administrators.
In the past two years, the Mountain Top School District has combined the CTE director
position with the district-wide director of facilities and maintenance. This was done because of
the knowledge the individual in the CTE position had in facilities operations and to address
increasing budgets. Additionally, there are plans to expand the role to include human resource
management and the overall safety and security of all facilities in the district. While combining
job descriptions to save money is an effective way to reduce a budget, it needs to be done
cautiously to ensure there is a market of candidates if the individual in this role leaves (Baker,
2020). Additionally, suppose the individual in this position leaves or transfers to a different
position. In that case, the Mountain Top School District will have to decide if they can replace
the individual or if they will distribute the responsibilities among other employees.
Analysis Summary
The Mountain Top School District is vital in the cultural lens, as evidenced by
established shared mission, vision, and core values. Strong rituals with parades, concerts, and
Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
exhibition nights exist. The district’s demographics are changing in recent years, and the
community must revisit its mission to ensure cultural sensitivity. The district has established job
descriptions and, in most cases, has a process for establishing roles that may not be explicitly
stated in the document.
Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
References
Akida, S. (2022, June 3). Job description versus role description: What’s the difference [Blog].
OnGig. https://blog.ongig.com/job-descriptions/what-is-the-difference-between-a-job-
description-and-the-role-description/
Alm, J. & Torgler, B. (2006). Culture differences and tax morale in the United States and in
Europe. Journal of Economic Psychology, 27(2), 224-246.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeop.2005.09.002
Baker, S. (2020, March 4). Writing job descriptions for hybrid roles. Acacia HR Solutions.
https://www.acaciahrsolutions.com/writing-job-descriptions-for-hybrid-roles-in-your-
small-business/
Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations (7th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Busby, N. (2017). The shape of change: A guide to planning, implementing and embedding
organisational change. Routledge.
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. (2014). Treatment improvement protocol series:
Improving cultural competence (59th ed.).
Doten-Snitker, K., Margherio, C., Litzler, E., & Ingram, E. (2020). Developing a shared vision
for change: Moving toward inclusive empowerment. Research in Higher Education,
26(1), 206-229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-020-09594-9
Gan, M. & Kleiner, B. H. (2005). How to write job descriptions effectively. Management
Research News, 28(8), 48-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/01409170510784959
Holmes, W. T. & Scull, W. R. (2019). Reframing organizations through leadership
communications: The four-frames of leadership viewed through motivating language.
Cultural Analysis of Mountain Top SD
Development and Learning in Organizations, 33(5), 16-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-
09-2018-0107
Kaiser, A., Fahrenback, F., & Martinez, H. A. (2021). Creating shared visions in organizations:
Taking an organizational learning and knowledge management perspective. Proceedings
of the 54th Hawaii International Conference of System Sciences.
https://hdl.handle.net/10125/71250
Milacci, F. & Kuhne, G. (n.d.) Understanding organizations as organisms [Video]. Liberty
University. https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/
2167581/uiconf_id/39959791/entry_id/0_0qxkx77n/embed/dynamic
Paais, M., & Pattiruhu, J. R. (2020). Effect of motivation, leadership, and organizational culture
on satisfaction and employee performance. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and
Business, 7(8), 577-588. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no8.577
Romanes, M. D. & Veniegas, S. E. (2018). Differences among generation groups of teachers in a
public school district in their practice of 21st-century teaching-learning skills.
Proceedings of the Asian Conference on Education & International Development, 1-19.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327954410
Tomaszewski, J. (2011). Top 8 keys to a great parent open house. Education World.
https://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/archives/edworld_top/8_tips_for_great_open_ho
use.shtml
Wong, K. (2020, May 20). Organizational culture: Definition, importance, and development.
Achievers. https://www.achievers.com/blog/organizational-culture-definition/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
