Culture, Literature Review 1
Literature Review: Culture in the Workplace
Joshua Anderson
Liberty University – Business Department
Culture, Literature Review 2
Author Note
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Joshua Anderson.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to show that workplace culture is one that everyone should
understand but also know that with some hard work and education, that it can be changed for the
better. Whether it be across different industries or different countries and regions, the culture of a
workplace is something that all employees can agree upon. A workplace that has a toxic culture
is one that will end up failing in the long run.
Keywords: culture, ingrained, positivity, intentional
Culture, Literature Review 3
Workplace Culture is Never Settled
Any workplace culture is built from the ground up. The basis of the culture of the workplace
starts well before an office worker enters the office. It is learned well before a person ever
becomes an employee, teammate, or leader. Culture is initially learned in the home and in the
classroom. Culture is something that is ingrained into each person. How each person then lives it
out is up to them. Taking what they have learned and sharing it in order to build a better
workplace, team, and even society should be the goal of each person.
Research Methods
Research for this paper was done over a span of 10 peer-reviewed journal articles. These
articles were narrowed down to a five-year timespan in order to keep the topics relevant to an
ever-changing workplace. The research shows that culture is built into a person from the moment
that they start schooling and goes through the entire span of their working career. Additionally,
the office itself needs to be examined as it is where the culture is lived out. With a changing
culture, even the physical layout of the office needs to change.
Building Blocks of Culture
Culture in the Mind
The building blocks of culture start in the mind. The human mind is designed, in part, to
have a desire to be satisfied. Hormones, such as Oxytocin, are released when the body has
lowered its guard and feels that it can trust the environment it is in Often times, this occurs when
people are in family situations or in close, personal contact with people or things that they find
enjoyable. Therefore, when an employee is in a situation where they can trust the people around
them, a certain level of Oxytocin can be released and make the workplace a more comfortable
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and enjoyable place. Studies have shown that teams that are “more trusting, feel more connected
and are motivated to work hard to achieve the team’s goals.” (Dixon, 2020)
The Beginning of Culture
Culture is something that is ingrained into a person from an early age. Teachers are
essential in building the foundation of culture in their students. Unfortunately, teachers are not
receiving the support that they need to do their job properly and because of that, their students
suffer. In the Chicago Public School system alone, fully 25% of the teaching staff turns over each
year (Erichsen & Reynolds, 2020). When the students see that their teachers are not being
provided a proper workplace culture, it is an example that will stick with them as they move
forward into their own careers. In the future, the culture of the workplace will be adversely
affected. Not only will those workplaces and their employees suffer, but also the general public
will as productivity slows.
Is Some Culture Too Deeply Ingrained?
Some professions are so historically biased towards one gender that change is hard to
come by. Industries that have historically been dominated by a single gender can be amongst the
most difficult to enter by the opposite gender and the most difficult to change once that gender
does gain a toehold into the industry, An example of this can be seen in the Public Relations
industry in Croatia. For years, Public Relations was a male-dominated industry. Women in
Croatia were expected to take any job that was historically assigned to a female. With the fall of
Communism in eastern Europe, though, things changed. Now, women dominate the PR industry
– a whopping 78% of the industry is female (Polić & Holy, 2021). Unfortunately, the male
culture that was so ingrained into the industry remains. Women in PR in Croatia tend to dress
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and act like their male counterparts. Their attitudes have decidedly turned toward away from
what might be considered as a female perspective and shifted them towards a much more male
dominated perspective in order to be more accepted in Croatian culture. Until there is a change in
the greater culture, the shift in industrial culture will never take place.
What Happens with Ingrained Cultures
Incivility in the workplace can damage the culture of any office. With the business world
becoming a more interconnected place, it is important to know that different local cultures can
affect the workplace culture, sometimes in a very negative fashion. Being able to head that off
before it becomes a widespread issue within the office can help grow the workplace culture
quickly. The difference in the “West” versus the “East” is where this issue really becomes
amplified (Loh et al., 2019). Often, there is greater incivility between people in an office when
these personal beliefs meet up and people do not understand what is occurring. The contrast in
what someone from Asia beliefs relative to what someone from the United States or Europe
might believe is quite stark. If this isn’t dealt with immediately, the conflict that could arise could
tear an office apart and destroy the culture that is being so delicately built up.
Changning the Culture in a Workplace
Intentionality Can Bring Change
While teaching culture at a young age can set up a solid foundation, it is important to
continually learn and evolve. In situations where there is true conflict in the workplace, many
negative effects can end up being the result. Instead, it is important that the leadership
intentionally attempt to bring about positive change to the workplace culture (Villagrana, 2021).
Navigating the perilous journey from a negative culture to a positive one can be one fraught with
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danger. Employees can be dealing with many things that leaders are not equipped to deal with.
Still, by moving forward towards a more positive workplace, it is possible to create a more
accepting and positive work environment.
Positivity Keeps the Momentum Going
It’s impossible for every interaction to be positive, but when there is a discernible tilt
toward the positive, an entire office can start to feel and experience that shift. Team members
should find that they can build their relationships in the office and establish a culture easier when
there is a constant stream of positivity. While not every interaction requires this, keeping the
negativity to a minimum or as close to zero as possible, the office will become a more cohesive
unit that can make great strides as it grows. Team inclusiveness can foster a shift from a ‘them’ to
‘us’ mentality (Morris & Eppich, 2021). When making that shift, the team will often outperform
even their own expectations. A team that is united in its culture will be one that can be the envy
of the entire industry it is a part of.
Is it necessary for everyone in the office to be friends? Not at all, but it is important that
there is a level of respect between team members. Teams that are united perform better and can
better handle adversity as it comes their way (Hope, 2020).
Practice Makes Perfect
Teammates that are continually exhibiting a positive attitude in the workplace have to
practice that each day. If there are team members that have knowledge that could benefit the
entire team, they need to share it. Withholding that information from others can do irreparable
harm to a workplace’s culture. It can also do harm to the clients that they are trying to provide
quality service to. A team member may be holding back information in the hopes of getting
Culture, Literature Review 7
promoted or showing their own knowledge in order to have the light shine on them. Instead, it
spotlights the selfishness of that team member. As the labor shortage in the United States
continues, it is important that each team member shares their knowledge in order for the team to
practice it (Daws et al., 2020). Knowledge allows everyone to grow and make the workplace
culture more accepting of everyone.
Shifting a Culture Permanently
One person cannot change a culture alone. It takes a team effort to make lasting change in
a workplace. The buy-in that an entire team must undertake is one that is not instantaneous. From
training, to understanding, to implementation, it can take months or even years to get the shift in
culture to be a permanent thing (Coutts, 2021). That being said, when it has been completed, a
team that has made that change can feel good about themselves. This change can lead other
teams to look internally and attempt to make that same change. Change of any kind can be
infectious and making sure that it is a positive change can make sure that it spreads throughout a
company.
Redefining the Workplace
Physical Design Affects Culture
A changing culture can be pushed along simply by redesigning the office and its layout.
For many years, workplaces consisted of cubicles and offices with doors that would close off
their occupants from the rest of the team. This format builds a certain ‘us vs. them’ mentality.
Recently, the design of the workplace has been changing. With open floor plans, offices have
become more conducive to a free-flowing dialogue. Having these types of exchanges, while
initially frowned upon (Smollan & Morrison, 2019), can lead to a flurry of new and innovative
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ideas. Additionally, the culture will change from the ‘us vs, them’ to just plain ‘us.’ When that
occurs, then the workplace culture has truly changed for the better.
The Future of the Workplace
Covid-19 pushed the workplace farther into the future than could have ever been
expected. While there has always been the opportunity to work remotely, the pandemic has
pushed that from the fringe to a fully realized option. Because of this, workplace culture has
experienced a seismic shift. With the change in scenery comes a change in just about everything
the office has to offer. This also requires leadership to consider the well-being of their employees
without ever being able to see them all in one place (Pixelmax, 2021). The challenges that lie
ahead for teams and their culture when they are only united virtually is an issue that will need to
be further studied by leaders across a number of different industries.
Conclusion/Recommendations
For a long time, workplace culture was a nearly static thing for most every industry. Only
in times of war did anything ever change, and often they went back to the status quo after those
events ended. That all changed twice in the last 50-60 years. As women entered the workforce on
a more permanent basis, offices changed from male-dominated places to ones where equality
was sought out by everyone. The more defining change, though, came with the advent of the
internet. No longer were ideas kept localized. Instead, the ability to glean information from a
worldwide base came into play.
With the ideas so readily available, it is important that the culture of the workplace keep
abreast with what the world is up to. It has become increasingly easy for a team member to leave
an environment that they consider toxic in order to find one that they feel better fits their style. It
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is up to the leadership of any team to identify those issues that are causing the problem with the
culture and address them before it destroys their team.
Culture, Literature Review 10
Works Cited
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Journal of Organizational Change Management, 34(5), 990–1002.
https://doi.org/10.1108/jocm-08-2020-0254
Daws, K., McBrearty, K., & Bell, D. (2020). “if somebody just showed me once how to do it”:
How are workplace cultures and practice development conceptualised and operationalised
for Early Career Nurses? Nurse Education Today, 85, 104267.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2019.104267
Dixon, L. (2020). Our brains at work: The neuroscience of office culture. Rochester Business
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