Critically discuss the following statement with reference to relevant theory and practice: ‘Gender equality is not just good for women in organizations it is good for all organizational members’.

WEEK 1- The organization as culture

Smirch, L., 1983. Concepts of culture and organizational analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, pp.339-358.

This central idea of this paper focuses on several aspects of culture that have an underlying effect on organisations. While allowing the readers to understand that each organisational analyst may have differing views on culture, the paper demonstrates its aim to shed light on which cultural aspects of the organisation is more explicitly or implicitly revealed. It is reiterated that the term "culture" has no definitive meaning and is, therefore, difficult to critically evaluate the effect on organisations, however, it gives rise to the distinct perspective of analysts and brings forward their understanding of the effect of culture on organisations.

The means of investigative methods utilised in this paper involved deriving theories and opinions from a wide range of articles containing previous research and metaphors on the effect of culture on organisations. As mentioned, the notion of ‘culture' not having a definitive meaning gives rise to an extensive range of opinions and metaphorical analogies from different organisational analysts which in turn gave rise to various themes regarding the relationship. The various approaches in regard to organisation and culture are formed on the basis of: comparative management, corporate culture, organisational cognition, organizational symbolism, and unconscious processes and organisation. Add reference. Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:z Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:i Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:z Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:- Comment by Grammarly: Deleted:z

The major source of investigative work in this article proved to be developing new theories and approaches based off older ones. However, is this suffice? It is reiterated that ‘culture’ in fact has no definitive meaning, almost making it subjective. My question is, was the investigative methods extensive enough to properly exhaust all possible definitions that fit the word ‘culture' and thus establish a relationship with an organisation? The article seemed to be quite hypothetical, leading me to question its effectiveness in trying to explain the effect of culture on an organisation. However, educating the reader about the different themes relating to culture, it may allow managers and/or organisations to acknowledge that culture cannot be defined because the meaning isn’t fully agreed upon by analysts. This allows managers to understand that individuals are distinct and unique, and with the aid of the themes of culture introduced, this will lead managers to try different approaches that may perhaps lead to a better organisational control.