Organizational Culture

We all probably have a good idea of what culture is. After all, each of us is a member of many cultures, such as family cultures, ethnic cultures, religious cultures, national cultures, occupational cultures, organizational cultures, and others. Whenever people are together long enough to have shared experiences—successes and failures—they develop assumptions, values, and beliefs that influence their behavior and guide their future decisions. These are the basis for the cultures that surround us and provide a context for nearly all that we do. No wonder then, that those of us who are interested in improving human performance should be interested in culture, specifically that within an organization. This chapter examines what organizational culture is, how we can analyze it, and what its impact may be on human performance.