Organization culturesA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWof opportunity and community relations (level
2); and Basic assumptions about organizational
practices and relationships – these tend to be
unstated, not obvious and ‘taken-for-granted’
(level 3). It is these basic assumptions, Schein
argues, which constitute the organization’s
culture.
Huczynski and Buchanan (2007) discuss a
number of typologies of organizational cultures
that have been developed by various theorists.
One well-known typology is that developed by
Handy and Harrison and outlined by Charles
Handy in Understanding Organizations
(Penguin, 1993). (1) Th e power culture depends
upon a central power source, with ‘rays of power,
infl uence’ (and communication) spreading out
from the central fi gure. An example of such a
culture could be found within the company of
a self-made businessperson (see berlusconi
phenomenon; murdoch effect). Without
such a ‘spider’, the web structure of the culture
would collapse. (2) The role culture is found
in the classic bureaucracy comprised of func-
tional roles organized into a hierarchy. Here
the communication process following lines of
authority is vertical and chiefly one-way. The
BBC would be a good example of a role culture.
(3) Handy argues that the task culture is a skills
or ability-oriented culture in which what a
person is capable of doing is more important
than who they are in terms of position or role.
Th e culture is centred on task completion. Th e
model is net-shaped and made up of interde-
pendent strands. leadership is exchangeable
according to the task in hand. (4) Th e matrix
structure is characterized by very fl exible chan-
nels of communication, horizontal rather than
vertical in direction, and is responsive to change.
Examples from the media world of a task culture
would be a creative advertising agency, or the
kind of small company that produces DVDs or
designs websites. (5) Th e person culture, in terms
of business organizations, is the rarest of them
all; here the organization exists only to serve the
individuals within it. Th e model is a cluster, a
galaxy of individual stars, without hierarchical
structures, constantly interchanging in form.
Cooperatives found in the creative arts sector
can be examples of organizations that embrace
the person culture (see magnum).
In Th e Empty Raincoat (Arrow Books, 1995)
Handy discusses a new model for organiza-
tions, based on what he terms the doughnut
principle. This, he argues, reflects the way in
which the traditional models and cultures have
changed and will continue to change in order towhich are widely and regularly published and
broadcast, and are seen not only as evidence
upon which governments, oppositions, public
bodes, etc. might act, but also as an infl uence
in their own right. For example, in election
campaigns, poll results are seen as vital indica-
tors of the way the public intends to vote, but
the headlines such opinion polls produce are
also seen to infl uence the electorate, particularly
if the fi ndings suggest a consensus of opinion.
For this reason, some countries ban the publish-
ing of poll results in the immediate run-up to
elections.
Oppositional code See dominant, subordi-
nate, radical; polysemy.
Optical fi bre cable See fibre-optic technol-
ogy.
Opus Latin for ‘work’, a term most often applied to
musical compositions in order of their creation;
for example, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is Opus
125.
Oral culture An oral culture or sub-culture
is one in which essentially, most communication
is by word of mouth. Pictures may also be used
as a supplement but reading and writing play a
minor role in the communication process.
Orality: primary and secondary In Orality
and the Technology of the Word (Cornell Univer-
sity Press, 1982) Walter Ong, in investigating
the nature of the shift between oral and liter-
ate cultures, differentiates between ‘primary’
and ‘secondary’ orality. Th e fi rst refers to and
describes preliterate societies; the second results
from the introduction of electronic media into
literate societies.
Order, visions of See visions of order.
Organization cultures Andrej A. Huczynski
and David A. Buchanan in Organizational
Behaviour (Pearson Education, 2007) define
organizational culture as ‘the collection of
relatively uniform and enduring values, beliefs,
customs, traditions and practices that are shared
by an organization’s members, learned by new
recruits and transmitted from one generation of
employees to the next’. Such cultures do however
change over time. It should be noted that not all
theorists accept there is such a thing as organi-
zational culture.
Edgar H. Schein in Organizational Culture and
Leadership (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1985) devel-
oped a widely known model of organizational
culture. The model identifies three different
levels of culture that interact with one another:
Surface manifestations, such as organizational
rituals, legends, myths, norms or language (level
1); Value s, for example co-operation, equality