Cultural Approach to Organizations

Welcome to our web page which is geared to help all of us understand the importance of the cultural approach to organizations. This introduction page will inform you of the basics about the Cultural Approach to Organizations. Look at the bottom of the page and click on the names for more in depth information by my partners.

Who are Clifford Geertz and Michael Pacanowsky anyway?

Clifford Geertz is an anthropologist from Princeton who pictures culture as a web. He says, "man is an animal suspended in webs of significance that he himself has spun." In order to understand a culture and work effectively in one, we must first discover the components that make up that culture. Geertz describes culture as a shared meaning, shared understanding, and shared sense-making. Geertz's interpretive approach was proven very effective in making sense of organizational activity.

Michael Pacanowsky is a professor at the University of Colorado who has taken Geertz's definition and ideas of culture and applied them to organizational life. Pacanowsky says "...we need to concern ourselves not only with the structures of culture webs, but with the process of their spinning as well." This means that we need to take communication, the skill, and make sure that it is not taken for granted.

What is Culture?

Geertz admits that a culture as "systems of shared meaning," as he defines it, is a bit vague and hard to understand. He stresses, however, that culture is not to signify "less primitive," and does not classify someone as being "high" or "low" culture. Rather, Geertz calls it a "soft science" because it is interpretive; we search for the meaning ourselves.

Culture is an important aspect of our lives. In organizations, culture, as well as subcultures, provide a natural way to set boundaries within the company. If we look at culture outside of organizations, we note that cultures make it possible for people to uniquely separate themselves, while still being an active part of that organization.

What is a Cultural Approach to Organizations?

A cultural organization is defined by many things such as symbols, stories, and icons. A large corporation in a high-rise building with the janitors in the basement and the presidents and vice-presidents on the top floor is an example of culture within an organization. It has been a tradition of our culture for us to put the least important people on the bottom and build to the top. If we reversed the cultural standard and put the presidents in the basement and the janitors on the top floor, would this be accepted by our culture?

For more detail, follow these links to my partners:

To view an in depth application of Cultural Approach to Organizations click on Cari's Page. To view research done on the Cultural Approach to Organizations click on Michelle's page.
To view a critique on this theory click on Derek's page.