Cultural Approach to Organizations
Cultural Approach to Organizations 
The quest to change a culture is inappropriate and virtually impossible. We seek to understand communication within an organization by understanding the influence culture has on us. By doing this, we can create a better understanding of what is required in order to function effectively within a given culture.
Welcome to our web sight 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.
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.
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.
A cultural organization is defined by many things such as symbols, stories, and icons. For example, Macdonald's golden arches are an example which represent American culture. When people in China or France see the arches, they immediately think, "American." This humanistic approach helps us to see how outside culture effects the organization.
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.