IMAGES OF ORGANIZATIONS

"Creating Social Realities: Organizations as Cultures"

Gareth Morgan

Gareth Morgan writes a great book about organizational cultures entitled Images of Organization. In this book, he presents his idea of what culture is and how it operates in the context of an organization. There are three broad areas that Morgan focuses on:
Culture and Organization
Creating Organizational Reality
Strengths and Limitations of the Cultural Metaphor

Index of Organizational Cultures Web Page

Culture and Organization
Creating Organizational Reality
Strengths and Limitations of the Cultural Metaphor
Michelle's Opinions
Links

Culture and Organization

Organization as a Cultural Phenomenon

There are many different definitions of culture that are relevant in today's society. According to political scientist, Robert Presthus, we live in an "organizational society". When this claim is made it is only referring to developed countries such as Japan, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, etc. The basic notion is that people build their lives around organization, meaning that the characteristics of an organization are implemented into the culture outside. "To an outsider, daily life in an organizational society is full of peculiar beliefs, routines, and rituals that identify it as a distinctive cultural life when compared with that in more traditional societies" (Morgan, 1997, p. 121). An example of a traditional society is one where the family is still the basis of economic structure. Because of the reliance on the family, the traditional society has a different set of characteristics than that of the organizational society. They each value different things.

Organization and Cultural Context

It is hard to mistake that every culture is the same when in fact there are not. Each culture is different in some way or another and each brings its own values and beliefs into the work environment. Morgan uses an example of the Japanese and their concept of working together as a team. He says that the Japanese have combined the concept of the rice field workers and the Samarui of the old days. The Samarui were dependent on the rice farmers for food and the rice farmers were dependent on the Samarui for protection. In other words, management is dependent on its workers to produce their products or services and the workers depend on management to take care of them. However, Morgan states that "from an American perspective, industrial and economic performance is often understood as kind of a game, and the general orientation in many organizations is to play the game for all it's worth; set objectives, clarify accountability, and 'kick ass' or reward success lavishly and conspicuously" (Morgan, 1997, p. 126). No matter what the culture, it still shapes the ways of an organization. Unfortunately, out of cultural pride, ethnocentrism arises.

Corporate Cultures and Subcultures

"Organizations are mini-societies that have their own distinctive patterns of culture and subculture" (Morgan, p. 129). This statement pretty much sums up the entirety of this part of the chapter. Organizations also tend to have "fragmented cultures" within them where "people say one thing and do another" (Morgan, 1997, p. 130). Morgan specifically states that ethnography is the best way to actually view what truly happens in an organization on a day-to-day basis. Using examples of Hewlett-Packard, ITT, and Tupperware, Morgan presents the different types of organizational cultures that are present in today's companies. Each of these companies have a different working environment and culture because of the way management developed them. So not only are their subcultures within the company, but there are different cultures when viewing one organization to the next. Management plays a key part in the shaping of a corporate identity and corporate culture. They are the ones that have the final decision on how things will be. "A focus on the links between leadership style and corporate culture often provides key insights into why organizations work the way they do" (Morgan, 1997, p. 135). Morgan also discusses the impact of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomics, etc. on an organization also. The discussion of gender and organizations is interesting because Morgan says that many organizations are starting to shift to feminine ways of communicating instead of the predominant male structure that was and is in place. Many reasons are causing the shift such as the male hierarchy is changing to the women's "web of inclusion"; women manage from the "middle of things" building trust, respect, and loyalty; and the organization becomes a tighter network where every stage of the company's process is important, from start to finish. Morgan also states that culture is developed socially and through interaction of people; it is not imposed upon the work force. No matter where a person decides to work, the presence of corporate culture and subcultures will be there.

Creating Organizational Reality

Culture: Rule Following or Enactment?

Social norms, otherwise known as rules of behavior, are what create culture and make it unique only if they are followed by people. However, it needs to be pointed out that rules are ever changing and that it is hard to keep tabs on what is right or wrong. You could easily go into an unknown situation thinking you know what will happen and end up making a fool of yourself. This is especially true when traveling abroad. For example, you might learn table manners for the country you are visiting before you leave and find out when you get there that something has changed and you end up insulting someone. Keeping up-to date on the norm changes of a culture has to be one of the hardest tasks when studying cultural practices.

Organization: The Enactment of a Shared Reality

According to Morgan, four questions are posed when trying to determine what the exactly the process of what creates shared meaning:

He says they are essential to researching organizations and determining whether or not they have effective management. These questions allow one to see that socially constructed realities lie in more than just the members but also in any material items, rules, or relations that would be associated with them. Using a belief of Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, Morgan states that "successful organizations build cohesive cultures around common sets of norms, values, and ideas that create an appropriate focus for doing business" (Morgan, 1997, p. 142). Each organization develops what is important to them and then decides how to run their business. Many times during the last few years the idea of "cultural revolutions" has developed in many companies. Employees wanted to change some aspect of the organization's culture and went about doing so by banding together and inciting the change.

Strengths and Limitations of the Culture Metaphor

Morgan suggests that corporate metaphors have many strengths that make them what they are. He lists four strengths that he finds to be true:

The list of weaknesses is not quite as evident in Morgan's book because you have to pay closer attention to exactly what they are when reading. Unfortunately, some managers think that what is good for the organization is good for the employees. However, this is not always the case. Critics suggest that managers should not forget that when they are dealing with employees they are dealing with people not profits. Another aspect that Morgan says that cannot be forgotten is there is more to culture than what meets the eye. The last area that Morgan cautions to not forget is that corporate stories and heroes can be manipulated and changed into something they are not. If these weaknesses are kept in the forefront, corporate cultural metaphors should be all right.

Michelle's Opinion:

I found this particular chapter (Images of Organization, Chapter 5) of Morgan's book very interesting. I have had many of the concepts he discusses in my business classes, particularly my management classes. The whole section that was dedicated to the differences between the Japanese organizational culture and the American or Western organizational culture reminded me of a discussion of high context/low context cultures in E.M. Griffin's book, A First Look at Communication Theory. It was funny how I associated another communication theory (Face-Negotiation Theory, Stella Ting-Toomey) to this one right off the bat. Culture is such a big part of everything we do as a society that it is fun to be able to see the differences that do exist from country to country, or organization to organization. I agree with many of the points Morgan discusses in Images of Organization. In fact, I agree with more than I disagree. The things that Gareth Morgan points out in his book are the same things that E.M. Griffin uses in our book to describe Clifford Geertz and Michael Pacanowsky's theory of cultural approach to organizations. I feel that Morgan believes that the study of this theory is humanistic because he states that ethnography is the best tool to study these cultures. The use of thick description is apparent when ethnography uses which Geertz points out in his theory. I definitely have to agree with him on that point. If we did not observe the culture that is being studied, we would not be able to truly understand it. Stories are an intregral part of organizations that cannot be avoided and are used all the time. Morgan describes how stories and legends about corporate heroes, otherwise known as Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, shaped the culture of the company and still does today even though they are both deceased. Morgan exemplifies the use of cultural metaphors throughout his book. In fact, his book is based on the fact that organizational culture is defined by the use of metaphors. Morgan makes reference to how the organization is a team and the players shape the team. I feel that metaphors are a great way to describe and define organizational culture because it puts it in terms that everyone can understand. I also feel that cultures and subcultures form in organizations and they are not imposed upon employees by management. No matter what management does, subcultures will develop within the company. Change is mainly elicited from management because they are the ones in the position of power. E.M. Griffin points out in our book that Geertz says that managers should be the agents of change and they are.

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For more exciting information on organizations and culture, click on the links below:

• To learn more about the author of Images of Organization click here on Gareth Morgan.
  
• Judith Lee's INCO 234 Class can provide even more information about various communication theories.
  
• Critical Approach Theory to Organizations provides a different viewpoint of communication in a business and organizational setting.

My partners have even more interesting points to make about Geertz and Pacanowsky's Cultural Approach to Organizations:

• Derek gives a brief background of the theory and its components along with an insightful critique of the theory.
• Cari provides a real-life application of the theory as seen from an education standpoint.

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Created By: Michelle Shafer
Last Updated: November 18, 1999

Griffin, E.M. (1997) A First Look at Communication Theory (pp. 273-283). St. Louis: McGraw-Hill.
Morgan, G. (1997). Images of Organization (pp. 119-152). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

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