Chapter 3

　　Organisational culture

　　Chapter learning objectives

　　Upon completion of this chapter you will be able to:

　　§ define the term organisational culture

　　§ identify the components of organisational culture

　　§ what factors influence the company culture

　　§ describe Schein’s approach to organisational culture

　　§ describe Handy’s four cultural types

　　§ describe how organisational culture is influenced by national cultures using the Hofstede approach.

　　1 Defining organisational culture
 

　　1.1 Definition

　　Culture is expressed by Handy as being: ‘the way we do things around here’. By this Handy means the sum total of the belief, knowledge, attitudes, norms and customs that prevail in an organisation.

　　§ Organisations have distinctive cultures, and * acceptable in one organisational culture may be inappropriate in another – think about the different cultures in the different accountancy firms.

　　§ Also cultures develop over time or can change instantly as a result of a single major event, e.g. death of company founder, threatened takeover, etc.