Three Levels of Culture
(Schein)

Knowledge Center

Cultures surrounds us all. Cultures are deep seated, pervasive and complex.

Yet, according to Edgard Schein, we cannot understand Organizational Learning, development and planned change, unless we consider culture as the primary source of resistance to change.

Furthermore, if managers do not become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, those cultures will manage them. Cultural understanding is desirable for everybody, but it is essential for leaders if they are to lead.

With his Three Levels of Culture, Edgard Schein has provided an important contribution to defining what organizational culture actually is.

What are the Three Levels of Culture? Description

Schein divides organizational culture into three levels:

1. Artifacts. These "artifacts" are at the surface, those aspects (such as dress) which can be easily discerned, but are hard to understand.
2. Espoused Values. Beneath artifacts are "espoused values" which are conscious strategies, goals and philosophies.
3. Basic Assumptions and Values. The core, or essence, of culture is represented by the basic underlying assumptions and values, which are difficult to discern because they exist at a largely unconscious level. Yet they provide the key to understanding why things happen in a particular way. These basic assumptions form around deeper dimensions of human existence such as the nature of humans, human relationships and activity, reality and truth.

In his 1992 classic book: "Organizational Culture and Leadership", Schein defines the culture of a group: "A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems".

In a more recent 1996 publication Schein defines organizational culture as: "the basic tacit assumptions about how the world is and ought to be that a group of people are sharing and that determines their perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and, their overt behavior".

Schein (1992) acknowledges that - even with rigorous study - we can only make statements on elements of culture. We cannot explain culture in its entirety. Schein recommends the following approach for inquiring about culture: iterative, clinical, similar to a therapeutic relationship between a psychologist and a patient. The disciplined approach by Schein to culture stands in contrast to the way in which culture is treated in some of the popular management magazines.
 

Book: Edgard Schein - Organizational Culture and Leadership

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Information Sources Various sources of information regarding the Three Levels of Culture. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Organizational Culture and Critical Theory, Including Schein Organizational Culture A detailed presentation, explaining Organizational Culture and Critical Culture. A description of Organizational Cultur (...) Management Across Cultures: Managing in a Global Context Cross-Cultural Management, Cultural Dimensions, Cultural Intelligence, Multicultural Teams, Global Leadership, Global HR This presentation consist of six sections that together form an extensive description of management across cultures. The (...) Edgar Schein on the Role of Macro and Micro Cultures in Corporations Appreciating the Role of National and Occupational Cultures in Corporate Cultures Interview with Professor Emeritus, MIT, Edgar Schein on corporate cultures in which he explains that we need to increasi (...) Reasons for Merger Failures mergers, synergies, information, uncertainty, organizational culture This paper by Albert Banal_estanol and Jo Seldeslachts proposes an explanation as to why some mergers fail, based on the (...) Organizational Culture and Effectiveness:Can American Theory Be Applied in Russia? Organizational Culture, Effectiveness, Russia, Transition Economies This paper by Carl F. Fey and Daniel R. Denison examines the link between organizational culture and effectiveness for f (...) Introduction to Organizational Culture and Climate Organizational Culture, Organizational Climate Presentation about organizational culture and climate, including the following sections: 1. Learning objectives 2. Bas (...) Building the Helping Relationship 10 Principles for Facilitative Consultancy Superb article by MIT Professor and OD consultant Edgar H. Schein in which he concludes that: "... The decisive factor (...) Organizational Cuture and Relationship Skills Corporate culture, alliances While both the strategic management and the network literature recognize the importance of inter-firm relationships for (...) Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Cross Functional Team, Organizational Culture, Globalization, Organizational Change, HRM, Cultural Dimensions In this introduction video, top managers of Skanska share their vision on Diversity and Inclusion and the strategic impo (...) What is Corporate Culture? 4 CEOs Share their Views Corporate Culture, Organization Culture, Organizational Culture, Starter for Training / Workshop Arkadi Kuhlman (ING), Tony Hsieh (Zappos), Bernie Marcus (Home Depot), Shelly Lazarus (Ogilvy & Maher) share their views (...) The Characteristics of a High Performance Organisation Characteristics, Core Competence, Corporate Culture Under the pressure of ever increasing demands of the external environment and stakeholders, organizations are more and m (...) Culture, Cultural Competence, Cultural Intelligence and the CQ Cultural Intelligence This presentation is a good introduction to culture and contains three large sections: Culture, Cultural Competenence an (...) Introduction to Organizational Culture Initial Understanding of Organizational Culture and Why it Matters to an Organization Daniel Denison explains what an organizational culture is and why this own unique identity matters to an organization. H (...) Organizational Culture and Leadership Organizational Culture, Leadership Comprehensive presentation by W. Baker-Thompson, explaining the concept of Organizational Culture according to Schein wi (...) Three Levels of Culture Diagram Organizational Culture Download and edit this 12manage PowerPoint graphic for limited personal, educational and business use. Republishing in (...)

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