Edgar Schein Cultural TheoryBackground Edgar Schein is a former professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management in Massachusetts, USA. In addition, he has worked for many years as a consultant in the fields of organizational development and corporate culture. Edgar Schein was one of the leading researchers in culture when cultural theory emerged in the early 1980s, when culture began to be seen as a metaphor for the organization of a company. Perspectives on corporate culture There are three different perspectives on corporate culture. The rational perspective, where the organization is a means to effective goal achievement and culture is a tool to achieve these goals. The functional perspective, where the organization is a collective that seeks to survive by performing necessary functions. Here, the culture in the company is seen as a pattern of shared values and basic assumptions. The symbolic perspective, where the organization is a human system, and where culture consists of rituals and metaphors. Edgar Schein's perspective Edgar Schein has rooted his theory in the functional perspective, where culture serves a specific function, which is twofold:
Culture is defined as the values, norms and thought patterns that are present among its employees – and through this one can see the essence of the organization. Schein himself describes it as: A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group – that is, the organization – uses through its work and problems with external adaptation and internal integration. A pattern that works so well that the basic assumptions are considered the correct way to perceive and think and are thus communicated to new members of the organization. The main aim of the model As a functionalist, Schein thus views culture as something that is everywhere in the organization and characterizes its members. He divides culture into 3 levels: – Artifacts (visible) – Values (less visible) – Basic assumptions (unconscious, invisible) The model is also called the Iceberg model, as the lower part is invisible like an iceberg, with only about 10% visible above the water surface.
How to work with the model Organizational culture can be considered one of management's important tools. A leader can, with conscious effort, influence the culture in the desired direction. A first step can be to look at the artifacts. How do we talk to each other? How are we dressed? Is there anything different than the leader thought it would be? Artifacts are the visible surface, but it is important for the leader to note them. The artifacts are what customers, suppliers, investors and visitors see about the company. If something needs to be changed, the leader must go down into the other layers. The next step is the visible values. What declared values do we have? What do we write on our website? How is our communication via email or the intranet? What are our written rules? on what people say, what they do and what they actually do. Here you see the official picture of the company. If this analysis shows that a change is necessary, then the next step is to look at the basic assumptions. In order to achieve a change, the basic assumptions that exist in the company must be taken into account. Criticism of Schein Edgar Schein uses the concept of culture in relation to companies. The concept of culture belongs to anthropology, where the concept is worked with completely differently than in Organization and Management literature. This can give an unclear and confusing picture of the concept of culture. Therefore, it is important that as a theorist you define how you understand and use the concept. You can say that Schein has a logical explanation problem. He assumes that the basic values are stable and constitute the fixed core of the organizational culture. At the same time, he recognizes that the other levels can be influenced by external forces, which logically must also influence the basic assumptions.
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