Culture 101
by Management Strategies
August 12, 2024
In order to navigate culture, one must be familiar with its many faces and forms and how it shapes individuals, organizations, and society.
The Many Faces of Culture
In 1871, Sir Edward Tylor, a British anthropologist, provided one of the earliest and clearest definitions of culture, one that is widely accepted and used by contemporary anthropologists. Culture, he said, is:
“…that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
Defining the term culture is very challenging: it has been described as both a “notoriously overbroad concept” (Song 2009: 177) and a “notoriously ambiguous concept” (Eisenberg 2009: 7). It really isn’t a singular, easily defined thing. It’s a complex web of elements that shape a group of people’s way of life. In the context of organizations, it shapes how people interact with each other in the workplace. Having said that, there are key notions about culture that we need to understand. Culture has many faces. Let’s take a look at each of them.
Culture as Encompassing Group
This first face of culture is seen as a broad and all-encompassing force. At times applied to capture the collective behavior and practices of groups, communities, larger societies, and even nation-states. This is in play when we hear people talk about “Gen Z Culture” or “Filipino Culture”. It applies to organized religion as well when we hear “Buddhist Culture”.
In our work, the most relevant application is when we hear terms like “Google Culture”. When these terms are used, it often points to the assumption that all members hold the same values and practices to the same degree.
Culture as Social Formation
This second face of culture focuses on the shared experience that shapes culture. Common institutions like education, language, media, and historical traditions create a sense of shared identity and understanding among members.
When described, we will often hear words like “Traditional,” “Old-school”, “Hierarchical”, “Collaborative”, “Family oriented”, “Performance-driven”, and the like.
Culture as Dialogue
The third face shows culture as dialogue. Here, what is emphasized are the dynamics, interactions and communicative aspects of culture. It highlights the constant formation and creation of culture through dialogue of its members. At a societal level, you’ll hear words like “participatory”, “transparent”, “engaged community”. Bringing this down to the organizational level, phrases like “inclusivity is at the heart of our culture”, “we value diversity”, “our culture is feedback oriented”, “we prioritize open communication”, signals to us that we are looking at culture from a lens of interaction and co-creation.
Culture as Identity
The fourth face shows culture as identity. This means that people have connected to culture in various ways and become part of their identity.
At a societal level, this may be expressed in one’s attachment to national symbols, language, and traditions. At the organizational level, this is revealed in the purpose, values, mission and vision statements, corporate symbols, branding, employee engagement and pride, and organizational rituals.
Oftentimes, these are characterized by statements like “Our mission defines us”, “We live by our values”, and are heard through the language and jargon that employees adapt.
The Many Faces of Culture are
Culture as Encompassing Group
Culture as Social Formation
Culture as Dialogue
Culture as Identity
Basic Principles of Culture
Culture may be described in many ways. Understanding the 4 basic principles of culture can provide insights on how culture is formed, evolve and adapted.
- Culture is dynamic
- Culture is relational and systemic
- Culture is transmitted and learned
- Culture can be contained, resisted, and rejected
Culture is dynamic.
Culture is fluid and it provides frames of reference for negotiating and navigating the world and organizations. It is constantly evolving and is being built, co-created simultaneously across all levels. While leadership is a traditional lever in culture transformation, it’s now common to see culture being influenced by individuals who are not in positions of authority and power. The dynamism of culture transformation is increasing and it allows culture to flow and build across various pockets of the organization.
Culture is relational and systematic.
Because it encompasses behaviors, beliefs, knowledge and customs, culture is very relational in nature. It is formed through interactions with others. It is influenced by the history and legacy of the organization as much as its visions and goals for the future. It is reinforced through systems, institutions, processes, and it has the potential to pervade through various aspects of an individual’s life.
Culture is transmitted and learned.
Culture is acquired, transmitted, and learned through formal and informal interactions. Organizations can deploy a variety of interventions that can help increase the adaptation of its values and behaviors by its members.
Culture can be contained, resisted, and rejected.
As much as it is learned, culture can also be contained, resisted and rejected by individuals, teams, and organizations. Culture transformation initiatives can be met with resistance or even outright rejection within the organization.
Knowing these basic principles of culture gives us context on the behavior and attitude of the people we interact with and how we can transform the culture within our own organizations.
Culture in Action
Source: Hastings, R., & Meyer, E. (2020). No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention. Penguin Press.
Netflix is a great example that demonstrates the dynamism of culture. Their culture deck emphasizes flexibility, freedom, and responsibility and because of that, Netflix adapts its policies based on employee feedback and changing market conditions.
Source: “Making Change Work: IBM’s Role-Based Framework for Organizational Change”: IBM white paper.
IBM makes a great case for how culture is transmitted and learned. They use formal and informal mechanisms to instill values such as the Growth Mindset, Innovation, and Customer focus are perpetuated across generations of employees.
Source: “Ayala Corporation: Creating Value through Stakeholder Engagement, Ayala Annual Report”
In the Philippines, Ayala Corporation is an example of how culture is relational and systemic. The company’s culture emphasized strong family values, long-term relationships with stakeholder and systemic integration across its diverse business units.
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