Catheterization and Cardiovascular Diagnosis · 1983 · 308 citations · 0 references
ManagementOrganization StudiesOrganizational BehaviorCultural TheoryOrganizational CultureOrganizational TheoryOrganizational AnthropologyOrganizational EthnographySubcultural SpaceConstraintsInteractional DynamicsOccupational CultureOrganizational SpaceOrganizational SubculturesStructural ConstraintsSubcultural FormationSubculture Formation
Organizations are often described as having cultures, but they may be better understood as collections of subcultures. The paper proposes an abstract model of organizational subculture grounded in structural constraints of time and space, an interactional matrix, collective understandings, and the transformation of socially shared into individually held knowledge and belief. The authors outline social mechanisms that generate organizational subcultures. The model is instantiated with data from several organizations and occupations. Author: (Author).
Abstract : Although organizations are often said to have cultures, it is perhaps more accurate to conceive of organizations as collections of subcultures. This paper first proposes an abstract model of organizational subculture defined in terms of structural constraints of time and space, an interactional matrix, collective understandings, a transformation of socially shared into individually held knowledge and belief. The model is given particularistic substance by drawing on data from a number of organizations and occupations. Finally, social mechanisms likely to spawn organizational subcultures are outlined. (Author)