Organisational Culture and Values

_____________________________________________________________________________ Dean Davey begins by asking: does culture affect the company's 'bottom line (profit)'? His answer is yes. He goes on to explain why. The talk is divided into 3 parts: 1. Definition of organisational culture and values This is divided into 3 sub-levels. Level one: tangible, observable artifacts i.e. how an office is organised. Is it hierarchical or flat? Level 2: Espoused values. This means the values that may be shared in the organisation's mission statement. Research shows that when employees share their company's values the organisation is more efficient. He gave an example of a small company that uses the LEAPT acronym (Love your work, have Energy, Audacity to try new things, Proof or results and Truth. Level 3: when culture and values are matched with the management approach 2. How is culture created? Davey argues that culture must be modelled by management and good behaviour should be rewarded, e.g. by prize giving. 3. What is the impact of culture? Davey discusses the difficulty for new managers of changing company culture. He describes resistance to change and the need for managers to match their own management approach to the exisiting culture and value system. Discussion The lecture was well organised, but would have benefitted from more concrete examples, like the LEAPT acronym. The idea of company culture is quite abstract, so more real life examples would help.