Industry Mindsets: Exploring the Cultures of Two Macro-Organizational Settings

Abstract

Cultures are dynamic, shared mindsets that, in organizational settings, are usually believed to be nationally or organizationally based. In this paper, the existence of industry cultures is explored. Previous studies of industry-based cognitive constructs have narrowly focused on top managers' mental models for strategic decision making. Here, broad-based assumption sets comprising the cultural knowledge widely shared among organizational participants within two industries (fine arts museums and California wineries) are surfaced and compared. A cognitive definition of culture and a modified ethnographic methodology frame the inquiry. The research process balances the requirements of the inductive method with the logistics of doing research in settings as broad in scope as “industry” and into issues as amorphous as “culture in modern organizations.” This process involves the selection and in-depth interviewing of 96 informants in 12 organizations, representing a cross-section of members of these two industries. The distinct assumption sets that surface for each industry demonstrate, among other things, substantial differences in conceptualizations of membership, competition, the origins of “truth,” the purpose of work, and the nature of work relationships. The findings suggest that the current narrow focus in research on industry-based cognitive constructs can be productively broadened to include a fuller range of cultural elements and a wider set of industry participants. The surfacing of distinct industry mindsets reinforces the emerging belief that a multiplicity of dynamic, shared mindsets exist within an organization's environment. A new cognitive lens—that of industry—is offered, through which scholars and managers alike can view behavior in organizational settings.

Small Business Social Responsibility

“…Does ownership have a role to play, whether the organization is jointly owned, a cooperative, owned by a silent partner, or owner-managed as has been assumed here? Industrial sector has been noted as a key distinguishing feature between firms (M. Phillips, 1994); are there some industrial sectors for which a care perspective is more in keeping than others? Are there other institutional factors that are relevant such as legal framework and whether the country is developing, a transition economy, or developed?…”

Where Are All the Women? Institutional Context and the Prevalence of Women on the Corporate Board of Directors

“…In the absence of direct evidence of the effect of normative pressures on the prevalence of women on the board at the industry level, extant research on corporate governance and the role of women in management suggest that boards are subjected to normative pressures (Peng, 2004;Ocasio, 1999), that industry characteristics influence women's prevalence and reward levels at senior levels (Blum et al, 1994;Shenhav and Haberfeld, 1992) and that industry practices are subjected to normative isomorphism, cumulatively indicating that understanding how the normative pillar at the industry level impacts on the prevalence of women on the board would narrow a substantial gap in the current knowledge of gender, boards and industry. The existence of industry-specific cultures is well established in the literature (Christensen and Gordon, 1999;Chatman and Jehn, 1994;Phillips;. Extant research has not explored the role of cultural-cognitive elements at the industry level as an influence on the gender composition of corporate boards.…”

Interorganizational Macrocultures: A Multilevel Critique

“…Phillips's (1994) analysis of shared industry mindsets among organizations within the fine arts museums and Californian wine industries, for example, revealed that informants' shared beliefs within each industry were not restricted to competition per se; rather, they also shared common views regarding issues as varied as "the nature of truth," "the purpose of work," and "the nature of work relationships." Her overall analysis supports the basic arguments presented in this chapter concerning the idea that "a multiplicity of dynamic, shared mindsets exists within an organization's environment" (Phillips, 1994, p. 384).…”

“…The idea at the heart of this chapter that multiple cultural mindsets coexist within and between industries raises fundamental new questions about their potential interrelationships. Phillips's (1994) study, for example, suggests that the broader social and ideological beliefs shared within a given industry influence the way that actors view competition. The fundamental belief held in both the wine and arts museums industries that the respective products and services in question constituted a superior means of enhancing the human condition led to a view of competition in each case that transcended industry-specific categories.…”