Seeing the Unseen: Visualizing Organizational Culture in the Classroom

Abstract

This article describes an inquiry-based classroom activity for strategic management, human resource management, and related courses to enhance the understanding of organizational culture. We use visual methods to provide fresh insights into an organization’s culture from which we can enable students to draw conclusions upon how this culture might affect organizational strategy. Students use their camera phones to take photos that encapsulate organizational culture, with their business school used as an exemplifying case. Students present their photos explaining what, from their perspective, the photos say about culture and its influences upon strategy and organizational performance. Other students are encouraged to offer alternative readings, thereby demonstrating the multiple interpretations of culture. An instructor-led plenary focuses upon theoretical themes within the photos. These themes are plentiful, varying from class to class. In our experience, the activity has also provided opportunities for the discussion of topics such as gendering and ethnic bias.

Identifying and Evaluating Schein’s Three Layers of Culture: The Texas A&M Culture Exercise

“…Finally, for longer classes or if organizational culture were being covered over multiple class sessions, instructors could follow up the Texas A&M culture exercise by asking students to develop “clues” about their own university (cf. Barclay & York, 1996; Black & Warhurst, 2019).…”

“…Many of the existing organizational culture exercises leverage students’ status as organizational “insiders” (i.e., their knowledge of and identification with the university) and ask students to assemble images, objects, and other “observable artifacts” (Schein, 2009) in order to illustrate their university’s culture (e.g., Barclay & York, 1996; Black & Warhurst, 2019; Mallinger & Rossy, 2003; Starr-Glass, 2004). Although this approach should help students identify observable artifacts and consider the subjective cultural meanings that these visual cues signal, relying on observable artifacts does not necessarily enable students to accurately assess the underlying assumptions signaled by these visual cues.…”

The Structure-Culture Alignment Activity: Aligning Organizational Structure Elements With Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Cultural Values

“…One activity created by Black and Warhurst (2019) did explore the many layers of culture through photos and visual representations to determine the influences culture had on an organization. However, existing experiential learning opportunities and instructional innovations addressing the alignment between structural elements and cultural values (e.g., DEI) are still limited.…”