As you’ve learned in previous lessons, a culture is a group of people who share the same rules, norms, traditions, and worldview.
Different cultures have different views and beliefs, and there can sometimes be misunderstandings when cultures clash over their differences. Likewise, workplaces also have their own cultures.
Culture within a workplace is called organizational culture because over a certain period of time, any organization or company is going to develop specific rules, norms, and ways of behaving that are considered appropriate within that organization.
Some of these norms may be more formal rules, such as travel policy, dress code, or channels of communication.
Other norms may be more informal, such as the way people interact with one another, or how the organization celebrates holidays or birthdays.
A workplace can be considered a subculture because the workplace culture is not as extensive as the main culture around it; rather, it is a smaller culture embedded in a larger one.
Just like there can be conflicts between larger cultures, there can be cross-subcultural conflicts, or conflicts between different subcultures, as well.
IN CONTEXT
You have been working in the marketing department of an IT company, which has a casual environment. You come to work dressed in jeans and t-shirts and attend meetings in a big open room. During these meetings, everybody in the room talks; there’s a free flow of information.
You then leave this company because you've been hired to do marketing at an investment firm, and you see this as a promotion. You go to the investment firm dressed as you were used to doing at your old company. However, at the investment firm, everyone else is wearing jackets and formal business clothes—in wearing jeans, you have unknowingly violated an organizational norm.
Similarly, you may also find that the communication patterns differ. You are used to a culture of open and direct communication; whereas in this new company, the channels of communication are more hierarchical. You send a message to somebody on your team about how you’re going to progress with a new marketing idea for a project. Your boss is then annoyed that he was not included in that message. You didn't realize that this was something you needed to formally announce to your boss. In this new culture, you need to get approval from higher up before you can move forward with something.
This workplace subculture does things differently; some things that were perfectly fine in your old workplace are considered inappropriate behavior here. This can lead to a little bit of a clash, or misperceptions about you by other people that work in this culture.
Just as conflict resolution can occur within a community, the process can happen effectively in the workplace.
However, some organizations are going to be a little bit more open or receptive to conflict resolution techniques than others because of differences in workplace subcultures.
EXAMPLE
If you’re in a company that is a more formal, hierarchical organization, this culture might not be quite as receptive to bringing people together to talk because the channels of communication don't typically work that way. Whereas in a company with less hierarchy and more open communication, people may be more receptive to the idea of mediation and conflict resolution. Likewise, some cultures may be more collaborative, while others are more competitive.Source: Adapted from Sophia tutorial by Marlene Johnson.
