Is it better for an organization to have one unified culture or a collection of mini ones? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach?

Organizational culture experts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava are back with more research insights, real-world examples, and tips for company leaders, this time about the complex world of subcultures.

Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket!”

Find the full transcript and learn more about the podcast at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Jenny & Sameer’s 3 Main Takeaways:

Awareness – know what subcultures exist within the organization and anticipate the possibility that they conflict in dysfunctional ways.
Agility – be willing to try out different cultural priorities. Before deciding that the counterculture is necessarily problematic you should look at what it is solving for.
Alignment – prioritize one cultural norm that applies to all units and unifies the organization rather than trying to be perfectly aligned on everything.

Show Links:

The Role of Subcultures in Agile Organizations [Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization]
Maersk: Driving Culture Change at a Century-Old Company to Achieve Measurable Results [Berkeley Haas Case Series]
Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach [Journal of Management Studies]
A Language-Based Method for Assessing Symbolic Boundaries [Sociological Methods & Research]
The Lasting Leadership Lessons From The Challenger Disaster [Forbes]
5 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation in Your Organisation [Salesforce Blog]
Full Episode Transcript

Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

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