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Organizational culture influences many aspects of workplace life. A workplace with strong beliefs, values, behaviors, ideas and expectations define an organization. Well-communicated beliefs, values, ideas and expectations influence employee's behavior and determine how employees communicate with others throughout the organization, thus defining the organization's culture. Over the years, the topic of organizational culture has been studied in many disciplines from anthropology to sociology. A prominent theorist of organizational culture, Edgar Schein (2004), provided the following general definition of organizational culture:
A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. (p. 17)
Understanding an organization's culture can help understand why change does not take place or why a project is not successful. Understanding the culture can also help determine where to make changes (Schachter, 2005). Making changes to an organization's culture can determine the survival of the organization; therefore, modifying a culture can be sensitive and should be approached with caution.
Typically organizations approach a cultural change through a planned method of intentional, goal-orientated changes. The deliberate attempt by employees or managers to improve the function of teams, departments or the entire organization is known as planned organizational change. Economic and organizational development is two approaches an organization c ...