CONDUCTING A CULTURAL AUDIT
CONDUCTING A CULTURAL AUDIT One of the easiest ways of appreciating the nature of corporate culture and subculture is simply to observe the day to day functioning of a group…as if one were an outsider. Adopt the role of an anthropologist. The characteristics of the culture being observed will gradually become evident as one becomes aware of the patterns of interaction between individuals, the language that is being used, the images and themes explored in the conversation, and the various rituals of daily routine. As one explores the rationale for these aspects of culture, one usually finds that there are sound historical explanations for the way things are done.” –Morgan (2006, p. 125) Instructions Links to an external site. For this activity, you will conduct a cultural audit of an organization. Ideally use the firm from your applied project. If you do not yet have access to data from the organization, or if your applied project does not involve a particular company, you can choose another organization. The purpose of this assignment is to: · Assess how various elements of culture manifest in this organization. · Analyze these data through the lens of what we learned in this module to draw conclusions. It will be helpful to first review these articles: (I will attach some these downloads in a separate file just in case you are not able to pull them up) · ” Basics of Culture AuditsLinks to an external site.” (Solomon, n.d.). This article from the Association for Talent Development (ATD) outlines what a cultural audit is and what data is needed for this analysis. NOTE: The link above may have a paywall, here is a PDF: Basics of Culture Audits_ATD.pdf · The two articles below describe the cultural web framework. The Management Centre article then applies this framework to analyze the UK’s National Health Service: · ” The Cultural Web: Aligning Your Strategy with CultureLinks to an external site.” (MindTools, n.d.). https://www.mindtools.com/a8im94b/the-cultural-web · · · ” Transforming Results by Changing Beliefs and BehavioursLinks to an external site.” (Management Centre, n.d.). https://www.managementcentre.co.uk/management-consultancy/transforming-results/ Unlike these articles, however, you will not need to develop recommendations for improvements. Just mention in closing how the organization might approach becoming more intentional about developing and maintaining its organizational culture. If you like this kind of research, you could consider doing a more robust cultural audit as your capstone project, which would include developing detailed recommendations to solve issues identified. TASK 1. Conduct a cultural analysis (sometimes called a cultural audit) to observe and assess how your chosen firm addresses the elements at the end of this prompt. These are drawn from the cultural web model and McHale’s notion of “patterns of relating.” Gather data through observations, conversations, and review of relevant documents (e.g., website, annual report, email communications). To avoid assumptions and increase your ability to take in information, it may be helpful to pretend you are a stranger from another land unfamiliar with the firm’s customs. Look and listen for: · Stories – What past events do people, or the organization’s communications Read More …