مدل های فرهنگ سازمانی Organizational Culture Models

18.1 Different Approaches Organizational culture can be approached from different directions. Martin (2001) conducted some extensive research on the topic. She identified three theoretical perspectives in studies on organizational culture and named them “integration”, “differentiation”, and “fragmentation” (cf. Table 18.1). No perspective is in itself “right” or “wrong”. They all express different worldviews and have diverse advantages and disadvantages. In short, integration studies focus on the perception that all mentioned cultural aspects are consistent and reinforce each other (cf. Martin 2001, p. 95). If deviations are found, they are seen as shortcomings that must be remedied. In contrast, differentiation studies “focus on cultural manifestations that have inconsistent interpretations” (Martin 2001, p. 101). This means, “the integration perspective focuses on those manifestations of a culture that have mutually consistent interpretations. An integration portrait of a culture sees consensus (although not necessarily unanimity) throughout an organization. From the integration perspective, culture is that which is clear; ambiguity is excluded. […] The differentiation perspective focuses on cultural manifestations that have inconsistent interpretations, such as when top executives announce a policy and then behave in a policy-inconsistent manner. From the differentiation perspective, consensus exists within an organization—but only at lower levels of analysis, labeled ‘subcultures.’ Subcultures may exist in harmony, independently, or in conflict with each other. Within a subculture, all is clear; ambiguity is banished to the interstices between subcultures. […] The fragmentation perspective conceptualizes the relationship among cultural manifestations as neither clearly consistent nor clearly inconsistent. Instead, interpretations of cultural manifestations are ambiguously related to each other, placing ambiguity, rather than clarity, at the core of culture. In the fragmentation view, consensus is transient and issue specific” (Martin 2001, p. 94). Generally, people working with an integration perspective have managerial interests in mind. Differentiation scholars are taking a critical stance and fragmentation researchers are not taking an explicit interest position (Martin 2001, p. 174).