Schein’s model of Organizational Culture was developed in 1980 by Edgar Schein, then Sloan Professor Emeritus at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Schein’s model of organizational culture is a framework explaining the impact of company culture on an organization with a focus on learning and group dynamics.
Understanding Schein’s model of organizational culture
Schein believed organizations developed a culture over time as employees experienced various changes, adapted to the external environment, and solved organizational problems. What’s more, company culture affected the way employees felt and acted within the organization itself.
Based on these observations, Schein developed his organizational culture model to define a series of basic assumptions. These assumptions are used by employees to solve problems associated with external adaptation and internal integration. In theory, successful assumptions are then passed on to new employees as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel when faced with organisational problems.
Schein believed culture was far more complex than the relatively superficial way employees acted in a workplace in response to management or reward systems. Instead, successful culture develops over a period of time as employees use insights from past experiences to embody culturally acceptable traits.
The three levels of Schein’s model
Sometimes depicted as a pyramid, Schein’s original model was based on three different levels.
In the context of Schein’s model, a level describes the degree to which cultural phenomena are visible to the observer.
From most visible to least visible, the three levels are:
- Artifacts – or the characteristics of an organization easily viewed, heard, and felt by individuals. Artifacts may encompass office furniture, facilities, employee behavior, and dress code. Schein suggested artifacts yielded little insight into the company culture. As a result, altering them would not achieve significant cultural change.
- Espoused values – these are the things an organization says about its culture and way of operating. Espoused values are deeper, less visible indicators of company culture than artifacts. They may include factors such as organizational values, company or employee charters, team contracts, and mission or vision statements. Espoused values provide more insight into the organizational culture than artifacts and can be altered to affect a reasonable degree of cultural change.
- Underlying beliefs – the deepest indicators of organizational culture because they reflect the way it operates internally and perceives the world. Underlying beliefs are held by employees, including assumptions regarding how they should work with colleagues and the sort of behavior that leads to success or failure. These beliefs typically constitute subconscious and highly integrated behaviors that are not written down, recorded, or even spoken about. As a result, they have a significant impact on organizational culture but are extremely difficult to change or relearn.
Key takeaways:
- Schein’s model of organizational culture is a framework explaining the impact of company culture on an organization with a focus on learning and group dynamics. It was developed by MIT professor Edgar Schein in 1980.
- Schein’s model of organizational culture is based on a belief that culture develops over time as employees use basic assumptions to solve internal and external problems. These assumptions, if proven to be effective, are then passed on to new employees.
- Schein’s model of organizational culture is based on three levels: artifacts, espoused values, and underlying beliefs. Each level describes the degree to which cultural phenomena are visible to the observer.
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