Workplace Culture

Historically there have been differences among investigators regarding the definition of organizational culture. Edgar Schein, a leading researcher in this field, defined “organizational culture” as comprising a number of features, including a shared “pattern of basic assumptions” which group members have acquired over time as they learn to successfully cope with internal and external organizationally relevant problems.^[1]Elliott Jaques first introduced the concept of culture in the organizational context in his 1951 book The Changing Culture of a Factory.^[2] The book was a published report of “a case study of developments in the social life of one industrial community between April, 1948 and November 1950”.^[3] The “case” involved a publicly-held British company engaged principally in the manufacture, sale, and servicing of metal bearings. The study concerned itself with the description, analysis, and development of corporate group behaviours.^[4]