The Use and Abuse of “Culture”

Abstract

Culture is a misunderstood and misused idea. In this chapter I advance seven clarifying theses. (1) Culture is a characteristic of a group, not an individual, and talk of culture must always specify the relevant group. (2) Organisations have it within their power to ensure that organisational culture over-rides national cultures. (3) The most useful definition of the culture of a collectivity is its set of collective practices—“the way we do things around here”. (4) In the organisational context, it is usually better to use culture as a description of group behaviour, rather than as an explanation for individual behaviour. (5) Organisational cultures depend on the structures that organisations put in place to achieve desired outcomes. These structures reflect the priorities of top leaders. The priorities of leaders in turn may depend on factors outside the organisation, such as regulatory pressure and public opinion. (6) The distinction between emergent and managerialist views of culture is misleading. (7) The term safety culture is so confusing it should be abandoned.