THE ROLE OFORGANIZATIONALCULTUREAs

THE ROLE OF
ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE

As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation,
so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.
Seneca (Roman Senator, c. 60 b.c.–c. a.d. 37)

This chapter examines the role played by organizational culture in more
detail. Different types of organizational cultures are described with a view to
better understanding the key dimensions of the different microcultures that
thrive in organizations. Cultural enablers and obstacles to knowledge sharing
are presented, together with a discussion on how to institute desired organi-
zational changes to better accommodate knowledge management. Finally, the
long-term nature of organizational culture dimensions is addressed by pre-
senting major organizational and KM maturity models.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define organizational culture.
2. Understand the relation between organizational culture and the business
context. How does culture contribute to organizational innovation and
success?
3. Appreciate the contribution of organizational culture to the manage-
ment of change; understand the analytic elements of organizational
culture, such as different types of cultures and organizational maturity
models.
4. Describe how organizational culture intersects with knowledge
management.
5. Discuss the key organizational culture enablers and the chief obstacles
to effective knowledge sharing and KM.