how they perceive the world around

how they perceive the world around them. Context can be an individual’s
mind-set or the organizational culture. It includes all of the assumptions
and norms that are brought to the table. Context is perception, as opposed to
facts or data. People do not go off and design their context—they just inherit
it. Culture is also socially constructed and reflects meanings that are consti-
tuted in interaction and that form commonly accepted definitions of the
situation.
Culture is symbolic, which is why it is best described by telling stories about
how we feel about the organization. A symbol stands for something more than
itself and can be many things, but the point is that we invest a symbol with
meaning and the symbol expresses forms of understanding derived from our
past collective experiences. The sociological view is that organizations exist in
the minds of their members. Stories about culture show how it acts as a sense-
making device. Also, culture is unifying and refers to the processes that bind
the organization together. Culture is thus consensual and not conflictual. The
idea of corporate culture reinforces the unifying strengths of central goals and
creates a sense of common responsibility. Culture is also holistic and refers to
the essence—the reality of the organization, reflecting what it is like to work
there, how people deal with each other, and what behaviors are expected. The
example of Nokia describes one such holistic approach to culture.