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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Organisational culture

A new finance director joins a firm and observes open-plan offices, a relaxed dress code and a stated value of 'trust our people'. She later finds that every expense, however small, needs three signatures, reflecting an unspoken belief that staff cannot be trusted. Which analysis using Schein's levels is most accurate?

Artefacts and espoused values point to trust, but the real basic assumption is distrust, shown by the three-signature expense control. Schein's deepest level drives actual behaviour, so the inconsistency across levels reveals the true culture rather than the stated one.

  1. AArtefacts and espoused values suggest trust, but the deeper basic assumption is distrust, which explains the real behaviourCorrect
  2. BAll three levels consistently reflect a culture of trust
  3. CThe expense rules are artefacts and therefore show the deepest level of culture
  4. DThe espoused value is the basic assumption because it is written down

Explanation

Open-plan offices and dress code are artefacts, and 'trust our people' is an espoused value, both suggesting trust. The triple-signature control reveals a basic assumption of distrust, which is the level that actually drives behaviour. Option B ignores the contradiction, and C and D misplace the levels.

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