ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Organisational culture
A new finance director joins a firm and observes that its offices are open-plan, everyone uses first names, and the stated value is 'openness'. Yet junior staff never challenge decisions made by managers, and when asked say 'that is just how things are done here'. Which conclusion best applies Schein's model?
The open-plan layout and first-name usage are visible artefacts. Openness is an espoused value. The habit of never challenging managers, justified as 'how things are done', is an underlying assumption that contradicts the espoused value. This shows a mismatch between the levels of the culture.
- AThe open-plan layout and first names are basic underlying assumptions, because they are the most consistent features
- BOpenness is an artefact, and the first-name practice is an espoused value
- CThe open-plan layout and first names are artefacts, and the deference to managers reflects an underlying assumption that conflicts with the espoused value of opennessCorrect
Explanation
Layout and first-name usage are visible features, so they are artefacts. Openness is the stated value, so it is espoused. The unchallenged deference, explained as 'how things are done', is a taken-for-granted assumption that contradicts the espoused value. The other options misclassify the levels.
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