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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Leadership and organisational culture

At Marlowe Bank, senior managers publicly state that integrity is the bank's core value. However, sales staff who miss targets are dismissed, while those who mis-sell products but exceed targets receive large bonuses. In Schein's model of culture, what does this situation chiefly illustrate?

It shows a gap between espoused values and underlying assumptions. The bank claims integrity, but its rewards for mis-selling reveal that the real, deeply held assumption is that sales results matter most.

  1. AA gap between espoused values and the underlying assumptions revealed by behaviourCorrect
  2. BStrong alignment between artefacts and basic assumptions
  3. CA weak physical environment as the cause of the problem
  4. DAn absence of any organisational culture

Explanation

Schein distinguishes artefacts, espoused values and basic underlying assumptions. The stated value of integrity is an espoused value, while the reward system shows the real assumption that sales results matter most. The two are inconsistent, so alignment is wrong. Every organisation has a culture, so absence is wrong.

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