Comments on: What is culture? http://maadmob.net/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture Information architecture, interaction design and much more Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:39:27 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: damas sesejah http://maadmob.net/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture/comment-page-1#comment-60 damas sesejah Sat, 20 Nov 2004 14:10:25 +0000 http://maadmob.net.s32465.gridserver.com/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture#comment-60 i think all these writers didnt go directly on how how to measure organization culture ,there are some kind of thought similarities but both there are affecting with the past thing by depending from making refferences instead of making observation of what u are going to pontray to mass i think all these writers didnt go directly on how how to measure organization culture ,there are some kind of thought similarities but both there are affecting with the past thing by depending from making refferences instead of making observation of what u are going to pontray to mass

]]> By: Mike http://maadmob.net/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture/comment-page-1#comment-59 Mike Fri, 27 Sep 2002 03:23:13 +0000 http://maadmob.net.s32465.gridserver.com/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture#comment-59 Look to the office furniture industry for tools in researching culture. These folks are deeply concerned about culture in the workplace because it directly impacts the success or failure of their products. My last job as a full-timer was with one of the "big three" of these companies. As part of the process of designing a new building for themselves, they were also experimenting with a study/questionaire process to determine the culture/workstyle of particular workgroups. It became important to us as employees because how you answered determined whether you got a permanent cube, or were basically a floater with laptop and file storage on wheels. My only concern with the process is that it was all self-reporting, and I doubted it's accuracy. Much of it was also dependant upon your work environment, which was naturally going to change as part of the move to the new building. Look to the office furniture industry for tools in researching culture. These folks are deeply concerned about culture in the workplace because it directly impacts the success or failure of their products. My last job as a full-timer was with one of the “big three” of these companies. As part of the process of designing a new building for themselves, they were also experimenting with a study/questionaire process to determine the culture/workstyle of particular workgroups. It became important to us as employees because how you answered determined whether you got a permanent cube, or were basically a floater with laptop and file storage on wheels. My only concern with the process is that it was all self-reporting, and I doubted it’s accuracy. Much of it was also dependant upon your work environment, which was naturally going to change as part of the move to the new building.

]]> By: PeterV http://maadmob.net/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture/comment-page-1#comment-58 PeterV Fri, 13 Sep 2002 18:17:22 +0000 http://maadmob.net.s32465.gridserver.com/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture#comment-58 In large organisations it may also become possible to measure culture using questionaires, similar to the way Hofstede and co do their cultural research. For now, that's still a dream for the future though... In large organisations it may also become possible to measure culture using questionaires, similar to the way Hofstede and co do their cultural research. For now, that’s still a dream for the future though…

]]> By: James Robertson http://maadmob.net/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture/comment-page-1#comment-57 James Robertson Thu, 12 Sep 2002 00:14:21 +0000 http://maadmob.net.s32465.gridserver.com/donna/blog/2002/what-is-culture#comment-57 Identifying culture is not easy, but I think it can be done. As you say, it is particularly tricky for long-term insiders, who are part of the culture themselves. In the Area Health Service project, the strongest feedback I received from the client was regarding my success at identifying and documenting the corporate culture. What I found most effective were "stakeholder interviews", with a structured series of questions looking at the way staff worked. The questions were the easy bit though. The much harder task is to win the trust and respect of the participant in an hour, and allow them to be comfortable enough to speak their minds honestly. Then you really get to the heart of the matter... Identifying culture is not easy, but I think it can be done. As you say, it is particularly tricky for long-term insiders, who are part of the culture themselves.

In the Area Health Service project, the strongest feedback I received from the client was regarding my success at identifying and documenting the corporate culture.

What I found most effective were “stakeholder interviews”, with a structured series of questions looking at the way staff worked.

The questions were the easy bit though. The much harder task is to win the trust and respect of the participant in an hour, and allow them to be comfortable enough to speak their minds honestly.

Then you really get to the heart of the matter…

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