Microcultures

Microcultures evolve in small groups that share common tasks and histories. Shared assumptions will arise especially in groups whose task requires mutual cooperation because of a high degree of interdependency. Perhaps the best examples are football teams that clearly develop certain styles of playing based on many hours of practice under the tutelage of a coach. As we will see in Chapter Twelve, it does not take very long for common ways of perceiving and feeling to develop in a new group. To think of these as cultures is justified by the way in which such groups initially reject outsiders and, if they let them in, indoctrinate them immediately into “how we do things in this group.” With growing technological complexity and globalization, an increasing emphasis is being placed on multicultural groups composed of members from different macrocultures and occupational cultures. This trend is clearest in health care where the operating room, the recovery room, and various allied operations are each microsystems that have to work collaboratively with other microsystems. Within each of these microsystems, there are members of different occupations such as surgeons, nurses, profusionists, anesthesiologists, and medical technicians, sometimes from different nationalities, yet they have to work as a tightly knit team and have to coordinate smoothly with the other microsystems that they connect with. How members of such diverse macro and occupational cultures develop teamwork is a major issue that will be examined specifically in Chapter Twenty-One.

Source: Schein Edgar H. (2010), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass; 4th edition.

One thought on “Microcultures

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