7 Organizational Culture Free Online FlashCards

What is organizational culture?

Organizational culture is the shared learning, values, norms, and assumptions that shape how people understand work and act together.

What are cultural artifacts?

Artifacts are observable features of culture, such as dress, workspace design, routines, stories, ceremonies, language, and interaction patterns.

What are espoused values?

Espoused values are the principles and priorities an organization says it supports, such as safety, customer service, or innovation.

What are underlying assumptions in an organization?

Underlying assumptions are deeply held, often unstated beliefs about what is normal, safe, important, or likely to succeed.

Why can artifacts be misleading clues to culture?

Artifacts are easy to notice but can be difficult to interpret correctly; understanding them requires comparing them with repeated practices and rewards.

How can founders and early leaders shape culture?

Founders and early leaders can strongly influence culture by setting priorities, selecting initial members, and modeling how to handle problems.

What is organizational socialization?

Organizational socialization is how newcomers learn their roles and the organization’s practices.

How do leaders reinforce organizational culture?

Leaders reinforce culture through what they attend to, reward or tolerate, how they allocate resources, and how they respond to mistakes or crises.

Why does organizational culture tend to persist?

Familiar assumptions make work more predictable, while routines and reward systems keep reproducing those assumptions.

How can shared norms help employees coordinate?

Shared norms help people coordinate without needing detailed instructions for every situation.

What risk can shared workplace norms create?

Culture can pressure employees to conform, discourage questions, or make it difficult to raise concerns.

How can you assess an organization’s actual culture?

Assess culture by observing routines and decisions, asking what happens when priorities conflict, and comparing rewards with stated values.