ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE in essence refers to  THE WAY THINGS ARE DONE AROUND HERE. The culture of an organisation gives it a SENSE OF IDENTITY and is based on the VALUES, ATTITUDES and BELIEFS of the people who work in it, especially senior management.

The culture of a steel company will be very different from that of a nursing home, for example. Similarly, some schools’ culture is driven by the need for better examination results while others maintain that educating the ‘complete person’ is more important. 

Management thinker Charles Handy wrote a very influential book called Gods of Management (1978). In it, he argued that organisations and the CULTURE OF THE MANAGERS can be classified by referring to Greek gods as metaphors: Zeus, Apollo, Athena and Dionysus.

According to Handy, ZEUS represents leadership by trust. ‘Zeus’ managers can be dynamic entrepreneurs who make snap, intuitive decisions. This culture often arises under a dominant and successful business founder. 

APOLLO manages through bureaucracy and a role culture. Managers who can be classified as ‘Apollo like’ demand consistency, order and employees who keep to their job descriptions. Individuality and personality will not be strong qualities of these managers. 

ATHENA is the goddess of problem-solving, so managers who conform to this style will recognise expertise amongst subordinates and will create a task culture. 

DIONYSUS is the god of individualism, and using this approach will lead managers to create an organisation that serves the individual, not the other way round. There may be no clearly identified ‘leader’. Employees will be unlikely to owe much allegiance to any one manager. This culture can lead to managers encouraging creative freedom, but it can also lead to internal conflicts and unproductive competition.

NEW STAFF: In general every business experiences some level of staff turnover, as such there will always be new recruits who may could potential clash with existing staff in terms of personality, perceived favoritism, easier workloads etc...

MERGERS: When two firms merge or when one is taken over the potential for culture clashes is very likely, especially when it involves international mergers

NEW MANAGEMENT: A new leader is appointed or the existing leaders adopt a new style of leadership – the values and beliefs of a new leader may differ from those of the former ‘boss’.

Research a real world example of when a merger either failed due to cultural differences or when a new owner or CEO took over and changed the culture drastically. Create an INFOGRAPHIC detailing the event.