Read the case study and answer the questions that follow: How Leaders Contribute to Creating Organizational Culture, Particularly With a Global or Hybrid Workforce Ah, the magic word culture. Theres a growing awareness of the importance of shaping organizational culture, and the role that leaders and managers have in creating it. Why dont the recipes for successfully innovating in one company transfer to another? How can one organization manage to reinvent itself, but another cant? What explains the attractiveness of working at certain corporations over others? The difference is culture, and shaping organizational culture is a growing area of attention for leaders and organizations. Fundamentally, culture is about the meaning people make of the world and their companies. One of our favourite examples of the unspoken pervasiveness of organizational culture goes something like this: Once upon a time, there was a company where middle management worked on the third floor, and senior executives worked on the fourth floor. The carpet was nicer on the fourth floor, and the chairs and offices were bigger, tooyou get the picture. One day, the middle managers had to meet on the fourth floor because their own meeting room wasnt available. The overnight staff switched the luxurious chairs in the senior management room with chairs from the third floor. Nobody told them to do so, but culture demanded that you sat in the right chair. Organizational culture is the collection of habits and beliefs of how things ought to be. Anytime you hear the words, thats just how things are done around here, thats culture. So, what does this show us about shaping organizational culture? 5 Ways Senior Leaders Are Shaping Organizational Culture Every Day While leaders cannot fully control a complex entity like culture, you can do your part to shape it. We have other insights and recommendations on changing organizational culture to be more interdependent, but at a high level, heres how individual leaders can contribute to shaping organizational culture. It starts with simply reinforcing the behaviours and cultural elements of which you would like to see more: 1. Sense the culture. Walk around with a mental video-recorder and observe the current culture. There are assessments to give you a state of the culture see if you can identify your organizations culture. Do this on a continuous basis, not once a year in a strategic workshop. 2. Contribute to the conversation about culture. Do your part to contribute to the conversation about what the companys culture is, and what it should be. Ask: What elements of our current culture are helping us, and what elements are hindering us? Create a sense of psychological safety at work to enable people to candidly discuss this with one another. 3. Model the desired culture in your own behaviour and actions. Start by showing the desired culture in big and small ways. What you say is important, but what you do matters more. For efforts at transforming your organization to be successful, change starts at the top shaping organizational culture requires a willingness to change yourself. 4. Dampen the elements of the culture that hinder growth. A powerful way to reduce unwanted cultural elements is to ignore them and not dignify them with attention. If that doesnt do the trick, dont be afraid to call out problematic behaviours or actively and openly oppose them. 5. Strengthen the elements of the culture that promote growth. Contrarily, acknowledge and celebrate wanted cultural elements. Give at least positive feedback and praise, or even better, give your support in terms of influence, contacts, or resources. Reinforce whatever promotes growth, and work on aligning your leadership, culture, and business strategy for optimal results.

Question 1 Examine the views that leaders use to shape organisational culture in the context of the case study.

Question 2 Examine organisational culture by making reference to the THREE fundamental levels in which it manifests itself.

Question 3 Critically discuss the role of formal education as a determinant of national culture using South Africa as a model.