Organizational Culture and Leadership

While some of the case study descriptions are interesting, Schein's structure to this book is difficult. His constant referencing of chapters yet to read and chapters read illustrates the flaw of his difficult structure. His main examples are becoming aged and while I am sure still have some relevance to the research world, it causes one to read with some skepticism relative to today's work environment and it much more diverse workforce. The last chapter's presentation of leadership qualities was interesting, but hardly worthy as the reward of struggling through the remainder of the book.

Schein approaches this analysis of corporate cultural organization & leadership with concepts influenced by cultural anthropology (esp. Clifford Geertz). Just as an anthropologist would research kinship & values of an obscure tribe, Schein analyses corporate cultural artifacts like brand images, trademarks, graphic art, multimedia ads, architecture, mottoes & slogans, and other expressions of corporate culture to determine the values & relationships of corporations . Schein provides a framework by which to recognize unique insights into the 'personality' & values of modern corporations. Schein's research is genuinely original in its application of cultural anthropological concepts to firms that often seem impersonal or spend millions on Mad Ave to devise a non-factual image of 'espoused values' which belie internal arti-FACTS. Inconsistencies between what is presented to the customer vs what is presented to the stock-holder are apparent upon deeper, 'thicker description'. A reprint of this insightful text by a social scientist of Schein's caliber is deserved. Highly recommended as a methodology or theoretical approach -- his case studies are dated and a new edition with many recent examples and illustrations applying his framework would improve this text. Also, see W G Dyer Jr's work for similar approach to corporate cultural analysis focused upon leadership transitions in family businesses.
Like most management academics, Schein is not a critic of multinational corporations; however, his framework is useful to both corporate managers and to crtics of MNCs like anti-trust agencies, consumer advocates, and environmentalists.

"Organizational Culture and Leadership" is perhaps the most in-depth work on the subject of organizational culture. It is the more academic and more in-depth version of the Corporate Culture Survival Guide by the same author. The book is about 400 pages and consists of five parts.

Part one provides the basics of the rest of the book. It defines organizational culture and other types of culture. It also describes Schein's three levels in which organizational culture is represented in organizations: artifacts, believes and values, assumptions. It also introduces the two case studies that are used throughout the book: DEC and Ciba-Geigy.

Part two explores different dimensions of culture. It doesn't limit itself to organizational culture but also to the different assumptions in national culture. First it looks at assumptions related to adaptations (to external events) and internal integration. Then it dives in several dimensions of culture such as reality, time, space and relationships. Ed Schein devotes a chapter to explain why most organizational cultural dimensions and surveys are too much a simplification of reality and introduces a bit on how to decipher an organizational culture.

Part three looks at culture over time. It starts with how culture evolves in new groups (interesting!) and from there looks at the different stages of organizations and how culture evolves. This part has quite a lot of duplication with the Corporate Survival Guide book of the same author (unfortunately for those who read both). It also explores what leadership can do to change or evolve the culture.

Part four and five focuses a bit more on the leadership role in evolving and changing the organizational culture. It describes in depth Schein's organizational assessment method to explore the organizational culture in one particular dimension that matters for some change that is wanted in the organization. Part 5 links the book to the larger topic of learning organizations and defines what a learning culture and a learning leader is.

I enjoyed "Organizational Culture and Leadership" quite a lot. It is thorough and a bit repetitive at times (especially for people who have read Ed Schein's Corporate Survival Guide). Some parts were better than others. I especially enjoyed the culture creation in new groups and the parts about learning organizations. But the book is definitively recommended for anyone who is interested in organizational culture or involved in attempting to change an organizational culture. For those who read Ed Schein's Corporate Survival Guide, there will be a lot of repetition and the case studies are the same (though more detail). 4 stars.

In depth, yet easy to read, outlines how to understand one's organization from the broad sense of cultural influences. A lifetime of work put into simple language with appropriate references to businesses and corporations Schein advised. Takes the mystery out of why organizations will do some things and will not do others. And how to move them toward understanding and progress. Brilliant.

Edgar Schein is the leading theorist on organizational culture and process consultation, and this book is the standard bearer for understanding organizational culture and how to change it. The book is divided into five parts: defining organizational culture and leadership, discussing dimensions of organizational culture, outlining the leadership role in building and developing culture, outlining how leaders can manage culture change, and discussing new leadership roles that are evolving into today's organizations. He makes a critical point that if leaders are not proactive about managing their organizations' culture, that culture will ultimately manage them. As is often quoted in organization development circles, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast!" He also outlines the steps leaders can take to conduct their own cultural analysis. While the book is intended to be academic and is fairly dense, the organizational stories Schein uses throughout the book as illustrative examples add life to the book. A great resource for any organizational leader!

Difficult to read..boring cased studies..feels dated.
This was hard to study. We are dropping it as text book for class

In spite of the adulation surrounding the model, this book is weak on useful specifics and generally quite vague. Poor organization, poor examples, and not really useful at all.

excellent book

One of the best books I have ever read. Schein explains, in very clear and articulate language, about organizational culture, how it evolves, and how it can be changed. He draws on many first hand experiences with multinational corporations in cultural assessments and programs for change. I think reading this book is essential for a broad understanding of how organizations evolve and operate.

Absolutely the best book on culture I've come across. Dr. Schein bridges the gap between academic research on culture and the everyday lived experience.