Maanen, J. V. and S. R. Barley (1985). "Cultural Organization: Fragments of a Theory" in P. J. Frost, L. F. Moore, M. R. Louis, C. C. Lundberg and J. Martin. Organizational Culture. Beverly Hills, Sage: 31-53.

Organizational culture is a juxtaposed metaphor. Culture is "a set of solutions devised by a group of people to meet specific problems posed by the situations they face in common". It's a "living, historical product of group problem solving".

They find four domains of analysis. The ecological context is the physical, temporal, and social coordinates the group occupies. There is also a differential interaction that occurs with people in this context (more ties inside than outside). Third is a collective understanding or objects, events, and activities. Fourth is the reproductive and adaptive capacity, which is carried only by individuals. "Cultural patterns cease to exist unless they are repeatedly enacted as people respond to occurences in their daily lives". They only endure as values are transmitted from one generation to the next.

Thus culture is both a product of structure and interaction. "Actors are always the marks as well as the shills of social order". Cultures 'are carried in the form of norms, rules, and codes that people use to interpret and evaluate their own behavior as well as the behavior of others".

These four domains are applicable to work organizations. "As a subgroup's members interact over time and address problems cooperatively, collective understandings form to support concerted action". Often organizational roles are specialized, which lead through differential interaction to subcultures.

They define subcultures as "a subset of an organization's members who interact regularly with one another, identify themselves as a distinct group within the organization, share a set of problems commonly defined to be the problems of all, and routinely take action on the basis of collective understandings unique to the group".

The Seeds of Organizational Subcultures

Segmentation

Early studies (Selznick, Gouldner, Blau, Dalton) showed organizations as subgroups beset by conflicts and interests with alternative ideologies. Cultural forces in these studies segmented organizations. Subcultures are byproducts or beuracritization where technical rationality and specialization provides an opportunity for subgroup formation. As a result managers may have to use coercive authority with rewards and punishments than norms which may have been enough in a common culture.

Importation

Acquisitions or mergers can bring in new subcultures. They may also import occupations like lawyers or accountants to reduce transaction costs or as a matter of structural mimicry (Meyer & Rowan).

Technological Innovation

Many portray technical advancement "as a process that progressively robs members of various occupations their expertise by embodying a worker's manual and cognitive skills in the design of machinery (Braverman, etc.). But it's not always alienating (Blauner), and can positively change role structures (Barley, 1986).

Ideological Differentiation

'Technological innovation, importation, and segmentation sire structural shifts that alter interactional opportunities which, in turn, spawn the contrasting interpretive systems that characterize organizational subcultures". Subcultures may also arise with competing ideologies.

Contracultural Movements

Some people may reject all existing subgroups and form their own where group behavior is forbidden or improper in other groups. They often feel deprived in their relations with other groups, and recieve blocked ambitions, poor training, inadequate rewards, impersonal management,inadequate resources..."are all conditions that encourage countercultural movements and the rituals of resistance that define them".

Career Filters

Promotion incentives can also promote subculture development (e.g., among executives) because of uncertain performance criteria leads to mimicry of existing members.

Cultural Clashes in Organizations

While the popular literature may suggest that organizations do not have enough culture, often "they get more than they bargained for". Ignorances of other subcultures can cause friction . The extent of subculture control is dependent on several things, including boundary extent, centrality in work flow,