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How things really get done here
Avanti Academy / Leading people / Culture in Organisations / Bitesize
Bitesize

How things really get done here

Organisational culture: positive and toxic.

Level
Bitesize
Learning time
1 hour 30 minutes
Where
Culture in Organisations
Price
£39

When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms

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Certificate of Completion

About this course

Overview and Outcomes.

Overview

This module defines organisational culture, drawing on Edgar Schein's definition and the culture eats strategy for breakfast line popularised by Peters and Waterman. It shows how to read the culture you have, separating healthy from unhealthy patterns, subcultures from countercultures, and culture from climate and employer brand. Cases from Kerrier District Council and WD-40 support the evidence that culture drives performance and must be developed deliberately. Positive does not mean nice, and strong does not mean healthy. This module draws on O'Reilly and Chatman's view of culture as social control, the Enron case, Sull, Sull and Zweig's five attributes of toxic culture, and Rousseau's psychological contract to show how cultures tip into harm. It then turns to the Great Place to Work model, recognition, fairness and voice, and the Timpson case.

What you'll develop

In this Bitesize, you will develop the ability to:

  1. Explain what organisational culture is, using Schein's definition, and distinguish it from climate and from employer brand.
  2. Identify the features of a healthy culture and the signs of an unhealthy one, and tell a subculture from a counterculture in your own organisation.
  3. Use the evidence linking culture to engagement, retention, safety and financial performance to make the case for treating culture as deliberate leadership work.
  4. Distinguish a strong culture from a healthy one, and a positive culture from a merely comfortable one, using the Enron case.
  5. Identify the five attributes of toxic culture and the early warning signs that a positive culture is sliding, and explain how they break the psychological contract.
What it covers

The Modules.

1 hour 30 minutes of learning.

  1. 01Foundations: What Organisational Culture Is and Isn'tThis module defines organisational culture, drawing on Edgar Schein's definition and the culture eats strategy for breakfast line popularised by Peters and Waterman. It shows how to read the culture you have, separating healthy from unhealthy patterns, subcultures from countercultures, and culture from climate and employer brand. Cases from Kerrier District Council and WD-40 support the evidence that culture drives performance and must be developed deliberately.46 min
  2. 02Positive Cultures, Toxic CulturesPositive does not mean nice, and strong does not mean healthy. This module draws on O'Reilly and Chatman's view of culture as social control, the Enron case, Sull, Sull and Zweig's five attributes of toxic culture, and Rousseau's psychological contract to show how cultures tip into harm. It then turns to the Great Place to Work model, recognition, fairness and voice, and the Timpson case.45 min
Where it fits

Keep going.

Part of the Culture in Organisations topic, also sold whole as The way we do things here.

How credit works

Go deeper, and pay only the difference

  1. You are hereBitesize, 1 hour 30 minutes, £39
  2. Next stepFocus, Understanding the unwritten rules, 3 hours, £69. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £30.
  3. Explore, Reading culture, 4 hours 30 minutes, £129. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £90.
  4. The whole topicImmerse, The way we do things here, 8 hours 30 minutes, £249. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £210.

When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms

Also part of: Setting the course, Taking the director’s chair, Leading at the strategic level

Other Bitesize in the Culture in Organisations topic

See all in Culture in Organisations

Also Inside