Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Is it better for an organization to have one unified culture or a collection of mini ones? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach?
Organizational culture experts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava are back with more research insights, real-world examples, and tips for company leaders, this time about the complex world of subcultures.
Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket”: https://forms.gle/mxt7gBpRFqy4e52z5
Find the full transcript and learn more about the podcast at https://haas.berkeley.edu/culture/culture-kit-podcast/.
*Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
Jenny & Sameer’s 3 Main Takeaways:
1. Awareness – know what subcultures exist within the organization and anticipate the possibility that they conflict in dysfunctional ways.
2. Agility – be willing to try out different cultural priorities. Before deciding that the counterculture is necessarily problematic you should look at what it is solving for.
3. Alignment – prioritize one cultural norm that applies to all units and unifies the organization rather than trying to be perfectly aligned on everything.
Show Links:
• The Role of Subcultures in Agile Organizations (taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410607508-7/role-subcultures-agile-organizations-alicia-boisnier-jennifer-chatman) [Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization]
• Maersk: Driving Culture Change at a Century-Old Company to Achieve Measurable Results (https://cases.haas.berkeley.edu/2024/04/maersk/) [Berkeley Haas Case Series]
• Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-6486.00081) [Journal of Management Studies]
• A Language-Based Method for Assessing Symbolic Boundaries (journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00491241221099555?casa_token=KF7SZuuHzuYAAAAA%3AOzSi2bmunVaYA72M8aIqq7ZT-kdtOWhBa3_AziQ5aQhMY-jbovaPFM31f7PDFbWGj4VhcAe75Bc) [Sociological Methods & Research]
• The Lasting Leadership Lessons From The Challenger Disaster (forbes.com/sites/michaelperegrine/2021/01/24/the-lasting-leadership-lessons-from-the-challenger-disaster/?sh=55b6875261c3) [Forbes]
• 5 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation in Your Organisation (salesforce.com/eu/blog/5-ways-to-create-a-culture-of-innovation-in-your-organisation/) [Salesforce Blog]
*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
Is it better for an organization to have one unified culture or a collection of mini ones? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach?
Organizational culture experts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava are back with more research insights, real-world examples, and tips for company leaders, this time about the complex world of subcultures.
Do you have a vexing question about work that you want Jenny and Sameer to answer? Submit your “Fixit Ticket”: https://forms.gle/mxt7gBpRFqy4e52z5
Find the full transcript and learn more about the podcast at https://haas.berkeley.edu/culture/culture-kit-podcast/.
*Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
Jenny & Sameer’s 3 Main Takeaways:
1. Awareness – know what subcultures exist within the organization and anticipate the possibility that they conflict in dysfunctional ways.
2. Agility – be willing to try out different cultural priorities. Before deciding that the counterculture is necessarily problematic you should look at what it is solving for.
3. Alignment – prioritize one cultural norm that applies to all units and unifies the organization rather than trying to be perfectly aligned on everything.
Show Links:
• The Role of Subcultures in Agile Organizations (taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410607508-7/role-subcultures-agile-organizations-alicia-boisnier-jennifer-chatman) [Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization]
• Maersk: Driving Culture Change at a Century-Old Company to Achieve Measurable Results (https://cases.haas.berkeley.edu/2024/04/maersk/) [Berkeley Haas Case Series]
• Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-6486.00081) [Journal of Management Studies]
• A Language-Based Method for Assessing Symbolic Boundaries (journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00491241221099555?casa_token=KF7SZuuHzuYAAAAA%3AOzSi2bmunVaYA72M8aIqq7ZT-kdtOWhBa3_AziQ5aQhMY-jbovaPFM31f7PDFbWGj4VhcAe75Bc) [Sociological Methods & Research]
• The Lasting Leadership Lessons From The Challenger Disaster (forbes.com/sites/michaelperegrine/2021/01/24/the-lasting-leadership-lessons-from-the-challenger-disaster/?sh=55b6875261c3) [Forbes]
• 5 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation in Your Organisation (salesforce.com/eu/blog/5-ways-to-create-a-culture-of-innovation-in-your-organisation/) [Salesforce Blog]
*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
