What Is Meant by Organizational Culture(S) and What Is the Relationships Between Culture and Communication?
Introduction
This essay will begin by defining culture and then will explore organisational culture, using various examples from module materials and own experiences. The essay will discuss dementia care in order to explore the relationships between culture and communication. The essay will conclude by summarising the main key points.
What is Culture
The social science writer Mark J. Smith states: ‘When we think about the possible meanings and uses of the word ‘‘culture’’, we walk into a maze of interpretations and associations’ (Smith, 1998, p. 262). This is because; the word culture has at least three meanings or levels of meanings. Traditionally, a cultured person is considered knowledgeable about such things and to have good taste in them (M. Rob,open.ac.uk, access on 18/7/2012).
A second definition uses the word culture to embrace popular as well as elite or high culture and to encompass the arstic creativities of the whole population, without any moral or value judgments being involved (M. Robb,open.ac.uk, access on 18/7/2012).
Thirdly, culture expresses the shared or collective life of a group, community or nation. For example, people talk at a national level about ‘British culture or ‘American culture’ or about the culture of regional, class or ethnic groups within the population. (M. Rob, open.ac.uk, access on 18/7/2012).
My understanding of culture is defined by Thompson (2003) as a set of shared meanings, assumptions and understandings which develop historically in a given community. It is the way people interpret meanings, languages and situations. For example, in my African culture, health professionals, especially doctors, are perceived as described by Alan Bennett in unit 3, as lofty, intelligent and of higher status (Unit 3, P, 96, Bk 1).
Organisational culture
Robb Martin claims that organisations have a shared culture in that they share ways of doing things and develop habitual routines for getting the job
This essay will begin by defining culture and then will explore organisational culture, using various examples from module materials and own experiences. The essay will discuss dementia care in order to explore the relationships between culture and communication. The essay will conclude by summarising the main key points.
What is Culture
The social science writer Mark J. Smith states: ‘When we think about the possible meanings and uses of the word ‘‘culture’’, we walk into a maze of interpretations and associations’ (Smith, 1998, p. 262). This is because; the word culture has at least three meanings or levels of meanings. Traditionally, a cultured person is considered knowledgeable about such things and to have good taste in them (M. Rob,open.ac.uk, access on 18/7/2012).
A second definition uses the word culture to embrace popular as well as elite or high culture and to encompass the arstic creativities of the whole population, without any moral or value judgments being involved (M. Robb,open.ac.uk, access on 18/7/2012).
Thirdly, culture expresses the shared or collective life of a group, community or nation. For example, people talk at a national level about ‘British culture or ‘American culture’ or about the culture of regional, class or ethnic groups within the population. (M. Rob, open.ac.uk, access on 18/7/2012).
My understanding of culture is defined by Thompson (2003) as a set of shared meanings, assumptions and understandings which develop historically in a given community. It is the way people interpret meanings, languages and situations. For example, in my African culture, health professionals, especially doctors, are perceived as described by Alan Bennett in unit 3, as lofty, intelligent and of higher status (Unit 3, P, 96, Bk 1).
Organisational culture
Robb Martin claims that organisations have a shared culture in that they share ways of doing things and develop habitual routines for getting the job
References: and Bibliography K309 Block 1, Communication in Health and Social Care, ‘Concept & Context’: (2011) Milton Keynes, The Open University K309 Block 1, Communication in Health and Social Care, ‘Concept & Context’: (2011) Milton Keynes, The Open University. Unit 2, Section 2; Pages, 56 & 57. K309 Block 1, Communication in Health and Social Care, ‘Concept & Context’: (2011) Milton Keynes, The Open University. Unit 3, Section 3; Pages: 96. K309 Block 1, Communication in Health and Social Care, ‘Concept & Context’: (2011) Milton Keynes, The Open University. Unit 3, Section 5; Pages: 118. K309 Block 2, Communication in Health and Social Care, ‘Concept & Context’: (2011) Milton Keynes, The Open University Unit 7, Section 6; P143 Berger, P Gafni, A, Charles, C. and Whelan, T. (1998) The physician-patient encounter: The physician as a perfect agent for the patient versus the informed treatment decision making model. Social Science Medicine 47(3):347-354. Gramsci, A. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks, NewYork, International Publishers. Foucault, M. (1973) Birth of the Clinic, London, Routledge. Kitwood, T. (1997) Dementia reconsidered. The Person comes first. Buckingham. Open University, Press. Komaromy, C. (2005) Death and Dying in Care Homes for Older people: an ethnographic account, unpublished PHD thesis, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Smith, (1998) Open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=45859§ion=1.2 Thompson, N