Your assignment is to provide a comprehensive discussion and analysis of a
selection of the power of space, rituals, signs and symbols that reinforce culture, and
to explain how these can act as barriers and inhibitors
...
Your assignment is to provide a comprehensive discussion and analysis of a
selection of the power of space, rituals, signs and symbols that reinforce culture, and
to explain how these can act as barriers and inhibitors, or as enablers and transition
symbols of culture change. In conducting this analysis, you should include
photographs, provide artefacts (web, logos, etc.), and to make observations of the
symbolic elements of an organization of choice.
The cultural observation matrix provided below should inform your assignment, but it
is not necessary that this is submitted in the tabular format provided below.
It is recommended that you only focus on two or three cultural elements in your
chosen organisation. Assignments that analyse fewer cultural elements in greater
depth tend to be awarded more marks than those that superficially explore a large
number of cultural elements.
Why are you doing this task?
Most people think change is about identifying a vision and mission, and verbalising it.
They will create a project plan, do lots of communication, spend lots of money – and
as we know about 70% of change projects still fail. Experience shows that often it
fails because we do not pay sufficient attention to the symbolic and material aspects
of culture – those things that are wrapped up in our identity. For example, many
religions have clear symbolic interactions to reinforce what they do (confession,
circumcision, baptism, marriage etc.), and these become socially embedded and
hard to change, even when they no longer serve an obvious purpose.
Another example might be the university graduation ceremony. You no longer need
to attend the ceremony to get your degree, but for many people the ceremony is an
extremely important ritual, dating back over 800 years. In some cultures, it is critical
that a child graduates from university. In many families, a picture of their child in their
gown, holding their degree, may sit proudly as a symbolic representation
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