Individual Agency and Collective Patterns of Action

doi:10.1017/9781316996959.002

1 - Individual Agency and Collective Patterns of Action

Organisational Culture through the Lens of Organisational Theory

from Part I - Risk Culture Conceptual Underpinnings

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 May 2020

Jennifer Howard-Grenville

Edited by

Michelle Tuveson ,

Daniel Ralph and

Kern Alexander

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Michelle Tuveson: Affiliation:
Judge Business School, Cambridge
Daniel Ralph: Affiliation:
Judge Business School, Cambridge
Kern Alexander: Affiliation:
Universität Zürich

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Summary

A focus on the management of risk through culture raises important questions about the nature of organisational culture and the degree to which it can be guided and managed toward certain ends. Organisational culture, often thought of as “the way we do things around here,” is both a highly valued and poorly understood characteristic of organisational life. Mindfully creating and managing culture can guide organisational members in acting in line with valued goals. Yet, scholars caution that steering culture is a difficult and subtle task. In this chapter I explore how organisational theorists treat organisational culture, as both a deep structure that is resilient against change, and as a set of patterned actions that people use in their day to day organisational lives. The latter perspective foregrounds individual agency while the former foregrounds collective characteristics. I explore the implications of each perspective for questions related to risk governance.

Type: Chapter
Information: Beyond Bad Apples
Risk Culture in Business
, pp. 21 - 41

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316996959.002 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

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