Strong refers to the degree to which members subscribe to the norms and values, in effect a kind of
psychological ‘cloning’. These norms and values are importantly defined as those espoused by management,
and the idea is to use this commitment in the absence of bureaucratic methods, to provide performance
enhancement via improved self-motivation. In this way strong cultures link to work on job satisfaction and
may overcome job-design failure associated with the types of technology identified by Joan Woodward.
Organisations with strong cultures are supposed to perform better than those with weak ones but the
link has not been proven: successful companies obtain the right blend of appropriate cultures, which
has a good deal of support from the relevant research literature. The assertion, however, that companies
with strong cultures are more interesting, and by implication more successful, is much more debatable.
Cabals are especially strong cliques of self-supporting individuals who may de-rail the process by charisma
or Machiavellian methods, such as the Dutch Admiral Paradigm where two recruits mutually praised
each other in meetings and eventually became the two youngest Admirals in the Dutch Navy.
In this way a strong culture might begin to reflect the members’ values rather than the organisation’s.
Additionally of course it may produce strong resistance to change, later being a victim of ‘groupthink’.
Finally a strong ‘masculine’ culture may not travel well, especially to areas of the world characterised by
Hofstede’s ‘feminine’ dimension.
The authors also suggested a typology which was not based on any scientific methodology though the
types were categorised to an extent by two variables – risk-taking and feedback of results – and has
passed almost unnoticed into the dustbin of history, not being referred to by any of the major texts on
organisational behaviour. The four types were:
• tough-guy macho – high risk, quick feedback;
• work-hard-play-hard – few risks taken;
• bet-your-company – high risk but slow feedback;
• process – no feedback, bureaucratic.
Corporate culture
Definition: Roger Harrison called corporate cultures ‘organisational ideologies’ or ‘the way we do things
round here’.