Newcomers’ impressions of an organization’s culture depend greatly on visual images. Even without knowing anything about a company, just seeing the workplace sends a message, intentional or unintentional, regarding what that organization is like. The following exercise is designed to demonstrate this phenomenon.

Questions for Discussion

1. For each set of photos examined, how close did the descriptions of members of the class come to the photographers’ assessments of their own companies? In other words, how well did the photos capture the culture of the organization as perceived by an “insider”?
2. As a whole, were people more accurate in assessing the culture of companies with which they were already familiar than those they didn’t already know? If so, why do you think this occurred?
3. Was there more agreement regarding the cultures of organizations in some types of industries (e.g., manufacturing) than in others (e.g., service)? If so, why do you think this occurred?

Transcribed Image Text:

Directions 1. Each member of the class should take several photographs of his or her workplace and select the three that best capture, in his or her own mind, the essence of what that organization is like. 2. One member of the class should identify the company depicted in the photos, describe the type of work it does, and present the photos to the rest of the class. 3. Members of the class should then rate the organization shown in the photos using the following dimensions. Circle the number that comes closest to your feelings about the company shown. unfamiliar: 1 unsuccessful: 1 unfriendly: 1. unproductive: 1 not innovative: 1 uncaring: conservative: 1 closed: 1. 2 B 3 3 3 2: 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4: 4 4 4 5 6 7 familiar 5 6: 7:successful 5 6 7 :friendly 5 6: 6 6: _7_____:caring 6: _7_._._._:risky 6: 7:open 5 5 5 7:productive 7:innovative