ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition

184 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIPShould the relationship be (1) very specific, dealing only withthe exact reason for the relationship, as in a sales-customerrelationship, or (2) diffuse, as in most friendships?Do the participants view each other in (1) very general universalisticterms based on stereotypes, as in most sales relationships,or (2) a very particularistic way as whole persons?Are social rewards, such as status and rank, assigned on thebasis of (1) what the person is by birth or family membership—whatis ascribed to him or her—or (2) what the personhas actually accomplished—his or her achievements?Using these variables, we would say that relationships at DECwere emotionally charged, diffuse, particularistic, and highlyachievement oriented; at Ciba-Geigy they were emotionally aloof,specific, somewhat (though not totally) universalistic, and somewhatmixed on ascription versus achievement. Achievementclearly counted at Ciba-Geigy, but ascriptive criteria such as theright family background and the right level of education also wereconsidered to be very important. One of the high-potential divisionmanagers who was a widower was strongly encouraged to remarry asa prerequisite to being promoted to the internal board of the company.People at Ciba-Geigy were assumed to be ambitious, but thegood of the company was taken into account more than it was atDEC, where the assumption seemed to be that if everyone did thecorrect thing—that is, made her or his best individual effort—thatwould turn out to be best for the company as a whole.These dimensions identify the specific areas where consensus isneeded if the organization is to function smoothly. Consensus inthese areas then becomes a deep layer of the culture and surfacesonly when someone challenges or violates one of the assumptions.For example, an American manager brought up with strong beliefsin achievement as the basis for status could not cope with the factthat Steinbergs, a Canadian family firm into which he had movedas a general manager, was completely dominated by assumptions of