ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition

DECIPHERING CULTURE 211actively. The important point is that the intervention goal must beshared by outsider and insider. If the outsider researcher tries tochange the organization in terms of his or her own goals, the risk ofdefensiveness and withholding of data rises dramatically. If theresearcher/consultant is helping the organization to make somechanges that it wants, the probability rises that organization memberswill reveal what is really going on.Ethical Problems inStudying Organizational CulturesThe deciphering of culture has some inherent risks that both theinsider and the outsider should assess before proceeding. The risksdiffer, depending on the purpose of the analysis, and they are oftensubtle and unknown. Therefore, the desire to go ahead and theorganization’s permission to do so may not be enough to warrantproceeding. The outside professional, whether consultant or ethnographer,must make a separate assessment and sometimes limit hisor her own interventions to protect the organization.Risks of an Analysis for Research PurposesRegardless of the way in which the basic cultural data are gathered,the organization can be made vulnerable through having its culturerevealed to outsiders. The obvious solution is always to disguise theorganization in published accounts, but if the intent is to communicateaccurately to outsiders, the data are much more meaningfulif the organization and the people are identified. Naming the organizations,as I have done in most of the examples used in this book,makes it possible to gain a deeper understanding of cultural phenomenaand also makes it possible for others to check for accuracyand replicate the findings.On the other hand, if a correct analysis of an organization’s culturebecomes known to outsiders because it either is published or issimply discussed among interested parties, the organization or some