Cultural Reflection in Management. Lukasz Sulkowski

pragmatic ←52 | 53→cultures is deeply rooted in social values, which then spread to organisational cultures⁹¹.

Tab. 7: Bureaucratic vs. pragmatic cultures. Source: Own work.

Features	Bureaucratic culture	Pragmatic culture
Formalisation	High; written communication and documentation prevail.	Low; verbal communication prevails.
Approach to changes	Careful, sceptical; changes entail the creation of new regulations.	Positive; changes are related to striving for the improvement of the organisation.
Basis for organisational power	Formal, impersonal, described and precisely indicated prerogatives.	Prerogatives of formal and informal sources of power, personal power, often unspecified.
Integration	Around formalised rules determined in documents, i.e. mission statements.Striving for homogenisation.	Around people or problems.Heterogeneity, changeability and a conflict of interests of subcultures are allowed.
Values	Order, unity, clarity.	Effectiveness, speed of action, flexibility.

4 Introvert culture – extrovert culture

      The analogy of introvert vs. extrovert cultures was transferred from the level of personality to the level of organisations⁹². To make it simple, we can say that an introvert personality is focused on itself and closed to other people, while an extrovert personality is oriented towards others, which means it is open. Translating it into the classification of organisational culture, introvert cultures can be described as closed, and extrovert as open (Tab. 8).

Tab. 8: Introvert vs. extrovert cultures and the organisational culture. Source: Own work, based on: C. Sikorski, 1990.

Features	Introvert culture	Extrovert culture
Tolerance for others	Low tolerance for other views and values.	High tolerance for other views and values.
Knowledge of the problems of other employees	Good knowledge of the problems of other employees.	Poor knowledge of the problems of other employees.
Sensitivity to the feelings of other employees	High sensitivity to the problems of other employees.	Low sensitivity to the problems of other employees.
Suspicion of new employees in an organisation	High level of suspicion of new employees.	Conventional confidence in new employees.
Approach to the change of a job	Employees do not plan to, or imagine changing jobs.	Employees can plan to change job, depending on the market offers.

      In the dichotomy between extrovert and introvert cultures, especially important research problems include linking the personality profiles of the management with the type of organisational culture⁹³, the relationships between ←53 | 54→teamwork, leadership and extroversion⁹⁴, and extroversion’s influence on relationships between interested parties⁹⁵.

5 Conservative culture – innovative culture

      The influence of organisational culture on innovation is one of the most significant subjects of cultural research. Most researchers believe that culture, reflected in mentality, is of key significance to shaping the level of innovation, enterprise, flexibility and creativity. Thus, all these notions form the basis for the classification of cultures. Innovative cultures are also known in the subject literature as entrepreneurial, flexible or creative cultures. The main problems ←54 | 55→of research into such types of culture are enhancing innovation⁹⁶, relationships between innovative culture and competitiveness⁹⁷, relationships between the degree of sector innovation and culture⁹⁸, links between innovative culture and organisational learning⁹⁹, and many others. Entrepreneurial organisational cultures have been researched by S. McGuire, who proposed the addition of creativity and readiness to undertaking challenges in the cultural model. Important characteristics of entrepreneurial cultures are an orientation towards people, empowerment, and the creation of values through innovation and changes¹⁰⁰.

      An organisational culture is oriented towards changes and the readiness to act in a situation where there is not enough information, as well as a tendency to take risks. Organisations with high tolerance for uncertainty do not strive to maintain the status quo, but are ready to accept internal changes and to make transformations. Usually, they adapt to changes in the environment more easily and are flexible. They attach greater significance to the openness of organisation, and not its stability.

      Conservative culture usually involves striving for a reduction of uncertainty, functioning in a context of low risk, supporting the maintenance of the status quo and emphasising the organisation’s stabilising role. The role of tradition is also stressed at the enterprise level. The variants of action and scenarios developed are of a determinist character; they assume avoiding risks, maximum limitation of the information deficit and one-option planning. In most cases, changes are treated as threats (Tab. 9).

Tab. 9: Innovative vs. conservative cultures. Source: Own work.

Features	Innovative culture	Conservative culture
Orientation towards changes	Orientation towards changes in the organisation.	Orientation towards maintaining status quo in the organisation.
Entrepreneurship	High entrepreneurship.	Low entrepreneurship and innovation.
Approach to tradition	Distance, tradition is treated as a burden.	Respect, tradition is treated as a model.