Ouchi

21 Pages 5133 Words

Because cultural assumptions are so commonplace, ubiquitous, so taken for granted by participants that they do not even think of them, the researcher must use methods that probe underneath the conscious public behaviors of organizational participants. To do this, researchers generally depend on methods that seek to decipher the patterns of behavior, speech and artifacts that are found in organizations in an effort to discover the assumptions 7#45; never discussed by participants because they are considered to be so evident, so commonplace as to not need discussion - that give rise to these patterns.
The general principle underlying research methods for seeking this understanding of the hidden assumptions in an organization is that the inquiry can only be done through a joint effort between an insider and an outsider [l]. Researchers have widely interpreted this principle as limiting data-gathering methods to the usual ethnographic techniques of observation, interviewing and the analysis of documents.
Having done some ethnographic work in schools [2], the authors became convinced that it would be helpful to develop a paper-and-pencil technique to facilitate the joint effort of insiders and outsiders to understand the culture of schools. As this was considered, it became evident that in order to develop an inventory instrument it would be necessary to be clear and explicit about the concept of organizational culture and the wellsprings from which it arises. In this article, the theory of organizational culture from which the authors are working is described and explained, and how it informed the development of a paper-and-pencil instrument, which called the Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory (OCAI).

* This article has been edited and adapted to the Internet by the senior author. It was originally published in the Journal of Educational Administration Volume 27, 1989, Number 3. With permission of the publisher, MCB Unive...