Reflection Assignment - Admission/Application Essay Example

I had been working for the organization for nearly two months and I felt that I was already familiar with its culture. The organization hired two new employees, Chin and Jake. I could see that the new employees were stressed because they felt that they were not sufficiently oriented and trained to be part of this culture. Schein’s model analyzes the cultural issues involved and presents possible solutions through matching values with workplace practices. Schein’s Model of Organizational Culture defines the culture of a social group/collective or an organization based on their underlying assumptions in analyzing and solving problems.

He believes that a “culture” is composed of “shared basic assumptions” that a group learns as they solve problems through external and internal approaches (Miller 89). These approaches have worked well in the past and are considered as valid perceptions, cognition, emotions, and behaviors that are taught to new members (Miller 89). A culture is made of past assumptions that have been continued up to present times. Besides defining “culture,” Schein asserts that a culture is a sophisticated pattern of assumptions, values, behaviors, and artifacts.

He states that culture has three levels that may not always be visible or understandable to outsiders and may have different meanings and effects on organizational members (Miller 90). Level 1 refers to “artifacts” and they are the most visible aspect of the culture because they compose the physical and social environments of the organization (Miller 90). These are the “things” and behaviors of organizational members (Miller 90). Schein asserts that, though artifacts are the most visible aspects of a culture, they are not easy to understand (Miller 90).

Level 2 pertains to “espoused values,” where values are the preferences