Rituals Case

Rituals

Definition: Rituals are the programmed routines of daily organizational life that dramatize an organization’s culture (McShane. Organizational Behavior. 2010)

Summary: The article titled “Business cultures”, Geert Hofsteded, director of the Institute for Research on International Co-operation (IRIC) discusses the various components within an organizational business culture which can be seen in four components: rituals and values, symbols and heroes. He clarifies that the diversity of individual cultures within the organization necessitates managerial understanding because it will benefit them in “predicting present and future behaviors.” Also, due to the complexity of cultural differences both domestically and abroad, Geert encourages accepting and understanding these various components of culture, such as rituals, in order to help manage within the organization and attain its goals successfully. (Hofstede, 2011 )

Discussion:

In order to understand rituals it is imperative to define culture, "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another" (Hofstede, 2011 ). The definition helps to appreciate how these rituals within cultures are based, specifically within an organization’s business group. Furthermore, because of the diversity in culture, business rituals within departments can vary from within the same business firm.

There has been extensive studies on the topic of rituals within the sociology and anthropology works, for that reason this topic “mediates between individual actions, beliefs and social norms,” (Zyphur, 2009) and consequently leads to contrasting influences within the people of each organization. In business organizations during the course of every department, you will find “business rituals” are existent and an ongoing process. Additionally, its practices and norms are subjective to