METAPHOR CLASSMATES

Order Description
RESPOND TO THE TWO BELOW CLASSMATES, DEAN AND LOUREN,
TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION THEY ANSWERED WHICH IS:
How do the organizational metaphors assist us in describing organizational culture?”.
RESPOND IN A MINIMUM OF 200 WORDS AND A MAXIMUM OF 300 WORDS TO EACH CLASSMATE.
3 REFERENCES EACH. DO NOT USE BRITISH REFERENCES OR UK REFERENCES.
MAKE SURE THAT THE SPELL CHECK IS IN UNITED STATES ENGLISH IN WORD AND NOT UNITED KINGDOM.
I WILL PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO RESPOND TO THE CLASSMATES.

REFERENCES:
Sire (2009). The universe next door. (Chapters 3-4)
Daft (2012). Organization Theory. (Chapters 4,5,6)
Morgan (2006). Images of Organizations. (Part II, chapters 5-9)
DEAN’S RESPONSE TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION:
Geert Hofstede, a renowned social psychologist best known for his theory of cultural dimensions which has become a standard resource for identifying cultural differences around the world, describes culture as “the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from those of another (1980, p. 24).” Pettigrew speaks to culture being the “continuing sense of what…reality is all about in order to be acted upon” and the “system of such publicly and collectively accepted meanings operating for a given group at a given time (1979, p. 574).”
Jelinek, et al argue that the study of organizations and organizational culture has been moving from basic concepts of function into more intricate analyses of an organization’s ethical discernment and its underpinning rationalizations (1983). As such, they posit that culture is a “root metaphor for organization studies (Jelinek, 1983, p. 331).” Pettigrew also identifies “symbols” as representative of the outward expression of culture and states, “Symbol construction serves as a vehicle for group and organizational conception (1979, p. 574).” Thus, is established the concept of organizational culture and symbolic illustrations to decipher its complexities.
Morgan, in concurrency with Jelinek and Pettigrew, uses many metaphors to illustrate the growing complexity of understanding organizational culture. Starting with simple observations of organizations as machines and evolving the complexity into characterizations of organizations as organic brains, cultural constructs, political systems, and psychic prisons, he paints a picture of the multifaceted manifestations of the deep complexities which makeup organizational culture and which lead to even more intricate models of organizational theories embodied in metaphors of transformation and domination (2014). These metaphors make these complexities much more accessible to the layperson to conceptualize and relate. They simplify the complex to enable a greater understanding of the intricacies involved in the formation of organizations and to enhance the study and analysis of organizational culture.

References:
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture and Organizations. International Studies of Management & Organization, 10(4), 15-41.
Jelinek, M. S. (1983). Introduction: A Code of Many Colors. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28(3), 331-338. doi:10.2307/2392245
Morgan, G. (2014). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Pettigrew, A. (1979). On Studying Organizational Cultures. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(4), 570-581. doi:10.2307/2392363
EXAMPLE OF HOW TO RESPOND TO DEAN:
As Dean has surmised, the use of metaphor aids the layperson to understand complex subject to simple terms. “Metaphors behave as powerful forms of organizational language because they communicate symbolic meaning beyond the obvious content of the words” (Billups, 2011, p. 1). Simply put, metaphor is another way of understanding one thing in term of another.
There are common business metaphors that we hear every day describing organizational culture. Take for instance, “to keep one’s head above water.” If you literally grasp the meaning, it tells us that people could stay underwater for a short period before they drown. Likewise, in business, in portrays an organization that faces financial instability. Morgan (2006) illustrated 8 organizational metaphors to explain inherent organizational issues. Simplest of metaphors is Organization as Machines. This describes a hierarchical structure where communication is pushed top down or centralized.
How does one uncover the culture or subculture of an organization? Cultural characteristics can be observed, from the perspective of an outsider, on how employees interact, the language used and rituals of daily routines (Lulic, 2014). The corporate culture has been researched since the 1970’s when Japan became a prominent force in sales and marketing in the auto industry.
Organizational culture considers the human behavior from shared beliefs to day-to-day operations. Furthermore, the level of organizational culture could be visualized as an iceberg. The top iceberg considers behaviors or physical settings, whereas, the iceberg beneath the ocean considers values, beliefs and attitudes (Lulic, 2014).
Organizational metaphors are important because they convey complex ideas into common language that is understood by all, comprehending the underlying principle. Daft (2012, p. 386) best describes culture as “the set of values, norms, guiding beliefs and understandings that is shared by members of an organization and taught to new members as the correct way to think, feel, and behave.” Metaphors merely are not words and/or languages spoken, but symbolic. The human thought processes is a conceptual system. In other words, we are metaphorically structured and defined as human beings.
References
Billups, F. (2011, January 1). “Exploring Organizational Culture Through Metaphor Analysis” by Felice D. Billups. Retrieved from https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/highered/8/
Daft, R. L. (2016). Organization theory and design (12th ed.). Independence, KY: South-Western College Pub.
Lulic, A. (2014, September 27). Culture as Metaphor in Organizations by amelin Lulic on Prezi. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/4_sdyhlrhct4/culture-as-metaphor-in-organizations/
Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

LOUREN’S RESPONSE TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION:
Nelson Mandela once said that “if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head; however, if you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart” (BBC, n.d.). Parry (2008) explains that metaphors speak a common language to its audience (p. 11). A common language!
It could be said that when an engineer designs a machine it is designed with programming whereby certain interdependent parts function in a specific sequence and anchor with precise and defined points of resistance and rigidity (Morgan, 2006, p. 21). In the approach to organization, theorists attempted to achieve a similar design with organizational culture (Morgan, 2006, p. 21). An organizational structure whereby the patterns of authority, direction, discipline, and subordination of the individual to general interest ensure commands issued from the top management effectively siphon through to all the lower levels of the organization precisely the determined way to create precisely the determined effect (Morgan, 2006, p. 21).
It could also simply be said that Organizations are machines.
Taken literally, metaphors convey absurdity (Duit, 1991, p. 651). However, according to Duit (1991), the absurdity of metaphors gives it its power, for without the absurdity it would merely be a literal statement (p. 650). Another reason for the apparent absurdity of metaphors appears in the fact that the grounds of comparison are hidden (Duit, 1991, p. 650). Metaphors surprise readers, due to its absurdity, and thereafter provokes anomaly; like in the example above, this anomaly provokes the mind to discover the basis of comparison of the metaphor (Duit, 1991, pp. 650-651).
How can organizational culture be described by using incited discovery? Simply put: metaphors come to our rescue by aiding our imaginations to fully grasp complex ideas (Duit, 1991, p. 653); consequently, metaphors rephrase complex ideas of organizational culture into a common language that even a child can understand.

References
BBC (n.d.). Learning English – Moving words. Retrieved March 28, fromhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/movingwords/shortlist/mandela.shtml
Duit, R. (1991). On the role of analogies and metaphors in learning science. Science Education, 75(6), 649–672.
Morgan, G. (2006). Images of organization. California: Sage Publications.
Parry, K. W. (2008). The thing about metaphors and leadership. International Leadership Journal, 1(1), 6–23.