Organizational culture
Workforce and Leadership
Definition. Organizational culture is the pattern of shared basic assumptions, values and norms that guide how members of an organisation think, feel and behave.
Explanation
Schein described culture at three levels: artefacts, espoused values and underlying assumptions (Schein, 2010). Safety culture is one specific facet (Guldenmund, 2000).
Sustaining culture change in health systems requires aligned leadership, structures and incentives over long periods (Willis et al., 2016).
Related concepts
Patient safety culture Change management Psychological safety Transformational leadership
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References
Guldenmund, F. W. (2000). The nature of safety culture: a review of theory and research. Safety Science, 34 (4), 215–257. See also: Safety culture, safety climate, and safety performance in healthcare facilities
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Willis, C. D., Saul, J., Bevan, H., Scheirer, M. A., Best, A., Greenhalgh, T., Mannion, R., Cornelissen, E., Howland, D., Jenkins, E., & Bitz, J. (2016). Sustaining organizational culture change in health systems. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 30 (1), 2–30. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-07-2014-0117
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Organizational culture. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/organizational-culture/