Re-Thinking Our Model of Management in the Light of the Cultural Dimension — A Systemic Approach to the Company

The hierarchical, mechanical, and rational model of management is no longer suited to our present complex and unpredictable business context. We propose that the current concerns of managers such as the style of management, change, innovation, organizational learning, cultural diversity, multicultural team management, corporate social responsibility (CSR), etc. be discussed in the light of a systemic approach to the organization where the cultural dimension is situated. Culture is a complex concept that is not something that can be assessed as different, but as “Sensemaking”. Corporate culture is more than just a set of values; it fulfills a double role with regard to construction of identity and to integration. The systemic approach views the organization in a holistic way and tries to see the various components of the company as a part of the whole (instead of looking at them separately), focusing particularly on their interactions and consistency in a clear and expressed global vision. All business functions can be seen in this double reading, the cornerstone of organizational analysis. This chapter is a condensed version of major ideas taken from an extensive research project conducted over several years by the team of MIME of the ICHEC, Brussels Management School. We invite the reader to read the book Au Coeur de la Dimension Culturelle du Management, by the authors Pierre Dupriez and Blandine Vanderlinden (under the supervision of), to be published soon.