L. Kung-Shankleman, What is organisation culture
In my text below ‘how does technology get involved in social live?’ I wrote about the question whether technology just infects the society, without negotiations. The main argument against this deterministic approach is that the people who shape these technologies are part of the society, so the influence is the other way around as well; society influences technologies. Basically this counts for every product on the market. Some of the best products were considered by people who just needed something that didn’t exist, like ice cubes-sacks.
L. Küng-Shankleman wrote in her article ‘What is organization culture?’ about things that influenced the output of a company. Among these things where the founder, basic assumptions, ideas of new staff members, and stakeholders. All these things were combined in the organization culture. She calls the organization culture a mysterious force whose strength needed to be harnessed. My interest goes to the role of the founder. And my question is; how are Walt Disney’s ideas mirrored in the films in his company?
Walt Disney is dicribed in many different ways. On of them is; a man whose modest mission was simply "to bring happiness to the millions." Going along with the gag, he implied that the task was easy for him because he always whistled while he worked: "I don't have depressed moods. I'm happy, just very, very happy." His goal of bringing happiness is still visible in al the Disney cartoons. If ‘finding nemo’ doesn’t make you happy, you’re not human.
M. De Mooij (1998) Global marketing and advertising; Dimensions of culture.
An advertisement says a lot about the culture in which it exists. That’s why advertisers can’t use the same advertisement in two different countries. I mean real different countries; sure
What do I have to take in mind to use an advertisement in another country?
To answer this question I take the next advertisement of BMW which was placed in an American magazine. And to make it extra fun I want to advertise this car in
First look ad the ad at this site: BMW sedan.Click BMW and look at the middle ad. (I know i wanted the ad to be on this blog, but it wouldn't let me)
The ad shows a comparison between a formula 1 car and the BMW sedan they want to sell.
Text on the ad:
M3
Propelled by a 3.2-liter power plant, the M3 Sedan sees
To answer my question I will use Hofstede’s Five Dimensions of Culture which was published in De Mooij’s article Dimensions of Culture.
The first one is Power Distance. This defines the acceptation of unequal power spread.
The second is Individualism versus Collectivism. Do people just take care of the selves (and close relatives) or the group of people that surrounds them. Americans are more individualistic than the Japanese. A Japanese ad would probably be better if it shows an entire family. Instead of 4 men, on the formula 1 car, who all look businesslike. This is off course connected to the Power distance; in the
The third is Masculinity versus Femininity. Masculinity is defined by the success you have, Femininity by your social values and quality of life. Masculinity, is connected to quantity, and is shown in this ad by the data shown;
The fourth is Uncertainty Avoidance. This shows the avoidance of situations you don’t want to happen, because you don’t know whether you like the outcome or not. The Americans score low on this scale, which means they’ve got a high sense of adventure. This is shown in the ad by the comparison of the BMW sedan with a formula one car. De Mooij’s article doesn’t say anything about Uncertainty Avoidance in
The last is Long-term Orientation. Is a culture future orientated; does it do long-term thinking? Americans has short-time thinking; everything has to be fast. You better show your success as soon as possible. So why not buy this car?
Summarized the Japanese ad should show less data, but has to show that this car is a car for a lifetime, in which your entire family can be happy; it should show it is save, and that nature loves it. Japanese ads contain more symbols, like happy faces, and less text.
Sean Nixon (2003) Advertising Cultures
Give an example for the statement of Lash and Urry; the advertisement industry is paradigmatic of trends occurring in the cultural industries.
Advertisements an commercials show what’s going on within a culture. What’s really big now is attaching music stars to your brand name. Like the next Pepsi commercial.
This shows that pop music is really big in the culture in which the commercial is shown. Pepsi gives away free singles of the stars the have under contract. This stuff is done by many other organizations as well. Smitch chips had a deal with Looney tunes. And Nike with a lot of major sports people.
Angela McRobbie; From holloway to Hollywood.
In this article McRobbie writes about the fact that society and economy are become more and more enculturalized. Culture is playing a bigger role in economy nowadays. Creativity is a key feature for this new development. A lot of companies depend on the creativity of individuals. As a result a lot of people start their own creative company. My question is; How is this shift towards creativity in culture visible in the new media?
I think that the Internet is the perfect example of the need for creativity. Not only do companies need creative persons, the people self want to express their creativity. This is done very often by people who have their own web site. Even young kids can do it! Look at this link. http://www.kidsturncentral.com/topics/computers/htmakewp.htm
Next to creativity ‘youth’ is an important factor in the present society. Apparently young people can bring healthy new ideas into a company. So this development, younger people being creative, is not a bad one.
Another question McRobbie answers herself is; what are the consequences of this new type of society? “Permanently transitional” work, she says; people move from job to job, without a secure income. And self-employment means no sickness-benefit, no union, and most important, no pension plans. In between assignments means no pay, just like the Hollywood system (no movie; no money).
