Organisational Culture as Organisational Identity – Between the Public and the Private

Abstract

The author discusses the notion of organisational culture and relates it to the notion of organisational identity. Culture as a group identity involves elements of stability, homogeneity and integrity but this can be very much altered through post-modern understanding of relationships between localities and their contexts. The research that was conducted in two primary schools in Slovenia is based on the symbolic notion of organisational culture. We explored what meanings are assigned to schools in public documents, during rituals and in teachers’ and headteachers’narratives. The findings indicate the co-existence of two cultures and hence of two identities, 'the public' and 'the private', the former being closer to the corporate identity and the latter to multiple identities. The managers should be aware of both and should use the in-between space for on-going discussions and negotiations.