Understanding Service through a Multi-tiered, Multi-level Framework for Teaching and Applying Culture

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This session will examine service as a cultural artifact, a behavior that reflects cultural values and assumptions. In doing so, we will tie into Edgar Schein’s well-known framework that culture consists of three elements from the most tangible (artifacts and values) to the most tacit (assumptions). We will expand that framework to recognize that cultures as social systems are nested within each other. The result is a 3 x 3 matrix encompassing Schein’s three elements along with three levels of socio-cultural integration: society, organization, and group. Session participants will discuss service examples using this analytical tool.

Author(s):

Anthony DiBella    
Eisenhower School for National Security
United States