Reframing Organizations, 7th Edition

Chapter 12Organizational Symbols and Culture

For eight hundred years, neighborhoods in Siena, Italy, have competed twice each summer in a horse race known as the palio. Each side has its club, hymn, costumes, museum, and elected head. A crowd of more than 100,000 gathers to witness a 75‐second event that people live for throughout the year. Riding under banners of the goose, seashell, or turtle, jockeys attack one another with whips and hang on desperately around 90‐degree turns. The first horse to finish, with or without rider, wins. “The winners are worshipped. The losers embarrass their clan” (Saubaber, 2007, p. 42).

 

In July 2007, 22‐year‐old Giovanni Atzeni won the race in a photo finish. His followers were ecstatic. A young woman shouted, ...