The Little Book of Big Management Theories

THEORY 43

GRAVES’ CULTURAL LEADERSHIP THEORY

Use to identify the dominant culture in your organisation.

Desmond Graves argues that organisational culture can be understood by looking at the character of the people who run the organisation. He identifies four possible cultures:

Source: Adapted from Graves, D., Corporate Culture: Diagnosis and Change: Auditing and Changing the Culture of Organizations (Palgrave Macmillan, 1986).

Pharaonic cultures are dominated by individuals. They are bureaucratic and ego-driven. Cultural leadership is maintained through a passionate respect for status, rituals and order.

Barbarian cultures are dominated ...