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TEACHING NOTE FOR ‘THE TALE OF A BEEHIVE’

I. Title of the Case – The Tale Of A Beehive

II. Objectives –

The objectives of the case are:

(A) Helping the students/ trainees see cultural values as an invisible

force i.e. priorities that are deeply ingrained.

(B) Sensitise the students to possibilities of conflict within an

organisation arising due to cultural differences.

(C) Role of organisational culture in accomplishing its role and

objectives in the broader societal context.

(D) Explore the means of socialisation of members of an organisation.

III. Audience – The case can be used in classes or trainings dealing with

organisational cultural and its role in the functioning of the organisation. It can be

used both in academic programmes and in management development

programmes. The case will work best with a group of 5-6 participants.

It will be better if the participants have some knowledge of organisational culture,

it’s genesis and role in advance of the discussion/ analysis of the case. In this

context the suggested reading is:

Schein, E. H. (1984). Coming to a New Awareness of Organizational Culture,

Sloan Management Review, 25:2, pp. 3-16

IV. Number of teaching sessions needed – One session of 75- 90 minutes will

allow for an exhaustive discussion on the case. The participants are to come

prepared by reading about organisational culture and it’s role external adaptation
by the organisation. The case study and the reading assignment are to be given to

the students at least 3 days prior for the participants to read and prepare their

responses for initial discussion. They are to discuss the case in small groups of 5-

6 students within the class.

V Author’s analysis of each question raised–

1. What is the reason for differences of opinion between Dr. PK and

the Manager of the Knowledge Service Center (KSC)? What may

have been the prognosis of the events in the case had the beehive

not been burnt?

Points – Participants may point to the possible differences in

background, training, religion etc. The prognosis would indicate

chances of clients and employees being stung by the bees in the future

and thus enhancing the negative feelings among the employees. These

negative emotions would have undermined the achievement of KSC’s

mission. Prodding on the part of the facilitator would be required for

the participants to contemplate the implications at a deeper level.

Higher quality responses will emphasise that there are differences in

priorities being placed by the two key protagonists and that these

priorities have been ‘learned’ thus indicating that values reflected in

the priorities are learned, implying that culture is learned and hence

can be unlearned. Even deeper analysis may point to the differences in

basic assumptions of the two key protagonists.

2. What does this incident tell you about the culture and the health of

the Knowledge Service Center (KSC)? Do you think that the


culture of KSC is helping KSC play it’s role in the society i.e.

fulfill it’s mission?

Points –Higher quality responses will point to the existence of a

relatively weak organisational culture as evidenced in the divergent

values and priorities on the part of the two key protagonists, with all

the implications of a weak organisational culture. It is also evident

that values held by protagonists are probably originating in their

background and are hence not aligned to the needs of the KSC and

Knowledge Organisation as dictated by the role of the organisation in

the society which may be reflected in the mission of the KO and the

consensus ideology which Chetwode motto seems to instil in military

cadets. The participants should be guided to realise that variations of

prognosis, if they occur regularly, will result in the organisation

underperforming on a regular basis due to values/ priorities of the

employees being misaligned with the mission and internal integration

needs of the KSC and Knowledge Organisation (KO).

3. What aspects of the organizational culture of the Knowledge

Service Center (KSC) need to be changed? Why? How can cultural

change be brought about?

Points – The participants may mention flexibility and empathy as

desired in the situation. The two themes to be emphasised in the

discussion on this issue are need for instilling inter-cultural sensitivity

and aligning the culture of the organisation with the mission or

purpose (mission as a manifestation of strategy) of the organisation.

Here the mission of KSC has been substituted by the business of


Knowledge Organisation. Training and teaching can be considered as

means of socialisation apart from the leaders of the organisation

embodying the priorities and values of the organisation, the case study

hints at it by mentioning the training of army officers. Enlightened

analysis by participants of the multi-cultural context is likely to

surface the need for conflict pre-emption and management, by

surfacing it and using conflict management as means of instilling and

changing organisational culture. Superior analysis will identify the

External Adaptation and Internal Integration needs of creation and

dissemination of knowledge and how the organisational members may

be socialised with these.

The author is an Assistant Professor with Dr. Y S Parmar University of

Horticulture and Forestry, SOLAN (HP) 173230 INDIA, E-mail :

kapiluhf@yahoo.com

Postal Address:

Dr. Kapil Kathuria,

Department of Business Management,

Dr. Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry,

SOLAN (HP) 173230 INDIA

E-mail : kapiluhf@yahoo.com

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