The Power of Team Culture

This course is part of Culture-Driven Team Building Specialization

Instructor: Greg Urban, Ph.D.

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23,421 already enrolled

5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

541 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

8 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

5 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

541 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

8 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

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Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Culture-Driven Team Building Specialization

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There are 5 modules in this course

Behind the success and failure of teams lies team culture. But what exactly is culture? How and why does it contribute to success and failure? In this course, you learn how to recognize aspects of team culture of which most people are typically unaware. It is often these seemingly unimportant aspects that have the greatest effect on the outcomes of group tasks. Your recognition of them enables you to form, join and lead teams more effectively. You also come to appreciate the role of ritual and symbols in the daily operation of teams, as well as in situations of change and crisis. Knowledge of the ideas and information in this class enables you to be a better team player and a more effective team leader.

What's included

2 readings

In this unit, we will begin by defining the "team" and then proceed to explore what enables teams to function, the role that culture plays in every team, and how "habitus" and "cultural fit" could affect our performance in specific teams.

What's included

13 videos2 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts

13 videos Total 63 minutes

1.1 Introduction 2 minutes
1.2 What are Teams? 5 minutes
1.3 A Closer Look at Culture 5 minutes
1.4 Culture as Cultivation 6 minutes
1.5 Being Unaware of Culture 5 minutes
1.6 Expectations and Realities 4 minutes
1.7 The Little Cultural Things that Matter 6 minutes
1.8 Culture Shock 6 minutes
1.9 Habitus 4 minutes
1.10 Characteristic Ways of Speaking within the Team 5 minutes
1.11 What We Say Versus What We Do 5 minutes
1.12 Hiring and Cultural Fit 4 minutes
1.13 High Culture 6 minutes

2 readings Total 20 minutes

Shakespeare in the Bush by Laura Bohannan 10 minutes
Hiring as Cultural Matching: The Case of Elite Professional Service Firms 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Why Culture Matters in Organizations 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

What teams are you a part of? 10 minutes
Have you ever experienced culture shock? Share your experience! 10 minutes

Sometimes we must take a step back and view cultural differences from perspectives different from what we're used to. Cultural boundaries exist everywhere. Differences can be found within one culture as well. Have you ever considered that a smile isn't just a simple natural response? In this unit we delve deeper into culture and the differences amongst various cultures, including corporate culture.

What's included

12 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

12 videos Total 59 minutes

2.1 Two Examples of Cultural Boundaries 5 minutes
2.2 Why Police Boundaries 4 minutes
2.3 Culture in Motion 5 minutes
2.4 Golden Arches East 4 minutes
2.5 The Art of Smiling 6 minutes
2.6 The Right to Fire 5 minutes
2.7 The Law of Jante 5 minutes
2.8 Cultural Relativity and Ethnocentrism 5 minutes
2.9 Avoid Stereotyping 5 minutes
2.10 A Checklist of Little Differences for Business 5 minutes
2.11 Gestures as Boundary Marker 5 minutes
2.12 Corporate Personhood 5 minutes

2 readings Total 20 minutes

Crossing Cultural Boundaries 10 minutes
Cultural Relativity & Moral Judgments 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Corporations in Culture 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

Bryan Brothers Chest Bump, have you seen it? 10 minutes

Rituals and symbols can be found in every team. They can evoke affect, or feeling, as you will see. Speech, or stories have symbolic meaning too and can do wonders to motivate a group of individuals. In this unit we will examine a number of rituals and symbols, as they exist in their various forms, and discover the way in which they are utilized in teams.

What's included

12 videos2 readings1 assignment1 discussion prompt

12 videos Total 61 minutes

3.1 Burning the American Flag 5 minutes
3.2 Team Mascots 5 minutes
3.3 The Concept of the Symbol 4 minutes
3.4 Transference of Affective Quality 4 minutes
3.5 The Motivational Video 5 minutes
3.6 People as Symbols 5 minutes
3.7 The Pragmatics of Motivational Speech 6 minutes
3.8 Symbolic Meaning of Stories 4 minutes
3.9 Instrumental Symbols: The Gavel 5 minutes
3.10 Individual and Collective Rituals 6 minutes
3.11 Types of Rituals in Business 6 minutes
3.12 Initiation, Enhancement, and Group Worship 6 minutes

2 readings Total 20 minutes

Symbols 10 minutes
Rituals & Culture 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Rituals & Symbols in Organizational Culture 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt Total 10 minutes

Harley-Davidson York Transformation Video 10 minutes

In this unit, we will examine inertia, change, and metaculture, introduce interest as a force at work on the motion of culture as well as provide a conclusion to the concepts covered in this course.

What's included

12 videos1 reading1 assignment

12 videos Total 63 minutes

4.1 Culture in Time 5 minutes
4.2 The Inertial Forces 5 minutes
4.3 Habit and Drift 5 minutes
4.4 Inertia and Change: An Ancient Egyptian Case, Part 1 6 minutes
4.5 More on Reflective Culture or Metaculture as a Force 5 minutes
4.6 Inertia and Change: An Ancient Egyptian Case, Part 2 5 minutes
4.7 Inertia and Change: An Ancient Egyptian Case, Part 3 6 minutes
4.8 Secret to Successful Cultural Change 5 minutes
4.9 Introducing the Force of Interest 5 minutes
4.10 Interest at the Interface between Different Inertial Patterns 6 minutes
4.11 The Conditional Motion of Culture 6 minutes
4.12 Conclusion 6 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Rules, Ultimate Causes, and Cultural Motion by Greg Urban 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Effecting Cultural Continuity & Change 30 minutes

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Instructor

Instructor ratings

(111 ratings)

Greg Urban, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania

1 Course 23,421 learners

Offered by

University of Pennsylvania

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Reviewed on Nov 17, 2017

So interesting and simple to grab. The professor is fantastic, and excellent at giving real life, appealing examples.

Reviewed on Oct 26, 2022

very interesting understanding different cultures. As we are in an evolving world it is important that we get familiar wiith different cultures

Reviewed on May 3, 2020

Got an amazing experience in online education with this course and bunch of new knowledge. I would like to thank coursera and University of Pennsylvania team for offering me a financial aid.

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