The Espoused Values and Basic Assumptions Embedded in the Story and HRM Processes

Storytelling is a powerful tool within organizations as the unique imagery of a story can convey a powerful message about the organizational culture. According to Michael Diamond

[t]o access latent meaning and a deeper understanding of the experience of

organizational members, and the impact of that experience on actions, metaphor can be a powerful tool for reconstructing the intersubjective world of organizational life—

the organizational identity. (214)

Whereas John Luhman and Ann Cunliffe in their chapter on Organizational Culture claim that

[c]ulture management can act as a counterforce to diversity and autonomy, it can limit opportunity and reinforce gender, racial, or class barriers and stereotypes because employees are subordinated to taken-for-granted assumptions and meanings. From this perspective, culture stifles difference by ‘reducing reflection, questioning and dialogue’ (Alvesson, 2002: 142). For example, Boje's (1995) study of Disney demonstrated how a storytelling organization could marginalize the voices of those who have an alternative story to tell – one that might portray a darker side to the official, idealized, or sanitized image of the organization. Members of any organization use stories to make sense of, as well as find meaning in, their

organizational reality, and stories in a storytelling organization can change over time, depending from whose viewpoint the stories were being told or revised.

A more optimistic perspective argues that organizational members are capable of interpreting social structures and their prescribed roles because culture, like any system of social order, involves a dynamic relationship between meaningful behavior (the application of rules in a social context), habit (the propensity to continue with the same behavior), and reflectiveness (an awareness of possible alternative rules)

(Winch, 1958: 45–65). Change, or even emancipation, is possible given the capacity of members and groups for reflectiveness (122).

Rowling uses storytelling and legends about past incidents in Hogwarts to define social prescriptions suggesting the expected behavioural norm on how things should be done. In essence Rowling’s series is a story that aims to effectively communicate the cultural values of British society to the reader through Hogwarts. Her series is layered and she effectively communicates and establishes acceptable norms and values through her characters’

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understanding and experiences. Rowling’s stories and legends, such as the chamber of secrets and the story of the “boy who lived”, are undoubtedly an effective means to communicate cultural values. For example, the legend of the chamber of secrets essentially demonstrates how a cultural division between houses is established. The chamber of secrets was built by Salazar Slytherin and only the heir of Slytherin was capable of opening the chamber in parseltongue. Once the chamber was open the monster inside would be set free to kill and destroy all the mud-bloods within the school, finishing the original work of Salazar (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 16). Throughout the century many witches and

wizards had searched for the chamber, to no avail, and the chamber of secrets was assumed to be a terrifying fictional legend. This negative legend is fundamental in discerning social context and provides the reader with knowledge about Hogwarts. Michael Armstrong explains that from an organizational perspective this type of culture “…is formed around [historical and actual] critical incidents… from which lessons are learnt about desirable or undesirable behaviour” (306). The legend of the chamber of secrets mimics the contemporary elitist and prejudicial attitudes of society. In contrast to the chamber of secrets, the story of Harry Potter’s survival of the deadly curse that “took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even ‒ but it didn't work on you”, establishes hope and a desired view point that inspires a collective culture (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 45). Thus, the patriotic tales and the school’s stories clearly outline the historical boundaries of Hogwarts’

collective and suggest that certain things are incompatible and cause separation or division within a collective. Therefore, the stories aim to articulate our most primitive values such as good versus evil, whilst motivating the reader to evaluate how everyday life is perceived. In correlation to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions the most obvious cultural aspect is that of power, masculinity, individualism and uncertainty. There is a distinct message that conveys the struggle between male and female between the houses, where the individualism of

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Slytherin suggests a selfish isolation and hunger for power, and the conflict between the houses foreshadows the uncertainty that looms over the school. Storytelling in the light of Hogwarts actually represents the shift in the British cultural value system and asks the reader to reflect on currently typical British values in a multicultural nation.

The architectural design and layout of Hogwarts reflects the masculine dimension of British culture, but there are also further symbols and rituals that ensure that the British value system is reflected through Hogwarts’ culture, rituals and symbols that can be translated into HRM specific processes, policies or interventions which reflect cultural assumptions.

According to Steven McShane and Mary AnnVon Glinow in their book Organizational Behavior there are three approaches commonly referred to when discussing cultural

influences: “[the] actions of founders and leaders, introducing culturally consistent rewards

… and selecting and socializing new [students]” (463). The latter is of significance as the sorting hat is a sentient historical artifact that once belonged to Goderic Gryffindor and plays an integral role in selecting Hogwarts’ students. The sorting hat as a symbol of the selection and socializing of students points to the deeply embedded value system operating here. The Hogwarts’ selection method is technically unreliable and unrealistic, as the selection process is different from the actual recruitment process. Noe et al. posits that “human resource recruitment is defined as any practice or activity carried on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees” (194). Though the sorting process does identify the potential characters best suited for a particular house, it fails to attract potential students to houses. In essence, the sorting hat simplifies a very complex process, as it determines who will enter Hogwarts as well as in which house they will be placed. Therefore, the sorting hat symbolises the recruitment process that is a common practice in the field of HRM theory. When certain dimensions of Hofstede’s model are applied, the values of diversity and cultural awareness are questioned. The recruitment

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process is a significant practice in the HRM department as sourcing, selecting and retaining the right candidates contributes to the sustainability and longevity of an organization. By hiring the right people for the job the competitive advantage of the organization is increased and its position in the market upheld, especially if an organization should encounter

tumultuous times. This process is equally as important for Hogwarts since selecting the wrong students for a house would impact the stability of the subcultures that support the collective culture. The hat sorts students into houses, facilitates cultural generalizations about each house, and thus imposes its cultural ideologies. These cultural ideologies are expressed through the emotional journey of the characters as it is a process which all characters must undergo. Moreover, it is a process the reader can relate to, as Hofstede et al. claims that groups “have a persistent need to classify others” (Cultures and Organizations 16). The reader is able to identify with Harry’s insecurities about not being selected and the “sick”

feeling that accompanies the moment before an individual is placed (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 89). The nervousness of being “last to be chosen” produces

“horrible thoughts” aligned with social rejection, and is a common fear involved in any selection (Rowling, Philosopher’s Stone, 89-90). However, the students’ preference for a particular house predetermines the emotional response towards other characters whilst at the same time creating stereotypical assumptions that support the reader’s own discrimination.

Simultaneously and unconsciously the sorting hat invokes favouritism for a house in the reader. In other words, the discriminatory process of the sorting is masked by characters’

fear of rejection whilst the hat’s interest in protecting the cultural influence is contradictory as it warns not to “judge on what you see” whilst separating the students according to their differences (Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 88). However, though the recruitment process is necessary to reach a desired end there are questions concerning the cultural bias embedded in the process. When seeking candidates for a position, HRM creates

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profiles that consist of desired competences and character traits to ensure that the right individual is selected for the open position. However, according to Huib Wursten in his article “Intercultural Issues in Recruitment” the desirability of these skills differs per country and per culture. He claims that organizations rarely take cultural differences into account and as a result the impact of a skill or competency of an applicant in the work space is culturally specific so that the process is often “constrained by its cultural context” (Wursten,

“Intercultural Issues in Recruitment”). The question that remains to be asked is whether the sorting hat symbolises the cultural constraints embedded in British society. During the sorting process the hat expresses a form of behavioural profiling when placing students in their house. This type of job profiling is aligned to what Allen Bluedorn calls polychronicity in organizational culture: a “template for behavior that is held largely out of conscious

awareness and often so well institutionalized that it is taken for granted as the only way to do things…” (120). For example the hat’s role is to reinforce a cultural fit and group cohesion by dividing the students into houses, where they will be prone to adopting the cultural expressions of the house. The sorting process aims to strengthen the collective unity as each subculture is intended to support the overall organizational culture. At the same time, a generalised theme of diversity and segregation is introduced as each fictional student is placed in a house that resonates with the values of their own cultural beliefs. From a business perspective there is nothing wrong with such cultural alignment as the lack of behavioural diversity within an establishment supports cultural uniformity. Interestingly the uniformity of each subculture reflects Britain’s low ranking in Hofstede’s power distance index (PDI) (Culture Compass). According to Hofstede’s findings the British believe that inequalities among people should be reduced. Nevertheless,

[t]he PDI score at first seems incongruent with the well established and historical British class system and it exposes one of the inherent tensions in the British culture – between the importance of birth rank on the one hand and a deep seated belief that where you are born should not limit how far you can travel in life. A sense of fair play

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drives a belief that people should be treated in some way as equals. (Hofstede, Culture Compass)

Thus, when the sorting hat is taken out of its context and viewed in the light of a cultural value, the lack of behavioural diversity questions whether clustered uniformity is actually an asset or whether it drives social dysfunctionality in the British value system. This implies that Hogwarts’ recruitment process acknowledges that diversity is an expectation within the British value system, but that it is not yet one that is fully integrated in society.