Definition of culture:

This definition of culture identifies three stages of cultural phenomena:

Primary assumptions, values, & artifacts.

1 Basic assumptions are the situation taken for granted in an organisation as the "correct" way of doing the other things. They constitute the core of culture and are the hardest to change.

2  Values refer to a sense of what "ought" to be and they lay at the further higher level of culture.

3  At the most superficial level,

4  Artifacts are the overt behaviours and other physical manifestations of culture. These could commonly be observed directly and are simpler to change than assumptions and values. Among other things, artifacts involve procedures followed, technology used, & the ways of communicating. Unfortunately, changing the artifacts commonly does not lead to change of culture. To do that, one has to eventually change the values and primary assumptions.