Beyond Organizational Boundaries

Abstract

Many of the meanings of organizational symbols, rituals, stories and roles are ultimately given by the larger social context in which all organizations operate, so to understand the symbolic properties of an organization fully it is important to look beyond any individual system. This paper examines a set of beliefs called the managerial metamyth, a portion of the belief system that underlies much organizational symbolic activity. Examples are given of the metamyth `s presence in the macroculture, in the academic subculture, and in the managerial subculture.