evel of commitment each member feels to the organization, which is the whole purpose of corporate culture. Commitment is defined as the "totality of internalized normative pressures to act in a way that meets organizational goals and interests" (Organizational Culture, p. 370). Thus, in a strong culture, a large majority of the members feel a very strong commitment to the organization.
Despite the fact that corporate culture generally exists as an unwritten and largely-undefined system of values, there are some common elements to corporate cultures as a rule. First, corporate culture involves shared values or social ideals about the proper behavior in various organizational situations (Organizational Culture, p. 371). That is, there is generally a common understanding as to how things operate and are done within the organization. Second, overarching guiding beliefs direct the more down-to-earth daily beliefs of the organization. Interestingly, the authors note that a common problem in companies is that daily beliefs often diverge from the guiding beliefs, leaving the organization's members to question the organization's own commitment to its stated guiding beliefs (Organization Culture, p. 371). Third, visible expressions of the culture such as rituals, myths, stories, and symbols operate to reaffirm the organization's commitment to its guiding beliefs. Finally, the authors note an inherent bias that a "strong" culture, characterized by widespread and strong guides to behavior, is better than a "weak" culture, which has virtually no common values or beliefs held by a significant number of organizational members (Organizational Culture, p. 371). The authors disagree with such an assessment, however, stating that there is little empirical support for such
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