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behavior, embedded values (e.g., sanctity of life), symbols, traditions,
myths, even language. Culture is intimately connected to the upward
and downward causation reciprocal interaction.

Culture is usually deemed to Emerge from the spontaneous interaction
of people as they evolve ‘the way things are done around here’. This is

certainly the case in the context and the creation of national cultures
and identities, but does it happen the same way inside a business?

In the Context

We suggested that you consider Emergence as a construct of the
context. This is easy to see in the context where national character and

differences emerge from multi-generational relatively slow-moving
interactions of the people and community standards of what is
acceptable formalize and evolve over time with no particular goal in
mind except perhaps the survival of the individual through the

community.

Thus, old countries have deep cultures that can, in the broadest sense,

make their reactions to say crises to a degree predictable. An example
is in our opinion, Brexit. To anyone brought up in the aftermath of
Empire and with an awareness of European and British history could
have predicted the underlying desire for sovereignty and national

control over destiny that underpinned the Brexit decision. Deeply
established political arrangements have usually evolved over long
periods and are often not transferable to other cultures. For example,

some cultures may be more suited to economic wealth creation than
others. Each has developed in its own way under the influence of its
own disruptive events. History, it could be argued, is in part the record
of the interplay of upward and downward causation.

Inside Businesses

Does the same thing occur at the business system level? We know that
organizations develop strong internal cultures. Indeed, the problem

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