Rev.esc.adm.neg
The aim of this research is to analyze the cultural features of three indigenous production organizations in the municipality of Toribío, in the department of Cauca, Colombia. The investigation uses a qualitative methodology based on the organizational ethnography and the analysis of emerging cultural categories. The results include points of cultural convergence that have been institutionalized on the basis of the context and characteristics of the environment, which are specific to the communities and the ethnicity to which the three organizations belong. There are cultural features that show similarity among the three units of analysis, such as the language, the legends, the myths, the heroes, the beliefs, the religion, the mingas, the interpersonal relations, the labor relations, the norms, the policies, the rules, the formal organization, the relationship with stakeholders, the customs, and the informal organization. However, there are points of cultural divergence that are related to basic assumptions, values, symbolism, infrastructure, work environment, social projection, and leadership, and which are constituted as the product of the internal characteristics of the organizations and the way they have developed over the years. The study concludes that the way in which the cultural characteristics are materialized, developed, and symbolized differs for each organization, with some being more indigenous-traditional and others more western-modern.
