In his book Diagnosing Organizational Culture, Roger Harrison suggests that there are four types of cultures, Power, Role, Achievement, and Support. "Power" cultures have a strong leader, take care of their own, act in the best interest of the organization and all employees. Power cultures are demanding but fair, rewarding compliance, loyalty. Being a power-driver culture, the leader's wishes come first. The downside to a Power-driven culture can include: employees being afraid to give their boss (not manager) bad news, employee do not question the leaders, those with power may break the rules and take privileges. Information is power and incompetence can rise up through the ranks if loyal. While this type of culture can move rapidly, it has a number of limitations, as example it may have short-range thinking and constructive change and is limited by the leaders' vision and flexibility.

"Role" oriented cultures rewards playing by rules, written requirements, clear objectives, rules, and authority. Responsibilities are clearly defined, work methods are used to minimize variability of performance in the process. The downsides the role-oriented culture include: rules are followed even if in the way, deviating from procedures is a "sin", importance is placed on not deviating from the norm, jobs are tightly defined. It may be difficult to get approval for changes and employee may be treated as interchangeable parts.

"Achievement" cultures share a sense of urgency in the attaining of perceived worthwhile goals. Employees feel stronger and better for being a member of the team and may voluntarily do what needs to be done. Rules and regulations do not get in the way of the work at hand. Employees tend to work long hours maintaining high morale with a sense of being unique. The downside of an Achievement-specific culture may include: the "ends justify the means". Employees may be intolerance, become isolated from reality. They may cooperate only internally, having difficulty in correcting their own errors. Commitment to excellence at all cost can lead to waste and inefficiency.

"Support-Oriented" cultures by definition have employees who support each other in the work environment. They value harmony, giving time, and energy to others. Employees trust they are viewed as individuals, appreciate each other and have a sense of belonging. The downside of a support-oriented culture may include: a focus on relationships even if the work does not get done. Tough personnel decisions may not be made out of kindness. Surface harmony may cover underlying conflict. If there is no consensus, the group may be indecisive and lose direction.

You want your professional skills and insights to be used. You need access to decision makers for budget and resources. Each of these cultures requires a different approach, different negotiating skills, and levels of patience.

Consider also that various parts of the organization may have different cultures to varying degrees - sales - "achievement", production - "role", human resources - "support" and management - "power, etc."