Freemasonry as a normative organisation

Freemasonry can be best described as a 'normative' organisation. Albert and Whetten who did some of the ground-breaking research into organizational identity referred to the concept of the 'claimed central character'. Writers on organisational culture, meanwhile, refer to a strong culture but were unclear about how this would be operationalised in an organisation.

Freemasonry has a strong culture, because it has a defined central character - a clear credo that members are expected to adhere to. This manifests itself in expectations the behaviour on members. In this way Freemasonry is similar (but not the same as) many of the great religions of the world. These are based on the normative standards of good citizenship behaviour. Church is a good example of a normative organisation.