I found it fascinating tonight to see that the Enron Chairman based his business model and philosophy on Richard Dawkin's book The Selfish Gene. This led to the assumptions that those who get ahead are more fit (and therefore more worthy) than those who do not, and it lends justification to the values which say that whatever you do to get ahead is fine, no matter the cost.
This is the first concrete example that I am aware of which shows the movement illustrated in the Hatch article as the movement between symbol (the book) and assumption (that those who get ahead are naturally more deserving and fit). She calls this process interpretation, which makes sense considering that the process by which the contents of the book (the concept of social Darwinism) can only be internalized through interpretation, and then becomes an application when it manifests itself as values within the corporation.
Have you come across any other examples of the processes which are illustrated by the Hatch model for Cultural Dynamics?
