Theoretical analysis of educational administration as presented by advocates of corporate culture is inappropriately applied to the analysis of schooling. The corporate culture model has diverged from the "New Sociology of Education" approach, which interprets administrative processes as cultural politics (Bates 1983). That "corporate culture" is a commonly held system of beliefs and behaviors in organizations was documented 30 years ago by Whyte (1956). Whyte's concern about the effects of organizational life on individual self-concept is not expressed by contemporary advocates of corporate culture, who treat organizational culture as managerial culture (Deal and Kennedy 1982). Technological transformations are provoking alterations in the social organization of work, from traditional worker controls to bureaucratic manipulation of company culture. This new rhetoric has been swiftly transferred to the schooling processes; for example, Dunigan (1985) favors manipulation of school culture in the pursuit of excellence--a parallel to the managerial notion of "success." Analyses of school and community cultures suggest that good administrators develop a collaborative basis in the articulation of cultural politics. Commitment to education and democratic values means advocacy involvement by teachers, pupils, and parents and implementation of such values. Seventy-seven references are included. (CJH)