Unlike espoused values, basic assumptions are unconscious; they are “taken-for-granted beliefs, habits of perception, thought, and feeling”. In organizations, they ensure that members pay attention to the same things in the same ways, interpret them in similar ways, and react similarly emotionally. They are in fact the least visible and the most difficult to discover element of organizational culture. However, because these assumptions are the least visible and most ingrained, they may also result in very serious problems when different organizational cultures meet. The correct answer is D.