Organizationalculture

Organizationalculture
Organizational culture Definition of organizational culture
Organizational culture, also called corporate culture, is one of the most important fields in management as it is an ideal way to form a unified organization. There is no single definition for organizational culture. The topic has been studied from a variety of perspectives ranging from disciplines such as anthropology and sociology, to the applied disciplines of organizational behavior, management science, and organizational communication. But it always relates to how the members in organization react in their group. Some expert definite it as “A set of understandings or meanings shared by a group of people that are largely tacit among members and are clearly relevant and distinctive to the particular group which are also passed on to new members (Louis 1980).” Some assert it is “A system of knowledge, of standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating and acting . . . that serve to relate human communities to their environmental settings (Allaire and Firsirotu 1984).” I prefer to define it as “the sum total of an organization's past and current assumptions, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold it together, and is expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, express or implied contracts, and written and unwritten rules that the organization develops over time and that have worked well enough to be considered valid”(Schein 1995). Organizational culture contains four parts. The first part is the way the organization runs its business and now the organization treats its employees, customers, and the wider community. Secondly, the level of
freedom is allowed in decision making, developing new ideas, and personal expression. Third, the way the power and information flow through its hierarchy. Fourth, the strength of employee commitment towards collective objectives. In my opinion, the first part is key part of culture in company as it contains both insides employees’attitude and outside image to the customers.
The role of organizational culture
There are many practices within an organization that tend to build a unique culture and keep a culture alive and measure the cultural fit between the organization and its employees. Cultural forms function as the linking mechanism by which networks of understanding develop among employees. (Trice and Beyer, 1993) The cultural forms shown in the table on pages 293-94 act as a medium for communicating ideologies, values, and norms. Cultural forms enable leaders to transmit messages about desirable culture to influence thinking and ways of behaving. Cultural forms also address the emotional aspects of organizations that are commonly referred to as cohesion or camaraderie. The organization's culture can be reinforced by many human resource practices such as selection, performance appraisal, training, and career development. Organizational beliefs also tend to influence the work norms, communication practices, and philosophical stances of employees. In the first place, organizations use a socialization process to adapt new employees to the organization's culture. If employees do not adapt well, they feel increasing pressure from supervisors and from coworkers who are better acculturated. They might stay and fight or even leave the organization, voluntarily or involuntarily, and look for a different organization whose culture they fit better.
In contrast, employees who understand and share the organization's values have a better basis for making choices that match the firm's goals. Many organizations compete through innovation. Therefore when most employees understand and support the organization's expectations, less time is spent explaining, instructing, and building consensus before trying something innovative. Moreover, the error level will be lower in most cases. Employees who are well acculturated also find their work more meaningful: They are part of, and contribute to, something larger than themselves. Thus, a good cultural fit between employees and the organization contributes to employee retention, organizational productivity, and profit.
Comparison of organizational cultures
Different organizational cultures have different effects on corporations. A good
culture can cheer up the employees and encourage them to work efficiently. However a poor culture tends to limit the talent of employees and bring harm to the corporation. Thus a company’s organizational culture plays a vital role in its success. Therefore how to choose a suitable organizational culture is very vital. An excellent company's culture helps it attract the best talent available people in the industry. Take Google Inc as an example. Google is one of the few companies that has successfully blended technological innovation with strong organizational culture which is very interesting. This culture has helped Google become one of the fastest and most useful web search engines around; it had also helped Google to become one of the top 100 companies to work for according to Fortune (2007). Google maintains a casual and democratic atmosphere and the company do not boast a large middle management. Teams are
made up of members with equal authority and a certain level of autonomy is maintained. Google rewards their employee's hard work with an extremely relaxed workplace that encourages creativity through fun activities such as roller hockey and through a casual dress code. Google also encourages their employees to take care of their minds and their bodies by offering them the ability to work out in the gym and get a massage inside the company building. In this way, Google attracts a great deal of highly skilled people to work for it and it encourages them greatly. Germany organizational Culture, another type of organizational culture, is totally different from Google’s. Due to the social culture of integrity and rigorous attitude, German organization tends to do business and train employees in a strict and meticulous way. Employees are expected to tackle problems according to rules and regulations strictly. Enterprise efficiency and social responsibility are the company’s core value. To be more exact, Germany organizational culture inner side is cultivating the teamwork spirit and showing respect to stuff. Outer side is improving product quality and establishing a positive corporate image. With this type of organizational culture, there are several successful companies, such as Siemens, BMW and AUDI
Conclusion
There is no prefect organizational culture but every company should find their own
suitable culture to organize their work. An understanding of organizational culture, and how to transform it, is a crucial skill for leaders trying to achieve strategic outcomes. Strategic leaders have the best perspective, because of their position in the organization, to see the dynamics of the culture, what should
remain, and what needs transformation. This is the essence of strategic success. Only with a strong and positive organizational culture, can company be successful.
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