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ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational Culture:
y Organizational culture is an idea which describes the

psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and Values (personal and cultural values )of an organization. y It has been defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stake holders outside the organization."

y Basically, organizational culture is the personality of the

organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts) of organization members and their behaviors. y Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization. Culture is one of those terms that's difficult to express distinctly.

y For example, the culture of a large, for-profit corporation is

quite different than that of a hospital which is quite different than that of a university.
y You can tell the culture of an organization by looking at the

arrangement of furniture, what members wear, etc. -similar to what you can use to get a feeling about someone's personality.

Elements of Strong Culture

y Widely shared philosophy y Concern for individuals y Recognition of heroes y Belief in ritual and ceremony y Well-understood sense of the informal rules

and expectations y Belief that what employees do is important to others

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How Organization Cultures Form

The Basic Functions of Organizational Culture

Organizational Culture/basic functions

Provides a sense of identity for members

Enhances commitment to the organizations mission

Clairifies and reinforces standards of behavior

How Organizational Cultures Have an Impact on Performance and Satisfaction

EXHIBIT

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Characteristics of organisations culture

y Innovation and risk taking y Attention to detail y Outcome orientation y People orientation y Team orientation y Aggressiveness y stability

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Levels of culture

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How Employees Learn Culture

Stories Rituals Material Symbols Language

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Cultures Functions
y Culture is the social glue that helps hold an organization together by y y y y y
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providing appropriate standards for what employees should say or do. It has a boundary-defining role. It conveys a sense of identity for organization members. It facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger than ones individual self-interest. It enhances social system stability. It serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behaviour of employees.

Types of culture
y Distribution and concentration of power can be one basis of

y y y y

classifying cultures. From this point of view organisationl culture can be four types Autocratic Bureaucratic Technocratic Entrepreneurial

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y Autocratic y This type of culture is primarily

concerned with following proper protocol and is dominated by dependency, and a climate with affiliation as its secondary. y People are trusted on the basis of relationship .The top managers control the organisation and employ their own in group members who are extremely loyal to these leaders. The ethos of such a culture is closed, mistrustful, and self seeking .

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y Bureaucratic y It is

concerned with proper rules and regulations. Rigid hierarchy rules the organisation. It is more important to follow rules and regulations here than to achieve results. y The ethos is characterised by playing it safe, lack of collaboration and being closed.

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y Technocratic y Specialists play major role in the organisation. y Expert power is dominant. The organisation pays attention to the

needs and welfare. The ethos is positive, autonomy, collaboration and experimentation.

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y Entrepreneurial y It is primarily concerned with results and customers. y Its climate is generally that of achievement, or concern for

excellence and extension. In such a climate employees work on challenging tasks.The ethos is positive.

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Development of culture
y To develop a culture of organisation

a "SIX

BIG'P' template can be looked into.

y To develop a high performance culture that in tune

with human behavior and human relation, management should concentrate on effective utilization of the six 'p' factor in the organization.
y Here management style play critical role in

determining the culture of the organization

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y . Under each 'p' factor different managerial

functions are incorporated. It can be elaborated as follows. y Which include; y Price y Policy y Preferences y Practice y Politics y Power.

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y A self explanatory SIX BIG'P' template and its

resultant manifestation are given in the diagram below. functions are incorporated. It can be elaborated as follows. system of the organisation. It includes both material and non-material system of the organisation.

y Under each 'p' factor different managerial

y Price: The price factor consists of the reward

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y Practices: The practice factor that related to the

relationship and development maintenance factors like Teamwork, Innovation, Mentoring, and Coaching union approach towards the management and management's rigid rules and regulations towards the working population. managerial processes like Delegation, Decisionmaking, Communication and Leadership.

y Politics: The political factors include the trade

y Power: The power factor consists of major

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y Preferences: The preference factor consists of major

psychosocial needs like Safety, Security and Career Growth of individual employees within the organisation. y Policy: The policy factor consists of policy decisions that related to Rationalization, Downsizing, Grievance Handling and Recruitment and training within the organisation.

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Changing Organizational Culture

y Culture is most likely to change when:
y There is a dramatic crisis y There is a turnover in leadership y The organization is young and small y There is a weak culture

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Exhibit 9-6 Culture Typology

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y Networked culture (high on sociability; low on solidarity).

These organizations view members as family and friends. People know and like each other. The major negative associated with this culture is that the focus on friendships can lead to a tolerance for poor performance and creation of political cliques.

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y Mercenary culture (low on sociability; high on solidarity).

These organizations are fiercely goal-focused. People are intense and determined to meet goals. Mercenary cultures aren't just about winning; they're about destroying the enemy. The downside of this culture is that it can lead to an almost inhumane treatment of people who are perceived as low performers.

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y Fragmented culture (low on sociability; low on solidarity).

These organizations are made up of individualists. There is little or no identification with the organization. In fragmented cultures, employees are judged solely on their productivity and the quality of their work. The major negatives in these cultures are excessive critiquing of others and an absence of collegiality.

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y Communal culture (high on sociability; high on solidarity). This

final category values both friendship and performance. People have a feeling of belonging but there is still a ruthless focus on goal achievement. The downside of these cultures is that they often consume one's total life. Their charismatic leaders frequently look to create disciples rather than followers, resulting in a work climate that is almost "cultlike."

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