ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
What is Organisational Culture?
• Culture is the soul of the organization—the
beliefs and values, and how they are manifested.
• Culture provides stability to an organization and
gives employees a clear understanding of “the
way things are done around an organisation.”
• Culture sets the tone for how organizations
operate and how individuals within the
organization interact.
Definition of Organizational Culture
• Organizational culture is the pattern of shared
values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the
appropriate way to think and act within an
organization.
The key features of culture are as follows:
• Culture is shared by the members of the organization.
• Culture helps members of the organization solve and
understand the things that the organization
encounters, both internally and externally.
Definition of Organizational Culture Cont’d
• Because the assumptions, beliefs, and
expectations that make up culture have worked
over time, members of the organization believe
they are valid. Therefore, they are taught to
people who join the organization.
• These assumptions, beliefs, and expectations
strongly influence how people perceive, think,
feel, and behave within the organization.
Levels of Culture
• Artifacts - These are what you see, hear, and
feel when you encounter an organization’s
culture. You may notice, for instance, that
employees in two offices have very different
dress policies, or one office displays great
works of art while another posts company
mottos on the wall.
Levels of Culture
• Beliefs, Values, and Assumptions, unlike
Artifacts, are not always readily observable.
• Beliefs are the understandings of how objects
and ideas relate to each other.
• Values are the stable, long-lasting beliefs
about what is important.
Levels of Culture
• Assumptions are the taken-for-granted
notions of how something should be.
• When basic assumptions are held by the
entire group, members will have difficulty
conceiving of another way of doing things.
Characteristics of Culture
• Research suggests that seven primary
characteristics capture the essence of an
organization’s culture:
• Innovation and risk-taking. The degree to
which employees are encouraged to be
innovative and take risks.
• Attention to detail. The degree to which
employees are expected to work with precision,
analysis, and attention to detail.
Characteristics of Culture
• Outcome orientation. The degree to which
management focuses on results, or outcomes, rather
than on the techniques and processes used to achieve
these outcomes.
• People orientation. The degree to which management
decisions take into consideration the effect of
outcomes on people within the organization.
• Team orientation. The degree to which work activities
are organized around teams rather than individuals.
Characteristics of Culture
• Aggressiveness. The degree to which people
are aggressive and competitive rather than
easy going and supportive.
• Stability. The degree to which organizational
activities emphasize maintaining the status
quo in contrast to growth.
Function of Culture
Culture performs a number of functions within an
organization:
• It has a boundary-defining role because it creates
distinction between one organization and others.
• It conveys a sense of identity to organization members.
• It helps create commitment to something larger than
an individual’s self-interest.
• enhances stability; it is the social glue that helps hold
the organization together by providing appropriate
standards for what employees should say and do.
Do Organizations have Uniform Cultures?
Organizational culture represents a common perception held by
the organization’s members.
• Dominant culture
A system of shared meaning that expresses the
core values shared by a majority of the organization’s
members.
• Subcultures
Mini-cultures within an organization, typically defined by
department designations and geographical separation.
Do Organizations have Uniform Cultures?
• Core values
The primary, or dominant, values that are
accepted throughout the organization.
Contrasting Organisational Cultures
How a Culture Begins
• An organization’s current customs, traditions,
and general way of doing things largely owe to
what it has done before and how successful
those previous endeavours have been.
How Organizational Cultures Form
How Organizational Cultures Form
• Once a culture is in place, human resource
practices within the organization act to maintain it
by giving employees a set of similar experiences.
• For example, the selection process, performance
evaluation criteria, training and career
development activities, and promotion
procedures ensure that new employees fit in with
the culture, rewarding those who support it and
penalizing (even expelling) those who challenge it.
How Organizational Cultures Form
• Three forces play a particularly important part
in sustaining a culture:
• Selection practices,
• The actions of top management
• Socialization methods.
Selection
• The explicit goal of the selection process is to
identify and hire individuals who have the
knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the
jobs within the organization successfully.
Top Management
• The actions of top management also have a major
impact on the organization’s culture.
• Through what they say and how they behave, senior
executives establish norms that filter down through
the organization.
• These norms establish whether risk-taking is
desirable; how much freedom managers should
give their employees; what is appropriate dress;
what actions will pay off in terms of pay raises,
promotions, and other rewards; and the like.
Socialization
• No matter how effectively the organization recruits
and selects new employees, they are not fully
trained in the organization’s culture when they
start their jobs.
• Because they are unfamiliar with the organization’s
culture, new employees may disturb the beliefs
and customs that are in place. The organization
will, therefore, want to help new employees adapt
to its culture.
• This adaptation process is called socialization.
Matching People with Organizational
Cultures
• Research by Goffee and Jones provides some
interesting insights on different organizational
cultures and guidance for prospective
employees.
• Goffee and Jones argue that two dimensions
underlie organizational culture.
The Two Dimensions
• The first is Sociability
• The second dimension is Solidarity
Sociability
• This is a measure of friendliness.
• High sociability means people do kind things
for one another without expecting something
in return and they relate to each other in a
friendly, caring way.
Solidarity
• It considers the strength of the group’s task
orientation.
• High solidarity means people can overlook
personal biases and rally behind common
interests and common goals.
Four Culture Typology
Networked culture
High on sociability, low on solidarity
• Organizations with this type of culture view
members as family and friends. People know and
like each other. People willingly give assistance to
others and openly share information.
• The major downside to this culture is that the
focus on friendships can lead to a tolerance for
poor performance and creation of political
cliques.
Mercenary Culture
Low on sociability, high on solidarity
• Organizations with this type of culture are fiercely goal-
focused. People are intense and determined to meet goals.
• They have a zest for getting things done quickly and a
powerful sense of purpose. A mercenary culture is not just
about winning; it is about destroying the enemy. This focus
on goals and objectivity leads to a minimal
degree of politicking.
• The major downside to this culture is that it can lead to
an almost inhumane treatment of people who are
perceived as low performers.
Communal Culture
High on sociability, high on solidarity
• Organizations with this type of culture value both
friendship and performance. People have a feeling of
belonging, but there is still a ruthless focus on goal
achievement.
• Leaders of these cultures tend to be inspirational and
charismatic, with a clear vision of the organizations’
future.
• The major downside to this culture is that it often
consumes employees’ lives.
Fragmented culture
Low on sociability, low on solidarity
• Organizations with this type of culture are made up of
individualists.
• Commitment is first and foremost to individual members
and their job tasks. There is little or no identification with
the organization.
• In a fragmented culture, employees are judged solely on
their productivity and the quality of their work.
• The major downside to this culture is that it can lead to
excessive critiquing of others and an absence of
collegiality and cooperation.
• END
