Business Organization and Behavior Cultures

Answer 1)

Organizational culture are a sets of values, norms and beliefs that are reflected in an organization's structures and systems, including its customs, stories, symbols, traditions and rituals, and the language in which all these facets are expressed. In common parlance, we talk of the differing atmospheres and differing ways of doing things in different organizations ('the way we do things here'). One company may be very sales oriented, another in the same industry may be more profit focused. Others, again, may be more people oriented, or innovation oriented. Intuitively, therefore, organizational culture is easily appreciated, but it is hard to define in a formal sense. It can be described as a system of shared meaning, which ensures everyone is working to the same goals (Hitt, 66). But this definition remains rather vague.

All organizations will have some form of culture, and it can be regarded positively or negatively. On the positive side, it delineates an organization (from other organizations), gives those in an organization a sense of identity and purpose (beyond narrow self-interest), provides a social fabric (helping employees to see where they fit in) and helps to define and enforce the 'rules of engagement' in an organization (employees come to know what they can or cannot do). If all these aspects are well-defined (i.e. there is a strong culture), it is easier to see whether an employee will 'fit' into the organization or not. This has an impact on selection and recruitment, promotion and status, and employee retention. It is also easier for suppliers, customers and consumers because they will tend to be treated consistently by all employees. However, there may be negative consequences. A strong culture may act as a powerful barrier to change (a serious problem if the business environment demands change, as senior managers have found at corporations such as IBM and the BBC). It also may be unhealthily risk-averse and conformist, e.g. employees hiring only in their own image, rather than thinking about the requirements of the job and who best meets these requirements (Sirower, 32).

Answer 2)

The introduction of a formal counterinsurgency doctrine and the placement of its godfather, General David Petraeus, in command in Iraq fundamentally shifted the operating environment for commanders on the ground. The “surge” was not the first attempt at counterinsurgency in Iraq, but previous efforts lacked a coherent and widely endorsed doctrinal framework. Without a COIN doctrine, there was no guarantee that counterinsurgency efforts—no matter how promising—would be continued by new units moving into the theater. The COIN manual's key elements—population security and improving governance—are the correct focuses for units executing counterinsurgency, and the formal codification of those elements in a doctrinal manual ensures that commanders who execute them will not see their efforts undermined by adjacent units or the units that succeed them.

In a very frank account, Crider points out that the “local population is involved in the insurgency/counter insurgency battle whether they want to be or not” (2009, 7). He admits that he made ...