MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Managing organizational culture



Abstract

Organizational demeanour is the study of persons and assemblies in associations. The study of organizational behavior is devoted to understanding individual and group behavior, interpersonal processes and organizational dynamics with the goal of improving the performance of organizations and the people in them. Organizational culture is the internal environment of an organization, the shared beliefs and values that influence organizational behavior

Managing organizational culture

Introduction

There are many aspects of organizational culture that determine the overall tone of organizational behavior. The purpose of this paper is to identify different aspects of organizational culture in different organizations and then compare the differences that the same aspects have on different organizations.

While research of corporate/organizational 'climate' looks at the link between individuals, groups, and performance experienced on a daily basis (communication, networking, reward systems, leadership styles), the term 'organizational culture' refers to the context in which these events occur (Chatmann and Jehn, 2004, 522-553).

Organizational culture (OC) is what a group learns over a period of time as it solves its problem of survival in an external environment and internal integration (Schein, 2000). Schein points out three areas where culture manifests itself: observable artefacts, values/norms, and basic underlying assumptions to which most researchers refer to. OC supports effective control (to regulate behaviour), normative order (to guide behaviour), and promotion of innovation (in a culture that encourages creative thinking), strategy formulation, and employee commitment. Sackmann, Phillips, Kleinberg, and Boyacigiller (1997) suggest in that respect that cultural context contains greater regional, national, industry and regional level, and within the organization a functional, hierarchy and tenure level, that are influenced by gender, profession, ethnicity and religion (Strohschneiderm 2001, 51-353).

Another aspect of OC highlights how well an individual fits an organizational context (O'Reilly, Chatmann & Caldwell, 2001). In this regard values and expectations of individuals interact with facets of the situation (incentive systems, norms) to affect the individual's attitudinal and behavioural responses. Furthermore OC-concepts guide OD and Change Management activities. The sustained interest in OC throughout the past decade has confirmed that, in order to understand and change an organization, a researcher must examine the linkages between underlying values, organizational structures, and individual meaning (Denison and Spreitzer, 2001, 1-21)

In regard to the assessment of OC it is challenging that values/norms and basic assumptions influence behaviour on a subconscious level and are therefore not directly accessible for questioning or observation. Even the examination of artefacts and their meaning remains at first on a descriptive level (in the form of typologies), because terms of measurement and correlations have not been established yet.

Organization's Culture: General Electric (GE)

Every business has its own set of values and beliefs that make up an organizational culture that is unique to each specific business. 'Organizational heritage is a complex set of rudimentary underlying assumptions and profoundly held beliefs distributed by all constituents of the assembly that function at a preconscious level and propel in significant ways the behavior of persons in the organizational context (O'Reilly, Chatmann, and Caldwell, 2001, 487-516) GE's organizational culture is ...