BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Business Management

Business Management

Question 1(a)

The term culture, from the Latin word cultus, refers to the cultivation of the human spirit and the intellectual faculties of man. Its definition has been changing throughout history. The concept has been associated with the combination of human civilization and progress. In general, culture is a kind of social fabric that covers various forms and expressions of a society. Therefore, customs, practices, rituals, dress and behavior standards are topics within culture. (Alvesson, 1993, 21-30).

According to analytical approaches, culture can be classified and defined in various ways. For example, there are scholars who have divided culture in topical (includes a list of categories), historical (culture and social heritage), mental (complex of ideas and habits), structural (patterned and interrelated symbols) and symbolic (meaning arbitrarily assigned that are shared by a society) ways. Culture also may differ according to the degree of development: early (those cultures with little technical development and innovation), civil (updated through the production of new elements), pre-literate (writing not included) and literate (use of both written and oral language) (Morgan, 1993, 212-217).

Question 1(b)

Culture is one of the organizational pillars to support all those organizations who want to be competitive. Organizational culture is a system of values ??and beliefs shared by members of the organization, expressing the collective objectives of the organization and methods of achieving them. Franchises or businesses, regardless of the size they are, have a culture and an organizational climate of their own. This is when there are a number of common meanings, where each employee's personality characterizes them and unlike other companies, determines an influence that the culture of the organization holds the members of the same. When the company is able to consolidate their cultural patterns, it takes on a certain lifestyle. The organizational culture is related to the written and unwritten rules of a company, which employees must continue to "operate" properly within the company. This may include: strategic plans (vision, mission, goals etc.) and aspects of administrative and human resources, for example procedures for training, take vacations, absences, among others.(Antonucci, 2004).

Following are the types of culture one can observe in an organization:

The culture of power, is typical of organizations that are a power in the business world. Since these are primarily supplemented by key individuals, which are the center of power, these organizations do become monopolies, because they act too quickly and effectively react to different situations.

The culture of the function, is a culture that is based on the bureaucracy of individuals, as its pillar is the professional field workers, their values ??are determined by the logic and reason. In this culture is more important description of the individual professional behavior in the professional, the organization confers power, and is likely to view their future career path as their job security is very high.

The culture of the task, this type of culture is one that vislumbraa a finished work, in which the majority of its members meet in teams to perform a specific task and ...