ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Theories of the Nature of Organizational Culture



Theories of the Nature of Organizational Culture

Introduction

The organizational culture is a major theme of academic research in the theories of organization and its management. This is because the cultural dimension is central to all aspects of organizational life, even in those organizations where cultural values appear to receive little attention; the way you think, feel, and act is driven by ideas, meanings and beliefs belonging to a cultural vision which is socially shared. However, the role of culture has not always been given importance in the organizations which it deserves. In fact, the first attention to this important subject can be found in the literature only in relatively recent times.

Discussion

The paper will first discuss the critical reviews of the theories of organizational culture and innovation. Firstly, we will begin to discuss the cultural theme as the interventions of Kurt Lewin who is considered as a pioneer in this case. He was a psychologist and among the first to study the dynamics of groups and development of organizations. In 1946, the director of the Inter-racial Commission of Connecticut commissioned a training workshop with the overall aim of strengthening the role of leadership in the community, and to give more strength to interracial relationships (particularly between Jews and Christians) to employers, trade unionists and teachers to better address the tensions between groups. The idea was to find ways of changing the attitudes of people and provide them with a greater understanding of their values and actions. The training was consisted of lectures, role plays and group discussions. After the training, in the evening, many researchers met to evaluate their work, while discussing the behavior of people who were seen during the day. Some participants asked to take part in the discussions of the evening, on which Lewin agreed. The evening discussions became so much profitable that the participants' intervened interpretation that researchers provided to their behavior, and the way of explaining their point of view, arose discussions on a much complex level, that the participants themselves admitted that the evening discussions drew more benefits than the work day, while becoming more sensitive to their own behavior and that of others (Hofstede 1997, 47).

Learning situations based on the belief that the individual has a need of the group to establish his or her identity, to give meaning to their lives and develop their potential. They studied themselves and, in doing so, they learn and change. All of this happens simultaneously, here and now, in the space of group life.

In the '50s, this method of learning began to be used within organizations to change the values of managers, their attitudes towards human relations, and to improve their interpersonal relationships, increase their leadership skills, their competencies, and so on. In short, the T-groups had joined the organization as methods of exploration, awareness and changing the culture of the group.

Critical Review of the Theories of Organizational Culture and Innovation

The limited domain theory of Miner ...