People and Organizations : Principles and Practice in Global Contexts - Organizational Culture - Blog # 8

People and Organizations: Principles and Practice in Global Contexts -                                             Organizational Culture – Blog # 8    

Organizational culture defined

Organizational or corporate culture is the pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that may not have been articulated but shape the ways in which people in organizations behave and things get done. ‘Values’ refer to what is believed to be important about how people and organizations behave. ‘Norms’ are the unwritten rules of behavior.

This definition emphasizes that organizational culture is concerned with the subjective aspect of what goes on in organizations. It refers to abstractions such as values and norms that pervade the whole or part of a business, which may not be defined, discussed or even noticed. Nevertheless, culture can have a significant influence on people’s behavior. The following are some other definitions of organizational culture:

 ● A strong culture is a system of informal rules that spells out how people are to behave most of the time (Deal and Kennedy , 2000: 15) .

● The culture of an organization refers to the unique configuration of norms, values, beliefs and ways of behaving that characterize the manner in which groups and individuals combine to get things done (Eldridge and Crombie , 1974: 89).

 ● Organizational culture offers a shared system of meanings that is the basis for communications and mutual understanding (Furnham and Gunter , 1993: 70–71).

● Culture is a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with the problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to these problems (Schein, 1990: 110).

How organizational culture develops

The values and norms that are the basis of culture are formed in four ways. First, by the leaders in the organization, especially those who have shaped it in the past. Schein (1990) indicates that people identify with visionary leaders how they behave and what they expect. They note what such leaders pay attention to and treat them as role models. Second, as Schein also points out, culture is formed around critical incidents important events from which lessons are learnt about desirable or undesirable behavior. Third, culture develops from the need to maintain effective working relationships among organization members that establishes values and expectations. Finally, culture is influenced by the organization’s environment, which may tend to be dynamic or unchanging. Culture evolves over time as a result of shared experiences. Schein (1984) suggested that this is a learning process which takes place either through the trauma model, in which members of the organization learn to cope with some threat by the erection of defense mechanisms, or by means of the positive reinforcement model, where things that seem to work become embedded and entrenched. Learning takes place as people adapt to and cope with external pressures, and as they develop successful approaches and mechanisms to handle the internal challenges, processes and technologies in their organization. Where culture has developed over long periods of time and has become firmly embedded it may be difficult to change quickly, if at all, unless a traumatic event occurs.

The diversity of culture

The development process described above may result in a culture that characterizes the whole organization. But there may be different cultures within organizations. For example, the culture of an outward-looking marketing department may be substantially different from that of an internally focused manufacturing function. There may be some common organizational values or norms, but in some respects these will vary between different work environments.

The components of culture

 Organizational culture can be described in terms of values, norms, artefacts and management or leadership style.

Leadership and Culture

Organizations largely function by means of managers and supervisors who exercise leadership in order to get their teams into action and ensure that they achieve the results expected of them. Goleman (2000) reported that a study by Hay McBer of 3,871 executives, selected from a database of more than 20,000 executives worldwide, established that leadership had a direct impact on organizational climate, and that climate in turn accounted for nearly one-third of the financial results of organizations. The conclusion from research conducted by Higgs (2006) was that leadership behavior accounts for almost 50 per cent of the difference between change success and failure. Research by Northouse (2006) into  167 US firms in 13 industries established that over a 20 year period leadership accounted for more variations in performance than any other variable.

Power

Organizations exist to get things done; in the process of doing this, people or groups exercise power. Directly or indirectly, the use of power in influencing behavior is a pervading feature of organizations, whether it is exerted by managers, specialists, informal groups or trade union officials. It is a way of achieving results, but it can be misused.

Politics

 Political behavior is an inevitable feature of organizational life. The aim of organizational politicians is to get their own way by influencing people to accept their point of view without going through the usual channels or relying on their authority. Some individuals genuinely believe that the best way to get something done is by using political means, especially when they are frustrated by the normal decision processes. Others unashamedly pursue their own ends. Political behavior can be harmful when it is underhand and devious, but it can sometimes help to enlist support and overcome obstacles to getting results. All managers need political skills, but because of the nature of their role, such skills are particularly important for HR specialists.

Emotional intelligence

The notion of emotional intelligence was first defined by Salovey and Mayer (1990), who proposed that it involves the capacity to perceive emotion, integrate emotion in thought, understand emotion and manage emotions effectively. Goleman (1995) popularized the concept. He defined emotional intelligence as: ‘The capacity for recognizing our own feelings and that of others, for motivating ourselves, for managing emotions well in ourselves as well as others.’  He suggested that its four components are:

 1 Self -management

 2 Self-awareness

 3 Social awareness

 4 Social skills

References

Caker and Erturk, 2010. Empowering and performance. Journal of small business management, pp.78-82.

Coleman, 2000. Leadership and culture.

Deal and Kennedy, 2000. Organizational culture.

Eldridge and Crobie, 1974. Organizationa and culture.

Furnham and Gunter, 1993. Culture in Organizations.

Goleman, 1995. Leadership and organizational culture.

Higgs, 2006. Leadership Behavior.

Northouse, 2006. Leadership.

Salovey and Mayers, 1990. Emotional Intelligence.

Schein, 1984. Organizational culture.

Schein, 1990. Oganizational culture.