THE KEY ELEMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

A set of norms and values

Symbols and symbolic action used to develop and nurture the values and norms

Set of shared values/dominant beliefs that defines the organizations priorities

The above three areas are all interlinked to one another: Symbols and symbolic actions are used to nurture the norms. E.g. the organizations logo and slogans or the activities of an executive visiting the factory floor to speak to the employees. Shared values and beliefs specify what is important and need to be shared by everyone in the organization. Shared values and beliefs have to be strong enough to develop norms of behavior or informal rules. Norms suggest what is appropriate or is not. They guide peoples behavior. Strong or weak culture? Strong culture is marked by the organizations core values being both intensely held and widely shared. A weak culture lacks uniformity and has limited commitment. (peters and waterman) it is important to see whether a strong culture is always desirable. The content of the culture must match the objectives and the environment of the organization.

 A strong culture will only work if the company wishes to innovate and is operating in a dynamic environment. A strong culture will always be difficult to change than weaker one, certain loyalties might restrict change. Problems can clearly arise in a merger/takeover situation where two different cultures might clash. Advantages of strong cultures: Strong cultures increases commitment to the organization and the consistency of behavior of its members. Having a clear mission and agreed values removes ambiguities and can replace the need for more formal controls. Strong culture (appropriate culture) can be a crucial factor at determining the performance of the organization and the individual Types of cultures: Power culture: One major source of influence and power (owner/manager) Influence spreads out from the central power source along the strings (lines) The rings represent the center of activity. Power culture is found in small entrepreneurial organizations and its structure is best pictured as a web Size is a problem for power cultures; the web can break if it links too many activities Role culture: People describe their job by its duties not by its purpose There is emphasis on hierarchy and status Role cultures offer a predictable rate of climb up a pillar Role cultures are found where economies of scale are more important than flexibility and where product innovation is less important than technical expertise. Task culture: People describe their job in terms of the results they are achieving. The structure of the task culture can be represented as a net

 Task culture is found where there is team work is established to achieve specific tasks. Person culture: Exists to satisfy the requirements of certain individuals Small highly participative environment where individuals undertake all the duties themselves. (barrister in chambers) Person culture is represented as a cluster of stars Anthony and handy: Anthony devised the management levels and superimposed Handys culture model associating each management level with a type of culture. Management levels superimposed on cultural model:

Psychological factors effecting individual behavior: For each individual there are many factors that effect behavior and performance at work: Motivation levels (may be different for different things)

 Perception (how does the employee perceive the situation according to its priority and importance) Attitude (refers to persistent feelings and behavior tendencies directed towards specific persons, groups, ideas etc. Personality-influences an individuals behavior and performance Synergy: Synergy describes the phenomenon in which the combined activity of separate entities has a greater effect than the sum of the activities of each entity working alone. One person cannot do it all, but a team can combine all the main areas of skill and knowledge that are needed for a particular job. Synergy operates not just by reducing the time taken to carry out the task in proportion to the number of people working on it, but has the effect of improving the quality of the work of participants by better organization and an improved flow of ideas. (note: synergy however does depend upon a common purpose if the members of the team do not have a common purpose they cannot move forward) Team management: A team is a formal group working together with a common objective. It has a leader and a distinctive culture. Characteristics of teams include: They share a common goal They enjoy working together They have a shared commitment to achieve the goals and objectives They are diverse individuals They have great loyalty to the project Team members must have an over-powering reason to be working together. They must need each others skills, talent and experience in order to achieve their mutual goals. The importance of a team lies in the fact that as an organizations projects get more and more complicated, only a combined effort of diverse skills can work out the problem. Projects by definition require very high job performance. As a result projects must use a diverse team of specialists. Team building:

Team building is the process of removing obstacles that prevent team from working effectively and planning how to improve the overall performance of the team. However before team building there has to be recognition that something must be done to form a team. The team members could themselves feel this need. This process can be inward looking, with the team members examining and evaluating the ways in which they work and react with each other. The outward process would involve the team leader setting out to focus the teams effort on real, existing problems facing the group.