Organizational culture

Session 9 -8th January 2012

Recognizing and managing organizational culture Organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is something which is created and resides in the minds of people. Organizational culture conveys the beliefs and ideas of the goals that need to be pursued by and the appropriate standards of behavior the members of the organization utilize to attain their respective organizational goals. The organizational values in turn develop the norms, guidelines and expectations for appropriate behavior of employees while in a particular situation as well as control behavior of the members with one another. The elements of organizational culture are a set of shared values and norms that control members interactions with one another and with outside stakeholders such as customers and suppliers. The culture of the organization can be tiered into 3 levels based on their visibility and how closely they are adhered to in the organization. The first level is Artifacts and Behavior. Artifacts and behavior are the most visible components of organizational culture. They include the physical layout of the workplace and observable behavior of its employees. The next level is Values. Values are less visible than behavior but they can be seen as they influence observable behavior of the individuals working in the organization. Level of Assumptions and Beliefs. They cannot be actually seen, but they are so well ingrained in the employees that they come out quite naturally because that is the way the organization thinks.

Primary Characteristics of Organizational Culture The unique 'behavior' of an organization can be attributed to the makeup of the values that it espouses - the organizational culture. It is important to understand the primary characteristics of organizational culture that help shape up the organization's 'personality'. These are very general characteristics that every organization would have to look into, otherwise the culture would seem incomplete. Although all these characteristics are at some level a part of every company, the importance and individual interpretation of each differs from business to business, thus making each business unique in its own way.

There are 7 primary characteristics of organizational culture. 1. Innovation and Risk Taking: Risk and returns go hand in hand. Places where you take a risk (calculated risk of course!), the chances of returns are higher. Same goes for innovation. You could either be a follower or a pioneer. Pioneering has its share of risks, but at times it can also have a breakthrough outcome for the organization. Thus, innovation and risk taking is one of the main characteristics of organizational culture defining how much room the business allows for innovation. 2. Attention to Detail: Attention to detail defines how much importance a company allots to precision and detail in the workplace. This is also a universal value as the degree of attention the employees are expected to give is crucial to the success of any business. The management defines the degree of attention to be given to details. 3.Outcome Orientation: Some organizations pay more attention to results rather than processes. It is really the business model of each business that defines whether the focus should be on the outcome or the processes. This defines the outcome orientation of the business. 4.People Orientation: This is still one of the most contentious issues in organizational culture today. How much should be the management focus on the people? Some organizations are famous for being employee oriented as they focus more on creating a better work environment for its 'associates' to work in. Others still are feudal in nature, treating employees no better than work-machines. 5.Team Orientation: It is a well-established fact today that synergistic teams help give better results as compared to individual efforts. Each organization makes its efforts to create teams that will have complementary skills and will effectively work together. 6.Aggressiveness: Every organization also lays down the level of aggressiveness with which their employees work. Some businesses like Microsoft are known for their aggression and market dominating strategies.

7.Stability: While some organizations believe that constant change and innovation is the key to their growth, others are more focused on making themselves and their operations stable. The managements of these organizations are looking at ensuring stability of the company rather than looking at indiscriminate growth. The effects of organizational culture are many and varied. Obviously the effects of organizational culture varies depending on whether the company has a strong culture or a weak culture, but there are some generalities that apply. This article is going to focus on the positive effects that occur when a company makes a concerted effort to establish a strong positive organizational culture at the work place. Many workers are spending more and more time at work. Depending on the job or company, many workers would put in 50, 60, or even more hours a week. The old axiom goes that a happy worker is a productive worker, and this is one of the effects of organizational culture. Workers want to enjoy work. They want to be interested in whatever is going on that day, or long term goals. Being part of something meaningful that the worker enjoys makes the whole experience of work better, which will make them more productive. The effects of organizational culture should help provide this setting. A strong organization will focus on the environment it creates for its workers because that will help encourage a more efficient and productive company. Focusing on building and sustaining organizational culture shows employees that they are considered an important part of the company. This type of company generally has among the best response from its employees and thus will also have a much better chance of achieving its goals. There are five major reasons for wanting to create an appropriate and positive organizational culture for your company: 1) A strong organizational culture will attract high level talent. The high level talent entering corporations want to go to the companies that offer opportunities for advancement and to show off their talents. The best people can be choosy and they will strongly consider the companies where the organizational culture appears effective and positive and the workers get along with each other and are united in their goals of making the company better. 2) A strong organizational culture will help to keep your top level talent. If workers love the job they are at, and feel like valuable members of a team, then they are not likely to want to go to another company. A top notch culture will not only attract the best new talent, but help retain them afterwards.

3) A strong culture creates energy and momentum. Once a strong organizational culture is built, it will gain a momentum of its own and will help to allow people to feel valued and express themselves freely. The excitement and energy this will cause will end up being a positive influence that affects every part of the organization. 4) A strong and successful organizational culture should alter the employees view of work. Most people think of work as boring, aggravating, stressful, etc. Instead of thinking of work as a place you have to go, a solid culture can make employees look forward to work. If the workers love coming into the job, they are going to work harder, and put more effort into any job. Everyone wants a job that they enjoy, and most people are willing to work: but it is easier to work hard in a job you enjoy than in one you hate. Same principle applies to everyone else, too. 5) A strong and positive organizational culture will help make everyone more efficient and successful. From the lowest mail room worker to the highest CEO, a strong culture helps everyone. You often hear this type of description made with a professional football team. A frame-work such as the Belbin team roles model makes it possible for organisations to understand the natural behaviour and teamwork inclinations of individuals. Individuals are likely to excel when given a role that exploits their strengths. When an organisation gains insights into the strengths and weaknesses of individuals, it helps them create more balanced teams by assigning roles in a manner that draws out the best performance from the team. Meredith Belbin's theory, popularly known as Belbins team roles theory Dr. Meredith Belbin is well known for his team roles concept. The team roles identified by Belbin are based on certain patterns of behaviour that people exhibit within teams. These patterns of behaviour can potentially have an impact on the performance of the team. The basic premise of the Belbin team roles theory is quite simple. When individuals become aware of their own strengths and abilities, and understand the role that he or she is capable of playing within a team, it helps them to deal better with the demands of the team environment. Belbins team roles are based on a study that examined personality traits, intellectual styles and behaviors within teams. The team roles evolved from the clusters or patterns of these that emerged during the study. Initially defined as 8 roles, the Belbin model now sports 9 roles, the new one being the Specialist. Given below are the 9 roles outlined in the Belbin team roles model and the descriptions that explain the scope of each role:

Action Oriented Role: Implementer The implementers strength lies in translating the teams decisions and ideas into manageable and practical tasks or actions. Shaper The shapers strength lies in being goal directed. The shaper is a dynamic individual who boldly challenges others during discussions, can handle work pressures and has the courage to overcome obstacles. Completer/Finisher - The completer/finishers strength lies in meticulousness, attention to detail and the ability to meet deadlines. People Skills Oriented Role: Co-ordinator - The co-ordinators strength lies in enabling and facilitating interaction and decision making. Teamworker - The teamworkers strength lies in being a good listener, being collaborative, co-operative, easy going and tactful. Resource Investigator - The resource investigators strength lies in being an extrovert who can develop contacts, communicate well, explore new ideas and opportunities, and bring enthusiasm and drive to the team effort. Cerebral/Intellectual Role: Planter - The planters strength lies in problem solving and out-of-the-box thinking. Monitor/Evaluator - The monitor/evaluators strength lies in good judgment and good strategic thinking ability. Specialist The specialists strength lies in being a dedicated and focused individual who likes to learn and constantly build his or her knowledge. The specialist likes to dig deep and is therefore a good resource who can contribute information and knowledge in a team situation. Analysis of Belbin Team Roles Belbins roles are identified based on a series of statements that constitute the SelfPerception Inventory (SPI). The statements have to be answered by an individual based on personal perceptions of what he or she would do in different team situations. Based on the statements that you pick, and the weight that you assign to those statements, the final scores are computed. What you get is a score for each of the roles. The roles where you score high are the ones that define your natural inclination within a team. A person can have strengths in more than one role and deficiencies or weaknesses in many of the other roles.

For instance, a person can be a good Implementer and a good Co-coordinator but a very poor Completer/Finisher. This means the individuals natural inclination during teamwork is to facilitate interaction and decision making, that he or she is also capable of stepping in to translate the teams decisions into reality. But on the flip side, the person may be lacking as far as attention to detail goes. Team members don't have specific responsibilities, but their participation is critical to the team's success. Team members must agree to:

Be enthusiastic and committed to the team's purpose. Be honest and keep any confidential information behind closed doors. Share responsibility to rotate through other team roles like facilitator, recorder, and timekeeper. Share knowledge and expertise and not withhold information. Ask questions, even seemingly "dumb" ones. Often the new perspective of "inexperienced" team members can provide insight. Fulfill duties in between meetings. Respect the opinions and positions of others on the team, even if the person has an opposing view or different opinion.