Introduction:

Organizational culture is defined as "the pattern of beliefs, values and learned ways
of coping with experience that have developed during the course of an organisation’s
history, and which tend to be manifested in its material arrangements and in the
behaviours of its members”( Brown ,1995).The culture of the organization should
unlock the hidden potential of the employees and should make the employees work
for the betterment of the organization. The culture followed in the organization plays
a vital role in the success of the organization.
In this essay I will be discussing about the organizational culture and to what extent
it can be managed with certain theories and examples.

Importance of Organizational culture:

When an organization is developed the fonder builds that organization with his
knowledge and experiences which he has gained till that moment. That knowledge
and experience becomes the base for the organization. The cultural structure that takes
shape now will be defined by values, symbols, certain ways of working process, principles
and methods, all of these can be defined as the invisible part of the company. Organizational
culture is considered to be the invisible force from behind readily observable and tangible
things in an organization being also the social energy causing people to act. The employees
are suppose to understand and act according to the culture of the organization (TĂNASE,
2015).

The element that steers the organization is its culture. It creates an environment which
motivates the employees to achieve their goals. The standards based on which the employees
are measured and are also assessed are defined by this environment. The result of a well
structured culture within the organizations environment is a dynamic team upon which every
employee is held accountable while at the same time all members respect themselves and the
company as an entity. Basically the organizational culture is the element that can make the
organization to achieve success or to fail (TĂNASE, 2015).

An organization with a strong dominance of culture, will be more resistant to reforms aimed
at promoting innovation. According to (Pollit & Bouckaert, 2004) says ‘We would also
expect staff in high uncertainty avoidance cultures to be more concerned with rule-following
and more reluctant to risk changing jobs both factors of some importance for those reformers
who want to deregulate bureaucracies and encourage more rapid job change in the public
service’. Practitioners in both the private and public sectors have come to realise that
organisational change often requires changing the organizations culture and learning
(O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008).
For a successful change of organizational culture to take place, every employee in the
organization needs to have a proactive approach in the change of culture of the organization.
When the employees understand and when they work side by side proper solutions can be
found that helps the organization to change according to the plan. The purpose of all of this
is that the organization to prosper and achieve its target and this is possible most of the time
by following the rules and values that are established within the company. By this we
understand the importance of values that exist in organizational culture (TĂNASE, 2015).

Factors affecting organisational culture:

The main factors which affect the organizational culture are history, people, artefacts,
environment and management. History plays a predominant role in deciding the
organization’s culture. The values and the beliefs followed by the organization during its
initial stage will characterize the organization’s change and development. Without people to
believe and to follow there is no culture which shows that people are the core of an
organization. The most visible and most superficial factors affecting the
organizational culture are artefacts”. Artefacts refer to totally physical and socially
constructed environment of an organisation; that they are product of human action
and; they have a physical presence and an aim”. The other factor affecting is the
environment. The organization react to the environmental change. For example if there is
any sudden financial crisis the organisation should react to that hence the culture will get
affected. Human nature and character are influenced by the culture with which they are
brought up. People from each culture prefer different management style. Management should
have a good insight about needed change, should take care their employees, capable in
planning and implementing change. Managers should be able to influence the culture of the
organization (kaus, 2010).

Types of organizational culture:

They are many cultures existing in an organization. They may be more than one
culture in an organization. One classification of culture types is proposed in Bradley
and Parker’s (2006) Competing Values Framework (CVF), based on work by Quinn
and Rohrbaugh (1983) (O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008).

The competing values Framework was developed based on the influence of various variables
in an organization. CVF allows an organization to know what principles the organization is
following and in what way they can further improve them to focus more on their goal.
Through CVF an organization gets to understand the underlying conflict in it, it exists as a
unified theory rather than a prescriptive course of measure. According to Brown and Dodd,
“embracing the CVF does not require one to disabuse oneself of any particular theoretical
approach to organizational or management theory” (Gallagher, 2005).
The CVF is used to find the relation between the culture and organization effectiveness and
showed that differences among the many effectiveness criteria in the literature could be better
understood when they are aligned along two axes. (Fig: 1) One axis reflects whether an
organization focuses inward towards its internal dynamics or outward towards its external
environment. The other axis represents flexibility versus control in organizational structuring
(Goodman, 2001).

Fig: 1 The Competing Value Framework of Organizational culture

Human resource model:

The human resource model can also be called as group culture. Their main concern is with
human relations and morale. This type of organization gives more importance on
participation, decentralized decision making, teamwork and horizontal communication
(Goodman, 2001).Since this model emphasis on internal flexibility, managers in
organizations of these type seek to encourage and mentor employees. Training and the
broader development of human resources are utilised to achieve cohesion and employee
morale (Bradley and Parker, 2001, 2006)
This type of culture is followed in organisation which involves advertising, creative
enterprises. This type of culture creates a family environment within the organization
(Gallagher, 2005).
Cadbury organisation comes under this model. When Cadbury acquired Trebor Bassett and
Adams there was a major impact on the working culture of Cadbury. To find a solution for
the conflict, Cadbury shifted from a centralized organisation to a decentralized organisation.
Many programs like working better program, growing our people program was introduced by
Cadbury to enhance the life of employees working in Cadbury.

Open system model:

This model is defined by readiness and flexibility. With the help of these growth , resource
acquisition and external support are acquired. This model is characterized by flexibility and
external focus. This type of model is also called as development culture because it involves
managers and employees with a vision who also considers the impacts of the external
environment on the organization (Denison, 1991).
This type of model involves broker and innovator roles. The organization which values
change as an organizing principle will fall into this type of model. Their management strategy
either involves broker roles or innovator roles or both (Cooper & Quinn, 1993).

Ford motor company falls into this type of model. To cope up with increasing competation
and growing demand the ford motor company needs to do production with some innovation.
In an Automobile industry innovation is the key factor to achieve success. Constant
adjustments should be made to the features to the design of the car so that it gets a special
attention among the consumers (Cooper & Quinn, 1993).

Rational goal model:

This model is defined by planning and goal setting. With the help of these two productivity
and efficiency are achieved. This model is characterized by control and external focus. This
type of model is also called as rational culture because its main focus is on outcome and goal
fulfilment (Denison, 1991).
The main aim of the organization which follows this type culture is on production. The
organizations which are production oriented will come under this model. The managers
motivate the employees in the pursuit of designated goals and objectives and rewards are
linked to outcomes (Bradley and Parker, 2001, 2006).

Pepsi and coke comes under this type of model. The industries which are involved in the
sales of mass proportions will come under this model. The volume should be increased which
in turn maximizes the profit and hence the demand will also be satisfied (Cooper & Quinn,
1993).
Internal process model:
This model is characterized by information management and communication. With the help
of these two stability and control are achieved. This model is characterized by control and
internal focus. This type of model is also called as hierarchical culture because it involves the
enforcement of rules, conformity, and attention to technical matters (Denison, 1991).
The internal process model most clearly reflects the traditional theoretical model of
bureaucracy and public administration that relies on formal rules and procedures as control
mechanisms (Bradley and Parker, 2001, 2006). This type of model involves monitor and co-
ordinator roles to stress on the consolidation and continuity.
Government organisations come under this type of model. For example during the initial
stages of the startup company frequent hiring and firing of employees happens at the last
minute of time. There won’t be any proper flow in the process of the company. When the
company grows it requires a consistent in the flow of process. This can be achieved by
shifting to a hierarchical structure.

Management of organisational culture:

The culture is important in shaping the organizations practice. During the management of the
organizations culture it is very important to identify the possible attributes in the existing
culture and the attributes needed for the new target culture - the myths, symbols, rituals, values
and assumptions which defines the culture. The managers are those who can manage the existing
organizational culture and effectively implement if there is any cultural change in the organization.
The key issues that managers need to address in order to contribute to creating a more
developmental and performance oriented culture in their organisation are creating a climate
for change, leaders as champions ,employees engagement and empowerment (O’Donnell &
Boyle, 2008).

The cause for change in culture of the organization could be due to the new ideas prevailing
in the society , when the employees gets to know the change in preferences of the customers
which results in the reconsideration of the important ideas and beliefs . The overriding
characteristic is the relatively broadly shared exposure to something implying a
change in people minds and this change happens without managers being highly involved
(Alvesson,2002).

The change in interest of the consumer influence the culture of an organization to a greater
extent. To initiate the cultural change of an organisation because of the change in preference
of the customers, all managers are welcomed to participate in noticing the change, share
support new ideas and orientations. The managers do not need to manage the culture of the
organization here as here the employees are very well known about the need of change of
culture in the organization (Alvesson,2002).
According to Alvesson “everyday re-framing tends to be driven by one or a few
senior actors, frequently a manager but also informal authorities, and small groups of
people may be central”. If senior managers strongly support a value, their personal
example seems to have an effect on broader patterns in organisation (Hofstede et al., 1990).

Managers who take and carry out the change with energy and positive attitude and with long
time commitment can achieve success in changing the culture of the organization. As
( Kotter,1995) has well stated that if realised that change usually takes a long time, it
can improve the chances of success and fewer errors can spell the difference between success
and failure.
Home depot is an example of high extent cultural influence. The CEO of the home depot
effectively changed the culture through everyday reframing and by noticing the underlying
artefacts in the existing culture. The CEO attained success in changing the employees belief
behaviour and decision making.

Conclusion:
This essay clearly shows that how culture plays a vital role in an organization. The success or
failure of an organization depends upon the type of culture that an organization inherits.
Culture is associated strongly with people’s beliefs, values and morals. So it is in the
managers hands to align the culture of individual employee to the culture of an organization.
The culture followed in an organization exhibits how the employees are treated inside the
organization and the motive of the organization .Through this essay I conclude that the
culture of an organization is very difficult to manage and to change but with the help of the
managers and employees it can be successfully implemented.
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