ORGANISATION CULTURE

Culture is an important aspect of an organization as it demotes how

people interact. Organisation Culture is the complex body of shared
beliefs, values, attitudes in an organization. The main elements of
culture are:

• Beliefs and Values, which are often unquestioned, for ex, the
customer always prefers quality to cheaper price.
• Customs, which are acceptable ways of behaviour sometimes
enforced by rules, for ex, dress codes.
• Artefacts, that is, tools, buildings office, office layout, for ex,
offices which are opened.
• Rituals which are formal repeated behaviour, for ex, the case
of salesperson who knows they will get commission in case of
extra customers.

Other manifests of culture are:

Culture becomes apparent through many observable features of an

enterprise:

· Formal or informal structure

· Centralized or decentralized decision-making, and whether

decisions are taken by committees or individuals

· The extent to which innovative thinking is promoted and

encouraged

· Freedom of various levels of staff and management to take

decisions and responsibility (empowerment)

· Openness of communications, and even whether people are on

first name terms

· Layout and appearance of the factory or office

· Formality of dress

· Leadership styles adopted by managers

· Educational attributes and intellect of employees

· Acceptance or adversity to risk

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· Attitudes to teams

· Attitudes to training and development

· Attitudes to change and particularly technology

· Commitment to service and quality

Culture and Structure

Roger Harrison sugeested that organizations could be classified into

4 types. His work was later popularized by Charles Handy who
differentiated organizations in 4 types according to their structures,
processes, and management5 methods. The differences are so
significant as to create distinctive cultures to each of which Handy
gives the name of a Greek God

• Zeus is the God representing the Power Culture or Club

Culture. Zeus is a dynamic entrepreneur who rules with snap
decisions. Power and influence stem from a central source,
perhaps the owner directors or the founder of the business.
The degree of formalization is limited and there are few rules
and procedures. Such a firm is likely to be organized on a
functional basis.
o the organization is capable of adapting quickly to meet
change
o personal influence decreases as the size of an
organization gets bigger. The power culture is therefore
best suited to smaller entrepreneurial organizations
where the leaders have direct communication with all
employees.
o Personnel have to get on well with each other for this
culture to work. These organizations are clubs of like
minded people introduced by the like minded people,
working on empathetic initiative with personal contact
rather than formal liaison
• Apollo is the God of the Role Culture or bureaucracy.
There is a presumption logic and rationality. The organization
has a formal structure and operates by rules and procedures.
Individuals are required to perform their job to their full but
not to overlap the boundaries of the authority. The
bureaucratic style can be very efficient in a stable
environment, when the organization is large and the work is
predictable.
• Athena is the goddess of the Task Culture Management is
seen as completing a succession of projects or solving

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 problems. It is reflected in project teams and task forces.
There is no dominant or clear leader. The principal concern in
a task culture is to get the job done, and so individuals who
are important are the experts with the ability to accomplish a
particular aspect of the task. Performance is judged by results.
Tasks cultures are expensive, as experts demand a market
price. Tasks cultures also depend on variety and to tap on
creativity requires a tolerance of perhaps costly mistakes.
• Dionysus is the god of existential or person culture. In the
other cultures the individual is subordinate to the organization
or task. An existential culture is found in an organization
whose purpose is to serve the interests of the individuals
within it. These organizations are rare, although an example
might be the partnership of a few individuals who do all the
work of the organization themselves, with little secretarial or
clerical assistance. Barristers work through chambers, the
clerk coordinates their work and hand out briefs but does not
control them. Management in these organizations is often
lower in status than the professional and is labeled
secretaries, administrators, bursars, registrars and chief clerk.
The organization depends on the talent of the individuals,
management is derived from the consent of the managed,
rather than the delegated authority of the owners.

Influences on Organisational Culture

Whilst it is difficult to tie down a meaningful definition of a culture,

it is perhaps easier to identify those factors which will influence the
culture of an organisation and hence the structure it adopts to
pursue its objectives.

1. Origins

The founding principles of the organization will have a strong impact

particularly where there remains a founding family involvement or a
tie in to some particular set of values.

2. Size

The organization will tend towards adoption of the role culture if it is

big and cumbersome. In such a business the person culture would
be almost impossible to adopt – the structure tends to be more
formal. Some US aerospace companies have been able to move in
the direction of the task culture with widespread applications of
matrix organization. Some of the multinational accountancy firms
have moved the same way.

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3. Technology

Companies which employ technology in their production processes

generally have to sacrifice non-routine tasks for routine ones. In
turn, routine operations are best suited to the role culture. If the
technology is expensive, requiring close controls and supervision,
this, too, suits role culture. If, on the other hand, the company
employs technology for short job runs and individual batches of
output, the power or task cultures may apply.

4. Goals and objectives

Obviously, if goals and objectives are laid down by one or just a few
very powerful individuals, the power culture is likely to apply.

In decentralised organizations, where the business is broken down

in to divisions or semi-autonomous units, it is quite likely that the
task culture and even the person culture will be evident.

5. External environment

The external environment is made up of those forces which impact

on the organization from outside. There are six such sets of forces:

· Political

· Economic

· Social

· Technological

· Competitive

· Demographic

Environmental change can critically affect organizational culture. If

change is swift and relentless, the role culture is difficult to sustain.
So, too, may the person culture be vulnerable if the markets move
against the interests of the decision-taker.

Diversity in the external markets can lead to a task culture being

employed – get the job done, as the tasks are different to suit
different segments. If, on the other hand, there is a standardized
environment, this might suit a role culture.

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The power culture is best equipped to cope with external threats in
the environment, provided the select group of decision-takers can
complement their power with effective decisions.

6. Human resources

People are the most diverse resource of all to the organization and
so the culture which suits best will depend on personal values,
attitudes and beliefs.

The individual who prefers the job tightly defined and prescriptive
will almost certainly prefer the role culture, or in some cases the
task culture. So, too, will the person who wants an undemanding
and repetitive job.

The expressive, creative, individual thinker, strong on conceptual

ideas, will prefer the person culture, but may also flourish in a task
culture and even a power culture.

Schien points to the importance of leadership when managing

cultures. Organisational cultures can be shaped by what elements or
behaviour leaders rate as important, that is what leaders of
organizations, departments or teams set out to measure and
control. Further what forms of cultural behaviour leaders reward e.g.
what earns promotion and higher status in a given organisation.
Schein defines culture by 3 levels: Artefacts, Espoused Values,
Basic Assumptions and Values.

Excellence theorists put forward their ideas of what forms the basis
of an excellent organizational culture that should inform modern
culture management. Heckman and Silva follow Schien in stressing
the crucial role of leadership, i.e. good leadership and clear vision
should be customer oriented, stressing quality and meeting market
requirements.

Excellence supporters argue that the culture of the work place

should encourage employees to thrive and develop, making
contributions through empowerment and being valued for their
contributions. People are an organisation’s most important asset.

Organisational cultures should be proactive, anticipating change

and getting to the source of problems before they become critical.

Culture should encourage vision so that everyone knows where the

organization is heading, not just concentrating on the present.

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The structure of an organization should be simple and flat. Culture
can be changed for the better by re-engineering, usually delayering
(stripping out layers of management) and empowering teams with
decision making authority in their work situations; but core values
like quality and customer care should be universal.

Managers should be out and about in the organization talking and,

particularly, listening to employees and customers.

Organisational culture should have a focus on what the organization

does best

Hofstede looked for differences in national culture and he found 5

traits:

• Individualism v/s collectivism – some cultures are more

cohesive than others. Anglo saxon cultures are more
individualistic than the collectivist cultures of South America
• Uncertainty – some cultures e.g France and Japan use
bureaucracy to reduce uncertainty because they dislike it
• Power Distance – the degree to which cultures are willing to
accept an inferior position
• Masculinity v/s Feminity – a masculine role is one where
distinction between the roles of genders is large and the males
focus on work, power and success, e.g Japan. In feminine
culture, e.g Finland the difference between roles is much
smaller.

Magen Maunikum

May 5, 2011