Organizational Culture and Team Effect - Assignment Example

The culture of an organization normally occurs at the initial stages of the creation of a business organization. The management team that is involved with the business organization normally has an opportunity to create a set of beliefs, behaviors, and standards that are acceptable. Furthermore, the employees that the business organization will hire may include the people who have the potential of promoting the desired behaviors that the organization accepts. Organizational culture normally evolves over a period of time, with new management and personnel regimes (Lee, 2011). A culture may take a long period of time to develop, however, it is incorporated through consistent expectation and examples brought forth from the leading executives of the business organization, and its members of staff (Thompson, 2008). Furthermore, the culture of an organization will develop across different aspects of the operations of a company, and this includes the social behavior of the company (Martin, 2002). Social culture involves the manner in which employees of the business organization interact with one another. This is throughout their course of work or day. For example, there may be an existence of a common area that is preferable for conversations regarding topics that are outside of protocol or work (Ashkanasy, 2000). Employees of the organization may be the people responsible for developing this type of culture. As new people are brought in, they would try to adapt to the cultural practice that is in place, or introduce a different cultural perspective. This is for purposes of determining how they would interact with their fellow work mates. Therefore, organizational culture plays an important role in affecting the development, efficiency and effectiveness of a team within an organization. Leaders of an organization are responsible for developing the culture of an organization. This is through their experiences. Top managers of an organization will surround themselves with important members of a team (Lee, 2011). They would rely on these members to perform a variety of activities that supports the goals and beliefs of the organization (Dixon, 2000). It is possible to reflect this culture to any activity of the organization, i.e. the office décor, cubicles that separate the work place of an individual, the method of communication between employees, work place eating habit, etc. The details of this kind of a culture may become evident, based on the style and frequency which the management of an organization communicates it with the members of staff. Alvesson (2002) explains that organizational culture has an impact of improving the quality of employees that an organization may hire. This is because the company may look for employees who may fit into its organizational culture. Take for example AT& T Company. One of the most important organizational cultures that the company subscribes to is its inclusive culture. AT&T is a company that is highly known for its innovative tendencies. The reason that makes the company to be highly innovative is based on the fact that it embraces every people, irrespective of their background, and conditions of life (AT&T, 2014). Because of this inclusive and diverse culture, the company manages to accept the views of these people, and implement those that would make the organization better (Parker, 2008). Innovation is an important element within an organization, and this is mainly because it would help in improving the products of the company. This is the reason AT&T managed to come with mobile products that have helped to make it the second largest telecommunication company in United States (AT&T, 2014). It is therefore important to assert that because of this inclusive culture, members of a team are tolerant towards one another, working together for purposes of ensuring that they meet the objectives of the organization. Another important organizational culture of AT&T is training and development of a career (AT&T, 2014). For purposes of developing the skills of their employees, the company normally trains new and existing employees. The company has made an investment of millions of dollars in the training of new employees, and it has a 24.4 million dollar tuition re-imbursement program (AT&T, 2014). Furthermore, all the employees of the organization normally receive a career development review program. Employee training and development is an important cultural practice that highly motivates the members of a team (Yuki, 2010). Motivation is an important aspect that helps the organization to achieve efficiency in whatever they are involved in undertaking (Ornbo, Sneppen and Würtz, 2008). Without motivation, members of a team cannot be effective in carrying out their duties. Furthermore, the company may experience a high labor turnover. This is expensive because the company will lose highly experienced work force (Janicijevic, 2012). The company will also recruit new employees, and this involves the use of money. Training and developing the career of employees will therefore motivate them, and encourage them to stay at the organization (Thompson, 2008). The organization also promotes democratic form of leadership. This is by improving the manner in which its employees will interact with each other, and improving the communication line for purposes of ensuring that there is an effective communication between each and every members of the organization (Alvesson, 2002). By encouraging the use of modern gadgets of communication, the company promotes efficiency in the manner in which it communicates with its employees (Lencioni, 2002). The company encourages the use of computers, mobile phones, and tablets to promote communication that takes place between its employees (Alvesson, 2002). Efficient communication is an important element for a successful business organization. This is because the employees of the organization will manage to collect the necessary data that can help in identifying the various needs of customers, the organization, and its employees (Boynton and Fisher, 2005). This will assist members of a team to develop policies that can satisfy the needs under consideration. For purposes of supporting the development of a team within the current culture, there is a need of the organization to undertake the following strategies (Heitner, 2011), Improving communication: There is a need of initiating measures aimed at improving the communication ability of the members of a team. For example, the company should develop technological measures such as use of Group Decision Support Systems that can help members of a team to communicate efficiently. Group Decision Support Systems is an information technological tool that helps in ensuring there is efficiency in the manner in which communication occurs within a team. Setting up of goals: There is a need of developing goals that the team should achieve. Solving problems once they emanate: The Company should come up with measures aimed at solving the problems of the organization once they begin. Recognition: There is a need of coming up with measures aimed at recognizing the various inputs and processes of the members of a team. Cultural awareness: There is a need of being aware of the various cultural needs and beliefs of the members of a team. This is for purposes of ensuring that the cultural beliefs of the members of a team, do not conflict with the beliefs and culture of the company. These strategies and observations have a broad impact on the operation of Verizon. Verizon is one of the competitors of AT&T. Improving the efficiency of the members of a team of AT&T will result to an increase in the quality of the organizations services (Ybema, 2011). This would later lead to an increase in the market share of the organization, negatively affecting the market that Verizon has. In conclusion, organizational culture plays an important role in ensuring that a company or a business organization manages to achieve its objectives. Managers and employees of an organization play a role in the creation of an organizational culture. A good organizational culture would improve the efficiency in which the organization carry’s outs its operations. This is because it would motivate employees of the organization to working hard for purposes of achieving the objectives of their team. Therefore, a good organizational culture will help in improving the efficiency in which members of a team implement the policies of the company. References: AT&T. (n.d.). Workforce Inclusion. Workforce Diversity and Inclusion. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://www.att.com/gen/corporate-citizenship?pid=17725 Alvesson, M. (2002). Understanding organizational culture. London: SAGE. Ashkanasy, N. M. (2000). Handbook of organizational culture & climate. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Boynton, A., & Fisher, B. (2005). Virtuoso teams: Lessons from teams that changed their worlds. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Dixon, N. M. (2000). Common knowledge how companies thrive by sharing what they know. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. Heitner, K. L. (2011). Fostering success through a sense of urgency: Organizational culture and change efforts. Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, 2(2), 113- 115. Janicijevic, N. (2012). The influence of organizational culture on organizational preferences towards the choice of organizational change strategy. Economic Annals, 57(193), 25-51. Lee, Y. (2011). Research on school organizational change and its impact on organizational effectiveness with organizational citizenship behavior and organizational culture as mediators. African Journal of Business Management, 5(30), 277-290. Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Martin, J. (2002). Organizational culture: mapping the terrain. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Ornbo, J., Sneppen, C., & Würtz, P. F. (2008). Experience-based communication. Berlin: Springer. Parker, G. (2008). Team players and teamwork: New strategies for developing successful collaboration. (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Thompson, L. L. (2008). Making the team (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Ybema, S. (2011). Organizational culture. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Yukl, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Read More