Creating an Organizational Culture - Article Example

Creating Organizational Culture Introduction The creation and maintenance of organizational characteristics are some of the main and primary responsibilities of strategic leaders in their different capacities and positions. Mainly, these organizational characteristics play a vital in encouraging and rewarding efforts that are put forward collectively by the employees, as well as, members, internees, etc in different organizations and institutions. Perhaps, the organizational culture is the most fundamental matter in this regard. The organizational culture has been termed and defined in different perspectives. Different experts have tried to explain its influence on an organization according to their experiences, theories, and their point of views. In this regard, we will try to define, discuss, and analyze different perspectives of an organizational culture, and will try to understand different steps that are carried out for its creation, amendment, and maintenance, in order to influence collective effort in an organization or institution. Cultural Impact Different experts have given a lot of importance to the culture and cultural perspectives in an organization. According to an author, specific environment and conditions is coping up with the help of development of an organizational culture in an organization. Today, many complex issues and problems are confronted by organizational leaders, when the organizational achievement is attempted by them in a number of different environments, such as, VUCA environments. In this regard, it has been suggested that it is very necessary and important to define and understand the term of organizational culture properly, which plays a vital role in the success of an organization, as well as, its leaders. Therefore, it has been notified that organizational culture is, and has become an important part and factor of an organization’s success. In this regard, different multinational companies, as well as, small industries are trying to implement organizational culture in their sectors, in order to provide opportunities to their employees for a successful future and prosperity. In addition, the inability of understanding organizational culture was traced out to be the reason of problems and complex issues that are being confronted by the leaders and managers in different companies. Failure has been also been observed in different and various business and marketing strategies that oppose the organizational culture, and seems to be inconsistent with it. Therefore, creation of new strategies and their implementation also requires organizational culture during their processes in an organization. Therefore, organizational culture has a great impact on a success and prosperity of an organization. (Schultz, 1995) Organizational Culture As mentioned above, the term organizational culture has been defined at various places, and in various perspectives. Therefore, organizational culture does not carry one single definition for itself. Some experts have defined and discussed the term in the discipline of sociology. However, anthropology has been the base of different researches regarding the organizational culture. Organizational communication, as well as, its implementation, and management science have also been considered during the study of organizational culture by different experts. When the actions are organized and implemented according to a set of common understandings, it is known as organizational culture. In addition, organizational culture also requires the finding of different expressions that might allow employees to understand difficult terms and policies in their own languages and perspectives. Additionally, norms and values of a place, or religion also fall in this definition, which should be considered seriously and efficiently during the understanding and implementation of organizational culture in an organization. According to another author and theorist, when a group of people shares a set of understandings, in order to create a relevancy and distinctiveness among themselves, it is termed as organizational culture. New members are also considered which would be provided with the abovementioned understandings from a particular group according to this definition. (Muijen, 2000) When the human communities are served by the proper planning, evaluation, and implementation of standards and knowledge through an organized system, it is known as organizational culture. Environmental settings of a particular organization are also considered according to the definition of the author. When the members of an organization act as per their basic beliefs and assumptions, which are provided to them in their cultures and societies, it is referred as organizational culture. Generally, this kind of act is performed on a deeper level of implementation and belief. In this way, different experts, theorists, and researches have applied different and various definitions for the term of organizational culture in their own context. (Dwivedi, 1995) When different ideologies are shared in a network of any social system, and which comprises of two main components, it is known as organizational culture. One of the primary components of this system is the association of ideologies, values, and norms with the networks of operations in the organization. Secondly, expression, affirmation, and communication with the members of that organization is the second primary factor and component of the social system, by which, practices are formed in the organization. (Schultz, 1995) In this way, the study of organizational culture and different strategies that perform its application and implementation have been represented in two major camps and perspectives by some of the abovementioned definitions of the organizational culture. Culture has been viewed as implicit, unspoken, and understood in a social life according to the perspective of the first camp. The transformation of individuals into different communities, tribes, and nations is naturally termed as the culture. (Mawchinney, 1992) An explicit social product has been the image of the culture according to the second perspective of these definitions of the organizational culture. In other words, distinct observable forms are comprised of culture, such as, customs, ceremonies, symbols, languages, technology, and its usage and implementation, etc. In this way, the social environment is confronted in a broad manner by the social interaction of the groups of people in a social system. (Mawchinney, 1992) Mostly, the organizational culture has been evaluated and analyzed according to the second perspective of the culture, in order to improve organizational performance of an organization by the employment of effective strategies that should be consistent with the organizational culture, and thus, result in the success of the organization. (Denison, 2005) Formulation of Strategies The success of an organization depends on the strategies that are formulated and implemented by the leaders in an organization. These strategies play a vital role in the transformation of leadership characteristics according to the specific culture that is practiced by the members of the organization. In this regard, a foundation of high morality should be operated by the leaders that are responsible for the cultural transformation in an organization. Ethical practices of the members should also be considered by these transformational leaders in the organization. In this regard, rites should be given proper consideration during the creation and implementation of the organizational culture. Various forms of cultural expressions should be consolidated with the help of sets of activities that should be planned dramatically, as well as, in an elaborate manner. Social interactions are one of the events that benefit the audience and members during the creation of organizational culture in the organization. Ceremonies also play a vital role in the implementation of organizational culture in an organization, as a single event or occasion is connected with a system of several and different rites at a single time. Anxieties of the members in an organization can be managed with the help of a set of techniques and behaviors that are studied and analyzed in detail by the transformational leaders. In this way, a standard is applied in the organization, which provides different opportunities to the members according to their culture. However, this kind of practice has been noted very seldom in the organizations. A number of other cultural terms and definitions play a crucial role during the creation of organizational culture in an organization. Some of these terms are myths, sagas, legends, stories, folktales, symbols, languages, gestures, physical objects, and artifacts of a particular culture in an organization. In an organization, collective effort can be made and supported by proper and detailed understanding of the abovementioned and other fundamental complex factors of the culture. (Muijen, 2000) In this regard, productive values and beliefs should be considered by the leaders during the creation of organizational culture in an organization. Implementation of norms and values of a particular culture should be done by the leaders themselves, and the members should be taught accordingly by these leaders. In other words, the culture should be promulgated by the leaders in an organization. Symbolical teaching should be adopted by the leaders, which is one of the key method strategies that are used during the transformation of cultures and its values in an organization. Artful designing of new stories, traditions, festivals, and symbols should be done by the leaders, and they should involve themselves, as well as, the members in this type of cultural strategy. However, shared cultural networks should be understood collectively, in order to create an organizational culture in the organization. It is very difficult to change the culture in any place, however, organizational culture is one key factor that can manage and influence the members in providing success to the organization. (Denison, 2005) Critical incidents and crises are generally confronted by almost every organization in the market. At this stage, the organizational culture plays a crucial role at the time of responses and decisions that are made by the transformational leaders in their organizations. Norms and values of an organization can be seen from the responses that are made by these leaders. Underlying core values of the organization are brought out by the crises in the organizations. In addition, actions and words of the leaders play a vital role in developing and influencing organizational culture in the organization. A powerful message can be sent by the personal example of a leader who creates and implements strategies in his organization. In this regard, role modeling is one of the key factors that influence the organizational culture in an organization. Secondly, teaching and coaching of the members of the organization also provides a number of opportunities in the improvement, development, and success of the members, as well as, the organization. (Dwivedi, 1995) Proper allocation of rewards and status in an organization also plays a vital role in the creation of organizational culture. In this regard, proper criteria should be created for the recruitment and selection of the members in an organization. In addition, promotion and retirement options should also be dealt according to criteria by the leaders. The introduction, retaining, and advancement of members in an organization are some of the powerful and important ways of creating an organizational culture. In addition, organizational design and its structure also play a vital role in the creation and influence of the organizational culture. Systems and procedures in an organization should also be considered by the leaders, as they are responsible for the implementation of the norms and values in the organization. Physical buildings, environment, and space for the members of an organization should also be given importance, in order to allow proper implementation of the organizational culture in the organization. Conclusively, organizational culture plays a vital role in providing success to an organization, and we have tried our best to define, discuss, and analyze different perspectives of the organizational culture in an organization. References Dwivedi. (1995). Management. Haworth Press. Organizational Culture and Performance. M.D. Publications Private Limited. Jaap J. van Muijen. (2000). Organizational Culture. Psychology Press. Majken Schultz. (1995). On Studying Organizational Thomas C. Mawchinney. (1992). Organizational Culture, Rule-Governed Behavior and Organizational Behavior Walter de Gruyter.Deniel R. Denison. (2005), Cultures: Diagnosis and Understanding. Towards a Theory of Organizational Culture and Effectiveness. University of Michigan Press. Read More