How Organisational Culture Affects the Relationship between Stakeholders in the Organisation - Essay Example

Introduction Organisational culture refers to those values, beliefs, stories and symbols that contribute guide the interactions among the members of the organisation and foster the attainment of the organisational goals (Nel 2009). The organisational culture is depicted in the way organisations interact with the stakeholders, the power and hierarchy in the organisation. Organisational culture will influence the productivity, the economic performance, and product quality in the organisation. Symbolism in the organisation refers to the wide variety of meaning and expressive functions in the organisation. Organisational culture is a network of shared experiences and accepted reality through which tangible expressions are depicted in the symbols of the organisation. Symbolic organisational culture is displayed in the language, mode of dressing, rituals and routines that define the interactions among the stakeholders of the organisation (Brown 1998). Artifacts like pictures of the walls of the buildings, smell and emotional feel of the organisation are used by the outside stakeholders to gauge whether the company is bureaucratic or informal. For instance, a bouquet of flowers on the reception may be a symbol of stakeholders’ appreciation. The bouquet of flowers may have other associated elements such as the arrangement and texture that will indicate the historic experience of the stakeholders. According to prospective symbolization, artifacts in the organisation are not imitations but objects that portray the reality of organisational culture. According to Schein, the first level of organisational culture includes the artifacts that symbolize how employees interact in the organisation and guide the behaviour of employees (Schein 2009). Some artifacts like office furniture, art, work climate, and organisational structures and behaviour of employees will indicate the level of authority and supervision in the organisation (Nel 2009). In addition, the external stakeholders will rely on the espoused values that are associated with the leaders such as the top management and founders of the organisation. The values form the second level of the culture and predict the assumptions of the leaders on how employees should be managed or how work processes should be made more efficient. The last level of the organisational culture is the assumptions that reflect the shared traditions and beliefs within the organisational culture (Schein 2009). Stories and myths also define the symbolic nature of organisational culture. Stories are used to highlight the past struggles and successes of the organisation. Stories and myths may either be written or oral and are used to orient the new employees to the organisation. Ordinary tells such as weekly sales levels or historic legends like the founders of the organisation help employees understand the strategic mission of the organisation. Effective stories will affirm the strategic and core values of organisation to employees. For instance, stories can be geared at enhancing creativity, professionalism, integrity and hard work thus facilitating the commitment to organisational objectives. The organisation can manage this symbolic element through having written core values that are displayed in walls and company websites. In addition, the beliefs are aimed at enhancing the job motivation and increased productivity, thus beliefs can be managed through expression of humor in the workplace (Daft 2010). Organisational routine actions and rituals such as ceremonies like the end of year parties, team retreats and company meetings add a symbolic value to the organisation. The leaders in the organisation should ensure regular performance reports, open performance discussions and board meetings in order to facilitate the evaluation of the past performance of the organisation (Nel 2009). Material objects such as corporate logos, company product designs and status symbols inspire or demoralize the employees. Symbols in the organisation justify or reinforce the stability in terms of working relationships and values that are considered important in the organisation. Stories and tells that outline the circumstances in which are organisation was founded can be used to strengthen employees during challenging times (Pareek 2006). Organisational culture also takes the dimension of power structures that shape the behaviours in the organisation. The power structures control the expressive capacity of the top level management includes the assumptions and beliefs towards the attainment of organisational mission (Schein 2009). Power structures define the degree of respect of authority and division of labour in the organisation. The management can manage the symbolic aspects of power within the organisation through exercising minimal control and leveraging on the knowledge of experts in the organisation. Managers should utilize their position power through encouraging behaviors and traits that facilitate higher productivity and higher job satisfaction (Nel 2009). Control systems are administrative mechanisms that emphasize on the core goals of the organisation. Organisational culture facilitates the control systems in the organisation by outlining the rewards or punishments for non-compliance with work expectations. Some control systems that are entrenched in the organisational culture include the policies, rules and procedures that are followed by the subordinates (Schein 2009). Performance evaluations, product quality tests and customer feedback channels can be used to control employee job performance, product quality and determine the customer satisfaction level. The management can manage the symbolic meaning of the culture through implementation of control systems that aim at attaining high employee motivation and enhancing organisational productivity (Elsmore 2001). For instance, the job evaluation systems should emphasize on individual creativity, team work and performance based compensation. In addition, the organisation should control the unacceptable behaviors through punishments such as suspensions and other disciplinary mechanisms. The organisational values and beliefs should also emphasize on high productivity, innovativeness and teamwork in order to attain the overall strategic objectives of the organisation. The management can also manage the culture through implementing efficient work flow procedures and efficient monitoring of quality control processes (Schein 2009). Organisational structures include the formal and informal hierarchy in the organisation, and constitute the power structures within the organisation. The structure provides the systems of work and span of control that guide the relationships within the organisation. The organisational structure should ensure proper job description, responsibility assignment and delegation in order to facilitate decision making at the departmental level. The management should also ensure proper reporting relationships in order to avoid conflicts within the organisation. For instance, the leadership style should encourage participation of all employees in the decision making through requesting suggestions from the subordinates in decision making process and also allowing for individual creativity in the work processes. The management should also create working teams and groups that should spearhead research and development activities in order to meet the changing needs of the consumers (Elsmore 2001). Though organisational culture is about the symbolic meaning, it can be managed to suit the objectives of the organisation. Symbolic organisational culture facilitates motivation and enhances the communication in the organisation. The symbols in the organisation cam be managed to suit the predefined organisational policies and provide the sense of direction in the workplace (Elsmore 2001). The symbolic meaning of the culture will influence the brand image of the organisation. For instance, company logos and artifacts in the organisation indicate the perceive quality of organisational products or the expected employee behaviours. Organisational cultural dimensions such as the rituals and ceremonies offer a symbolic value thus facilitate the creation of a sense of equity since company meetings and end of the year parties bring all employees to the same platform thus enabling employees feel appreciated by the organisation. The management can manage the symbolic meaning of the culture in order to unite employees from different cultural backgrounds. For instance, an international language should be used of the mode of communication while the dress code should reflect the different cultural backgrounds of all employees (Frost 1991). Kotter’s 8-step model can be used to manage the symbolic meaning of organisational culture. The first step involves creating urgency for the change, thus sparking a motivation for the need of change. The management should identify the scenario that could happen in the future due to the poor organisational culture and also examine the various opportunities that can be used to manage the culture. The leaders should also seek the commitment of the stakeholders such as customers and employees in managing the symbolic culture. For instance, the management should try to stop the spread of negative stories on the past leaders or past failures of the organisation (Frost 1991). The second step is to establish a powerful coalition that will convince the other members of the organisation on the need to make changes in the organisational culture. Influential leaders in the organisation should spearhead the culture management processes through suggesting new rituals and ceremonies that aim at attaining organisational goals. The next step will entail creating a vision for the change. This will involve outlining the values that will be instrumental to the new culture. Some of the values and beliefs that should be incorporated include a sense of individual responsibility and innovativeness in the workplace (Frost 1991). In addition, the management should have a vision for the culture that should be practiced in all company meetings and communication with the subordinates (Elsmore 2001). The fourth step in managing the symbolic culture is communicating the vision for the new culture. The desired values, stories and ceremonies should be communicated powerfully and frequently. The leaders should have tales and stories that reflect the desired organisational culture. For instance, the management should encourage open and friendly working environment through ensuring a flatter organisational structure in order to enhance collaboration in the organisation (Frost 1991). The fifth step entails removing the obstacles in managing the culture. Some of the obstacles include negative stories, tall organisational structure and high power distance in the organisation. The management should also hire leaders that adhere to the rules, procedures and policies within the organisation. Organisations should also ensure that the job descriptions are well outlined and compensation systems reflect the job performance of each individual employee (Elsmore 2001). The management should also ensure that control systems such as supervision mechanisms aim at changing the behaviour of employees. The sixth step in managing organisational culture is creating short term wins. Short term wins eliminate the resistance to change and reward individuals for meeting their performance targets (Frost 1991). The seventh step is to build on the change through continuous improvement. For instance, the management should concentrate on improvement in innovation and new product development. The management should ensure that individual behaviours in the organisation adheres to the cultural values and beliefs that are anchored in the organisational culture. The recruitment and selection processes should ensure that organisations attract and retain candidates that exemplify the organisational values, beliefs and norms (Elsmore 2001). Conclusion Organisational culture refers to the values, beliefs, symbols, norms and ceremonies that affect the relationships between stakeholders in the organisation. Organisational culture has a symbolic meaning, but can be managed by the leaders in the organisation in order to facilitate the attainment of organisational mission. Symbols like artwork, artifacts and company logo should provide the perceived philosophy and strategic mission of the organisation. The stories and tales should strengthen the organisational members by inspiring optimist and courage during challenges. Rituals and ceremonies such as company meetings, and regular employees’ retreats should be used as an opportunity to create harmonious working environment that respects and values the contribution of each individual towards the attainment of organisational goals. The language, unique jargons and metaphors act as a universal communication mode in the organisation. Language facilitates teamwork and conflict resolution in the organisation, thus the leaders should ensure that phrases used in communication are understandable by all employees. Myths and legends such as past tales of past heroes of the organisation should include the strategic vision of the founders of the organisation and the future aspiration of the organisation. For instance, the stories should emphasize on the positive contribution of the past managers towards to excellent financial and non-financial performance of the organisation. Behavioral norms will guide the interaction with supervisors, thus the management should ensure a flatter organisational structure, low power distance and information communication forums in order to facilitate team work and higher productivity in the organisation. The managers should also create shared values and beliefs that guide employees in their work and interactions with external stakeholders. For instance, excellent customer service, efficient work processes and high degree of innovation should be entrenched in the culture in order to encourage behaviours that contribute to higher productivity in the organisation. Reference List: Brown, A.D. 1998. Organisational culture. London: Pitman. Daft, R.L. 2010. Organization theory and design. Mason: Cengage Learning. Elsmore, P. 2001. Organisational culture: organisational change?. London: Gower. Frost, P.J. 1991. Reframing organizational culture. New York: Sage. Nel, L. 2009. Ethics and organisational culture. London: Lambert Academic Publishing. Pareek, U. 2006. Organisational culture and climate. Hyderabad: ICFAI University Press. Schein, E.H. 2009. The corporate culture survival guide. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Read More