Coming to a New Awareness of Organisational Culture - Literature review Example

Organisational Culture Student’s Name: Course: Tutor’s Name: Date: Introduction One of the prominent definitions of organisational culture is that provided by Edgar Schein stating that an organisational culture is “the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered, or developed in learning to cope with problems of external adaptation and internal integration, and that have worked well enough to be considered valid, and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems” (Schein, 1984, p. 3). Closely tied to Schein’s definition is a different definition proffered by Booz & Company (2011, p. 5) indicating that culture refers to the “self-sustaining patterns of behaving, feeling, thinking, and believing” that determine how people do things in a particular organisational setting. Analysing the latter definition, Booz & Company (2011, p. 5) posit that culture is: self sustaining because it has inertia, which makes it hard to change; paternalistic because it has repetitive elements ingrained in it; ‘feeling, thinking and believing’ because both its rational and emotional sides matter; and behavioural because the daily behaviours of people in the organisational setting are shaped by their beliefs, feelings, and thoughts. Armstrong (1997) have defined organisational culture differently by stating that it refers to the model of values, beliefs, attitudes, norms and assumptions which may or may not have been expressed but which shape how people behave and do things (p. 118). Values refer to the beliefs that people in the organisation hold as important, while norms refer to the unwritten behavioural rules that shape how people in the organisation behave. The difference in definitions not withstanding, Marinova (2005) argues that organisational culture is meant to provide organisations with the means to adapt to their internal and external environments, but also seeks to establish stability and integration at the organisational level (p. 6). In other words, the organisational culture enables the organisation to handle competing tensions within its internal and external environments in a manner that sustains stability and flexibility. Specifically, the significance of organisational culture is, according to Armstrong (1997), closely tied to the role that it plays in creating an environment that is conducive to performance. By so doing, organisational culture determines how change is managed and/or whether there are any performance improvements therein. On the other hand, organisation culture can hinder the attainment of strategies by erecting barriers, which may include lack of commitment to identified strategies, or resistance to change as indicated by Armstrong (1997, p. 119). Overall however, the impact of organisational culture on organisations is that it conveys a sense of identity and unites people to a common purpose. Additionally, it facilitates a sense of communal responsibility and commitment towards the organisation, and is also capable of shaping behaviour through guidance provision on specific organisation-related issues. As Schein (2004, p. 7) notes, not every organisational culture is right, strong or effective. Ideally, the effective culture should have a positive influence on the objectives of an organisation. Schein (2004) further notes that culture is essential for effective outcomes in the organisational setup (p. 7). Thus, the stronger such a culture is, the more effective the subject organisation is likely to be. Different perspectives on organisational culture According to Cooper (2000) there are two distinct perspectives on organisational culture: the first perspective is that culture is something that the organisation is”; while the second implies that culture is “something that the organisation has” (p.114). In the first perspective, one can infer that organisational culture as a way of describing an organisation. For example, Facebook can be described using the perceptions that it has an innovative and risk taking culture (Enabling Innovation, 2011, p. 6). In the latter perspective, Davies et al. (2000, cited in Enabling Innovation, 2011) observes that an organisational culture is perceived as a tool which makes it possible for the leadership to create, shape or change how things are done in the company. Whichever approach one considers, the beliefs, values, practices, rituals, stories and rites are all factors that contribute to the wholesome organisational culture. The features, according to Bal and Quinn (2001) are often derived from “the strategic business drivers of the organisation- element such as quality, innovation, results, speed, and agility” (p. 15). In other words, the company’s objectives play a significant role in shaping its culture (at least to a certain degree, especially considering that the culture is also possible of shaping how successful a company is at meeting its objectives as indicated by Malby (2007, p. 3). Internally, Schein (2004, p.11) implies that the organisational leaders have a major responsibility in interpreting the kind of culture fostered in the organisation, determining whether it is appropriate; destroying dysfunctional culture, and creating and managing the appropriate culture. Schein (2004, p. 11) however observes that organisational culture results from “a complex group learning process” and that leader behaviour can only succeed in partially influencing the same. In other words, the cultural influences come from different aspects such as leadership, national cultures and beliefs among others. The way organisational culture is shown To be evident either internally or externally, organisational culture need to have values, which are then translated to “norms and artefacts” (Armstrong, 1997, p. 120). It is the norms and artefacts that are then manifest to observers, and which help form perceptions about the organisation. Some of the areas that organisational culture is evident include teamwork, customer service, quality, innovation, competence, performance, and/or the care and consideration that an organisation has towards people, the environment and other stakeholders (Armstrong, 1997). Other observable cultural aspects include language, customs, traditions, rituals and other behavioural regularities that people in an organisational set up use when they interact (Schein, 2004, p. 12). Group norms, espoused values, formal philosophy, ‘rules of the game’, climate, embedded skills, shared meaning, integrating symbols, mental models, linguistic paradigms, habits of thinking, and formal rituals and/or celebrations are other visible factors that are perceived as part of organisational culture (Schein, 2004, p. 11-13). Based on all these factors, it is therefore evident that culture is not only about sharing a set of values, norms and beliefs, but is also about creating structural stability, breadth, depth and patterning. Notably, it is the patterning or integration of the different cultural aspects that leads to what is called “a culture” (Schein, 2004, p. 17). Norms Norms are defined as “the unwritten rules of behaviour, the rules of the game, which provide informal guidelines on how to behave” (Armstrong, 1997, p. 121). People do, say, believe and even wear what is expected of them based on prevailing norms. Notably however, norms are passed on to new people in the organisation through spoken word, or through examples but never in written form, because writing them would make them rules, policies or procedures (Armstrong, 1997, p. 121). In an attempt to fit in, most new entrants to an organisation conform to the norms, mainly because as observed by Armstrong, they (norms) exert “very powerful pressure on behaviour” (p. 121). In the external environment, norms practised in say the national culture also affect whether or not a company will be successful in its business endeavours. For example, Daft and Marcic (2012, p. 59) have observed that although some American corporations (which no doubt have strong and efficient organisational cultures), have failed to make profits in China basically because they failed to understand and create Guanxi- a “supportive, mutually beneficial connection between two people” (p. 59). Interpreted, this may be construed to mean that although the American corporations have everything in their internal environment (i.e. the right workforce, investments, industry insight, and strategies), their failure to consider the norms of the Chinese culture has had a negative effect on their profitability. If they had, Daft and Marcic (2012, p. 59) argue that the American corporations could have understood that unlike the western democracies, business is not impersonal in China. Additionally, small talk is important and part of the business culture; moreover, relationships are not just short-term and meant to serve specific business purposes; rather, they are progressive, slow and meant to establish one party’s reliability and trustworthiness (Daft & Marcic, 2012, p. 59). Artefacts According to Armstrong (1997), artefacts are “the visible and tangible aspects of an organisation which people hear see or feel” (p. 122). Such include the tone that high ranking managers or supervisors address people in the lower job levels, the working environment, the way people talk or address each other at organisational meetings, and how customer care representatives handle external stakeholders among other things. Schein (2004) defines artefacts more specifically as “all the phenomena that one sees, hears, and feels when one encounters a new group with an unfamiliar culture” (p. 25). The latter definition implies that hearing and seeing is not just what determines the artefacts contained in an organisational culture; rather what one feels regarding the same is just as important. Notably, the artefacts are usually hard to decipher if one is not part of the culture, but slowly make meaning as one becomes part of the culture. The genesis of culture according to Schein (2004) is in individuals. Specifically, Schein argues that “someone’s original beliefs and values, their sense of what ought to be, as distinct from what is” are reflected in prevailing organisational cultures in what he calls “espoused beliefs and values” (Schein, 2004, p. 28). This is tied to the fact that when companies are starting up, their founders or leaders usually make decisions based on their beliefs and values. Some of such beliefs may not be shared by other people in the organisation, but they still have to abide by the decisions made based on the power structure in the organisation. Using the Facebook example, one can for example argue that its founder Mark Zuckerberg was influenced by his beliefs or values that students from different campuses need to socialise (this reference to his beliefs and values are hypothetical and has no justification in literature). Away from Zuckerberg and what his beliefs and values may or may not be, it is worth noting that his creation – Facebook – has become a culture by its own as indicated by Carlson (2011). Notably however, Carlson has managed to create a link between the Facebook culture and the American culture. The aspects of the American culture are indicated in Hart and Daughton (2005, p. 239), and their application in Facebook can be tied to the espoused beliefs concept as indicated by Schein (2004). Originally designed as an instrument to connect the American students with each other across campuses, Facebook can thus be said to be espousing American values as indicated in Carlson (2011, pp. 66-28). Specifically, Carlson (2011) observes that Facebook (despite it widespread global use) still supports several aspects of the American culture, which include “casualness, American English (usually the default language), technology and internet” (Carlson, 2011, p. 28- emphasise added). Interpreted, the norm in Facebook that is probably understood by all its users despite their geographical location is perhaps the fact that it is an online meeting place where friends meet and connect with each other. The artefacts on the other hand are evident in such things like the unique Facebook items such as “tag”, “poke”, and “like” among others. Conclusion Organisational culture may be viewed as what a company is, or what it does by both the internal and external stakeholders; however, as evident herein, the organisational culture shapes the way people behave and do things. It has also emerged herein that organisational culture enables the organisation to handle competing tensions within its internal and external environments in a manner that sustains stability and flexibility. Notably, and as indicated above, not every organisational culture is effective or good; as such, it becomes the leadership’s responsibility to purge the ineffective aspects of the organisational culture and replace the same with better and effective aspects. Using the example of Facebook, this essay has reiterated Schein’s (2004) views that every organisational culture has its genesis in individuals. In other words, organisational culture is a reflection of the people who either worked (hence passed their beliefs, values and practices to those who succeeded them), or those who are presently working for the organisation in different positions. References Armstrong, M. (1997). Managing activities. London: CIPD Publishing. Bal, V. & Quinn, L. (2001). The missing link: Organisational culture and leadership development LIA, 21(4): 14-17. Booz & Company. (2011). A perspective on organisational culture. The Katzenbach Centre at Booz & Company. 1-35. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from http://www.booz.com/media/file/BoozCo-Perspective-on-Organizational-Culture.pdf Carlson, H.M. (2011). The Metroburb: American values in Facebook culture. A thesis. 1-99. Cooper, M.D. (2000). Towards a model of safety culture. Safety Science, 36: 11-136. Daft, R.L., & Marcic, D. (2012). Understanding management. London: Cengage Learning. Enabling Innovation (2011). Enabling Innovation- thought leadership roundtable on digital strategies. Glassmeyer/McNamee Centre for Digital Strategies, Tuck School of Business Dartmouth, 1-15. Hart, R.P., & Daughton, S. (2005). Modern rhetorical criticism (3rd Ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc. Malby, B. (2007). How does leadership make difference to organisational culture and effectiveness? - An overview for the public sector. Northern Leadership Academy. 1-18. Marinova, S. V. (2005). An organisational culture perspective on role emergence and role enactment. Dissertation. 1-155. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/2433/1/umi-umd-2298.pdf Schein, E. (1984). Coming to a new awareness of organisational culture. Sloan Management Review, winter: 3-14. Schein, E.H. (2004). Organisational culture and leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Read More