Organizational Culture - Essay Example

Introduction An organization is a social arrangement that pursues goals that are held collectively. Every organization has some set values and these govern the daily activities of that particular organization. Schein (2004) states that every organization has several concepts that govern its existence, which include organizational culture and organizational structures as well as such concepts such as organizational change and development. Organizational culture refers to the norms, values and ideas that are collectively held by the members of an organization (Sundstrom, De Meuse & Futrell, 1990). On the other hand, organizational structure refers to the system that is employed within the organization referring to the chain of command that is employed. This paper will examine organizational culture and organizational structure by explaining how the two are interrelated and how they affect the operations of an organization. As the writer works for Wal-Mart, this organisation will be used as a case study in order to apply these concepts and show how they positively affect the activities of the organisation. Organizational culture As mentioned, organizational culture refers to a set of norms, attitudes and beliefs that are held within an organization. These are thus the shared values by all those people who operate within the jurisdiction of that particular organization (Sundstrom, De Meuse & Futrell, 1990). The organisational culture involves several aspects ranging from the ethical standards to the styles of leadership that are observed. Organizational culture is normally the corporate culture, which is composed of the sum total of all the values, images and concepts that make the organization unique as compared to all other organizations. That is, an organization’s culture is the organization’s identity. The writer works for a branch of the Wal-Mart Company, and the management has put in place an organizational culture that is strictly adhered to by all those who work within the organization. There is a set code of behaviour that is held as the organisational culture and failure to comply with the set rules and standards is highly unacceptable. One of the main components of an organizational culture is the leadership styles applied within the organization (Alvesson, 2002). This is normally because the different styles are derived from different theories and models, and each holds different assumptions and values. As such it is up to any organization to consider the different leadership styles and the assumptions as well as the values advocated for in each theory. In turn, they decide on the values they want to embrace as part of their culture and as such incorporate the models into the organizational culture (Schein, 2004). The Wal-Mart Company’s management of the organization embraces the democratic style of leadership as part of its organizational culture. Most decisions within an organization are made within a team setting and thus the board of directors gets to vote before a decision is reached. This is different from autocratic leadership where the leadership and the decision making lie in the hands of the ultimate leader. In autocratic leadership, the employees do not get to contribute in decision-making. The organization also employs democratic leadership to incorporate flexibility and can thus always apply new ways of doing things. This organization culture within the organization helps its members within the organization know and understand the way things are run within the organization (Capozza & Brown, 2000). The democratic leadership style always proves to be effective when fresh ideas need to be introduced within the organization. This helps one to understand the old process and thus embrace the new in an easier manner. Furthermore, this style is especially applied when the board of directors within the organization holds its meetings a which time the members of the board are able to contribute in times when crucial decisions need to be made. The board of directors draws its membership from a team that is knowledgeable in different areas. Some may be human resource specialist while others are strategic managers (Alvesson, 2002). As such, these backgrounds prove to be of great benefit for the organization when all these experts discuss an issue and share ideas before reaching the ultimate decisions. The decisions that are reached are then always well informed and tend to be well argued. This forms part of the organizational culture that is embraced so as to allow the organization to be competent. Another important cultural aspect is the globalization of all the trade aspects of the organization. This has proved to be essential in the day-to-day activities of the organization. The organizational culture dictates that all managers and workers within the organization should have a global mind set (Steel & Jennings, 1992). This avoids scenarios of losing business deals due to occurrences of culture shocks and other aftermaths of introducing new cultural values. As Wal-Mart have branches all over the world. Its workers, especially the top management are transferred often to new branches so as to inject new blood (Weldon & Weingart, 1993). The organization’ management has taken into consideration that the cultures in the different nations differ, which impact upon the management and the employees’ capabilities that will allow them to embrace a global aspect in their day-to-day activities. Consequently, the leaders can be sent to any part of the world and be comfortable. It also allows the company to produce goods that are acceptable across the world. This sometimes means modifying the products that are produced in different parts of the world. The global aspect in this organization is held very highly in the organization’s culture as it helps the company to trade well in the market-place (Steel & Jennings, 1992). The organizational culture of Wal-Mart also highly regards the relationships between employees; that is how the subordinates behave with their bosses and how the bosses treat their subordinates. Wal-Mart strongly recommends that respect should be highly valued (Alvesson, 2002). No matter the position that one holds within the organization, the culture dictates that members should have the best interest of each other at heart. This ensures that things flow well within the organization and in turn, people are at peace with each other. The ethical standards are also important entities within the organization that should be taken into great consideration (Weldon & Weingart, 1993). Wal-Mart has a rule that all deals that the managers get into on behalf of the organization should be free of fraud and that all transactions done in the name of the organization should be carried out as laid down in the legal structure. This means it is of great importance that the organizational culture is such that the legal values are incorporated so as to avoid acting outside the jurisdiction of the law. The organizational culture also dictates that transparency to the stakeholders is a vital tool for building trust between the public and the organization. The culture thus requires that the Wal-Mart trading profit and loss accounts should be audited and published in the business journals for transparency. The balance sheet for each financial year is also displayed to allow the public to view how the company is trading (Schein, 2004). Organizational structure Every activity, whether it be an individual activity or a group activity, is enacted within a structure. These structures control the activities that they enable. Organizations can be prisons, hospitals or even military settings (Arrow & McGrath, 1995). The organizational structure normally refers to a hierarchical concept of power and rule within the organization; that is, the hierarchical concept of subordination of entities that usually collaborate within the organization to serve a common aim (Parker, 2000). The organizational structure also refers to how jobs and tasks are formally divided and how resources are organised and deployed.That is, the formal structure of any organization refers to the configuration of positions and duties within the organization (Guzzo & Dickson, 1996). Organizations are normally structured in many different ways and even styles depending on their objectives and the goals they seek to accomplish. The organizational structure also allows or dictates how roles shall be allocated whether to branches to the various departments or to work groups or even to individuals. An organizational structure normally has several components (Cameron & Quinn, 2005). These include the physical components, which address the question of how to manage the physical resources. These would include such aspects as the production flow, the building design, the document tracking and such activities. They also include the conceptual aspects, which involves the ways that facilitate or support the essential processes. These would include departments and the management levels and issues such as the task divisions (Parker, 2000). Wal-Mart, applies the bureaucracy organizational structure, because the organization is so large and it therefore requires high departmentalization so as to achieve its goals (Capozza & Brown, 2000). There are functional divisions within the Wal-Mart that normally create economies of scale due to the minimum duplication that it ensures. Wal-Mart also employs product division, which creates a greater focus on resources, which in turn enables specialization to be practised within the business entity (Cameron & Quinn, 2005). Specialization has the advantage of increasing the production efficiencies and also results in wage differentiation. The bureaucratic structure also enables a clear chain of command to be drawn, which establishes clear authority, unity and direction. Wal-Mart also allows centralization of the decision making process (Cameron & Quinn, 2005). Formalization is also part of what the organization advocates for. The two concepts within Wal-Mart are interrelated because the organizational culture depicts the values, the norms and the beliefs that are practise (Schein, 2004). The structure on the other hand is the system, which is put in place so as to ensure that the culture is implemented effectively. This interrelation thus helps benefit the organization in that when the structure is effective, it helps in the effective implementation of the culture. Therefore, there is a relationship between organisational culture and organisational structure that can be understood through analysing the following table. The concepts table Organizational setting OB 1: Organizational culture OB 2: Organizational structure Text source: Schein, 2004, Ch. 4;- Alvesson, 2002, Ch. 5;- Parker 2000, Ch. 4;- Cameron & Quinn, 2005, Ch. 4 Text source: Marquis & Huston, 2008, Ch. 13;- Hitt et al 2008, Ch. 2008;- Maguire 2008, Ch. 3;- Fritz,1996, Ch. 2;- Turner & Doty, 2009, Ch. 2.3 A: Wal-Mart useful organisational culture tools/concepts A: Wal-Mart useful organisational structure tools/concepts a)- Cultural types Used for identifying the different cultures and how they are applied. a)- Structure types Used for identifying the different structural types b)- Cultural functions Used for identifying the function of the cultural values. b)- Structural functions Used to identify how the different structures function c)- Cultural diversities Used to describe various cultures and how they vary from each other. c)- Structural differences Used to identify how the different kinds of organizational cultures differ d)- Evaluating culture Used to evaluate the values that are held by each and every culture. d)- Evaluation structure Used to evaluate the characteristics of the different structures. e)- Definitions Used to define the different cultures. e)- Definitions Used to define the different structures. B. Tools applied to set the findings of Wal-Mart B. Tools used to set the findings of Wal-Mart a)- Cultural models Used to identify and categorize different types of cultures a)- Structural models Used to identify the different types of leadership structures identified by the different groups b)- Cultural strengths Used for gauging the strengths that is depicted by the various cultural values. b)- Structural strengths Used to gauge the strengths exhibited by use of the various structures. c)- Globalization Used to make an organization embrace the values that are required to allow globalization of activities c)- Bureaucracy Used to employ a strong chain of command d)- Assessment kit Used to assess the different values and their implication in the institution. d)- Assessment criteria Used to assess the different institutional and organizational structures. B2: Analysis of response to writings i. From the concepts table it is clear that there is a direct interrelation between organization culture and organization structure. ii. This is so because the organization culture is such that a democratic system of leadership is embraced as the culture and a bureaucratic system of leadership is also embraced. The strong chain of command observed allows for democratic leadership. iii. The relationship in Wal-Mart setting would be described as a diagonal relationship that allows for collaboration of the concepts of the organization so that friction does not result iv. The relationship is best described by the cultural strengths section vs. the structural strengths section. This is a clear indication that the cultural strengths applied in the organization are in line with the structural strengths and this allows for a clear flow of activities. C1: Close exercise There is an undeniable relationship between the organizational culture and the organizational structure. These two concepts are interdependent and none can be effective without the other. The democratic system of leadership that is embraced as part of the organizational culture is the strong chain of command exhibited within the organization that is exhibited in the bureaucratic structure of leadership that is used within the organization (Capozza & Brown, 2000). This is in correspondence with the culture that has a democratic style of leadership corresponds to the cultural elements of measuring departmental performance on the basis of individual staff performance. Changes to one of the organizational functions will directly influence changes to other organizational functions (Parker, 2000). This relationship creates implications for actions that seek to improve structural efficiencies at the level of the individual staff member. These changes are felt across departments and up to the individual level. If there is a change in the organizational culture and in order to be precise in the style of leadership incorporated, this will have a direct effect on the structure of the organization. C2: Analysis of concepts table B parts a to d For example, if the autocratic style of leadership is undertaken then the organization’s structural change will also be affected. It may affect the way decisions are made in the various departments and may eventually affect the way leaders make decisions. They will now not involve the employees in the final decision making and this may in turn cause an entire change in the bureaucratic system of leadership. The bureaucratic leadership system requires that there should be a chain of command, which is adhered to strictly. C3: Class discussion The introduction of autocratic leadership requires further explanation. This system is dictatorial since one person has control over all the other roles of the organization. His contributions are the only ones that count within the organization. The leader in this system is very unpopular with the peers. Conclusion The various concepts in any organization are interrelated and they are mostly interdependent. The Wal-Mart organisation management team understand that the organisational concepts applied in the day to day running of the organisation are closely related. The Wal- Mart management team understands that the organisational culture and the organisational structures are closely related and change in one will either directly or indirectly affect the other. The Wal-Mart management team therefore gives keen consideration to what effect change in a concept may have on other concepts. This ensures that adverse effects that may result from an alteration of concepts is avoided and this ensures that the goals of the organisation are achieved. References Alvesson, M. (2002). Understanding organizational culture. New York: SAGE Publishers. 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