Organisational Culture and Subculture - Essay Example

Organizational Culture and Sub-Culture The work culture can be developed in a manner which suits the interests of the organization in the best form possible. For this to happen, it is necessary to understand that resources department has got an immense role to play in the related equation. We must understand that we live in a global world where human resources has of late been instrumental at dramatically changing the way we perceive the way in which people think, act and feel on the job. The basic dogma on which the dot com companies work is to reach out to the greatest amount of people and make those people as their clients within a short duration of time. (Fantasia, 1995) This would be on the expense of not being at concern related with the loss in the stock prices. (Hofstede, 2004) The culture which was adopted by these companies was of get large or get lost in the whole frame of things. Only the technological basis makes the very same possible and a work culture of this regime is necessary to put things into perspective. (Beach, 1996) Similarly, as far as the human resources function in the company’s cultural regimes is concerned, we see that in the present era the business world needs to have a lot of improvement within its ranks if it adopts the policy of working towards the establishment of a performance management system. This would guarantee them a lot of success as their employees and workers would dedicate their whole hearted efforts towards the well being of the company as well as towards their own individual capacities. (Quinn, 2005) Once these performance management systems are installed and in place, we can have a proper check and balance mechanism as concerns to the people who are working in the company. Performance management systems make use of the fact that performance is increased on the part of all concerned and there is no shortfall as concerns to commitment, dedication and devotion when at work. (Naylor, 1996) What this performance management system does is to ensure that the right people get the bonuses, incentives and so on as well as point out the ones who have fallen short on the company’s expectations over a period of time. (Cerulo, 2001) This would help in giving them rewards and incentives which will eventually make one and all happy at the end. Also this will continue their desire to achieve more and more within a specified period of time and thus come into the good books of the company. In return, they can be given all these rewards so that they could be encouraged in line with their work attitudes. (Yates, 2001) Moreover, the people who lag behind with regards to their work schedules and dedication levels will stand up and take notice and thus would want to be counted as the effective and efficient ones within the company as well. The role of organizations in the maintenance of these systems is also very paramount. (Lindholm, 1999) Indeed one of the most essential training programs within an organization is to make sure that all the employees learn to make use of the Information Technology tools and methodologies that are in line with the present day regimes. This would guarantee them success right away since they would all be on the same level as far as understanding of the IT world is concerned. (Osigweh, 1987) Then they must be trained about the different sales force mechanisms like Sales Force Automation (SFA) methodologies and the like. If the workers hail from the procurement and business development side, then there should be training in the Just In Time (JIT) and Business Development Re-engineering modules. Training needs are pretty central to an organization’s ever changing quest for achieving more and more, both in front of the channel members and customers but also the outlook that it creates for itself in the related industrial domains and the marketplace which has thus been established as a result of the stiff competition. (Mills, 2002) What this means is the fact that competition would lead to more and more new training processes which would eventually be imparted to the employees and workers who would ultimately benefit the cause of the individuals by all means and extents. This step definitely comes under the proactive vision as laid down in the management aspects. (Trice, 1992) Training of staff would only facilitate the basis of growth and prosperity within an organization and this must be ensured no matter what the organization is trying to achieve both in the short term as well as in the long run. On the same tangent, employee motivation as a sub-cultural basis works to the advantage of the firm and the people at the helm of it since they know for sure that their employees would give in their best no matter how trying or tough the circumstances are. (Kikoski, 1999) This means that they are assured of their commitment levels and the intensity of the hard work that they will put in, even under the most strenuous of routines. But this raises an interesting proposition, a stance which needs to be discussed by everyone. Over work can reduce employee motivation as well as add to the stress on the part of the employees’ physical and mental domains. (Silverstein, 2007) If there is no privacy for the employees, they would not feel motivated to do their tasks and activities in an effective and efficient manner and it is ultimately the firm which will lose out on the productivity angle nonetheless. (Sackmann, 1992) Frankly put, the top line personnel present in offices delegate jobs and assignments to their sub-ordinates without even thinking that the same might not be the correct manner and mode of action as to go about carrying out the tasks and responsibilities. (Levine, 1995) This is another sub-cultural tenet that is discussed upon at length. They think that delegation would prosper a sense of getting more work within the sub-ordinates who themselves are pretty much occupied with their already assigned tasks and jobs. This is hence not the correct manner in which things should be done and hence a need has to be chalked out to ramify the very same problem. The best possible diversity that could be made in this regard is to appoint top line managers who understand the psyche of the people working under him or her or on the same level as his so that he or she can get a grasp as to what employees usually are best suited at and what they do not prefer under certain strenuous conditions in the office place environment. (Schein, 2004) As a consequence, being able to do more work is definitely considered a plus and an added advantage for an employee but this should not, under any level, exceed his capabilities and skill sets. He must be assigned the amount of work which is proportionate with his pay, already set working conditions and more so the skills on the basis of which he was selected in the first place. (Estlund, 2003) Thus the diverse workforce issue gets its resolve from the fact that people work as a team rather than working alone yet they perform their own respective tasks and duties in their own capacities within the office environment for which there is no direct or indirect connection as concerns the groups and teams that they are working under from time to time. (Henderson, 1994) The manager thus chalks out a plan to review each and every sub-ordinate’s performance and then allot him the potential duties which may or may not be linked to their strengths over a given period of time. (Davidson, 2003) Therefore as a sub-cultural facet of the organization, diversity for sure takes its roots from this scenario and employees feel somewhat at ease whilst carrying out their jobs and assigned tasks, which speaks volumes of the organizational culture discussion in essence. (Bonache, 1999) The ramifications of the issue of diversifying work and making people accustomed to management tactics only helps the corporate ladder as much as the employees, specialists and top management themselves. (Walker, 2003) Thus a clear understanding has to be the guiding force to tell one and all in this situation as to the rationale behind doing the same. The end result is achieving success for the company or the enterprise that they all strive to be a part of and not to forget their individual growth that will take them up the ladder of expansion and development over the years. (Mangone, 1954) However, on the flip side of the coin, falling short of this diversification within the organization can have poor employee morals as well as a work ethic that does not support progress within the company nor amongst the personnel present in different departments of the business and at the end of the day, everyone is on the losing end with no winners to take the center stage. The laws that permit the effective handling of employees and workers are being followed to the end limits since the authorities at the helm of affairs know that it is best for both the organizations as well as the employees to make effective use of these laws and respective procedures as the end result is one that will benefit not only them but also the government and the related industries. (Lee, 2006) All said and done, it would be fitting to state that the human resources management regimes in the wake of the organizational cultural domains are being managed better and in a more effective manner than ever before. (Brenton, 2005) It is only the determination of the people sitting at the helm of affairs that things could change further and that too in a positive direction, in the times to come. (Kacmar, 1995) BIBLIOGRAPHY BEACH, Lee Roy. (1996). Decision Making in the Workplace: A Unified Perspective. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates BONACHE, Jaime. (1999). An Expert HR System for Aligning Organizational Culture and Strategy. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 22 BRENTON, Angela Laird. (2005). Organizational Culture in Action: A Cultural Analysis Workbook. Sage Publications, 1st Edition CERULO, Karen A. (2001). Culture in Mind: Toward a Sociology of Culture and Cognition. Routledge DAVIDSON, J. (2003). Individual Diversity and Psychology in Organizations. Wiley ESTLUND, Cynthia. (2003). Working Together: How Workplace Bonds Strengthen a Diverse Democracy. Oxford University Press FANTASIA, Rich. (1995). From Class Consciousness to Culture, Action, and Social Organization. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 21 HENDERSON, George. (1994). Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: Issues and Strategies. Praeger HOFSTEDE, Gert Jan. (2004). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. McGraw-Hill, 2nd Edition KACMAR, K. Michele. (1995). Organizational Politics, Justice, and Support: Managing the Social Climate of the Workplace. Quorum Books KIKOSKI, John F. (1999). Reflexive Communication in the Culturally Diverse Workplace. Praeger Publishers LEE, Rebecca K. (2006). The Organization as a Gendered Entity: A Response to Professor Schultzs the Sanitized Workplace. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Vol. 15 LEVINE, David I. (1995). Reinventing the Workplace: How Business and Employees Can Both Win. Brookings Institution LINDHOLM, Niklas. (1999). National Culture and Performance Management in MNC Subsidiaries. International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 29 MANGONE, Gerald J. (1954). A Short History of International Organization. McGraw-Hill MILLS, Albert J. (2002). Gender, Identity, and the Culture of Organizations. Routledge NAYLOR, Larry L. (1996). Culture and Change: An Introduction. Bergin & Garvey OSIGWEH, Chimezie A. (1987). Communicating Employee Responsibilities and Rights: A Modern Management Mandate. Quorum Books SACKMANN, Sonja A. (1992). Culture and Subcultures: An Analysis of Organizational Knowledge. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 37 SCHEIN, Edgar H. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. Jossey-Bass, 3rd Edition SILVERSTEIN, Barry. (2007). Best Practices: Motivating Employees: Bringing Out the Best in Your People. Collins QUINN, Robert E. (2005). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. Jossey-Bass TRICE, Harrison M. (1992). The Cultures of Work Organizations. Prentice Hall, Facsimile edition WALKER, Felicia R. (2003). Understanding Organizations through Culture and Structure: Relational and Other Lessons from the African-American Organization. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates YATES, Jacquelyn. (2001). The Real World of Employee Ownership. Cornell University Press Word Count: 1,646 Read More