Organizational Culture as a Way to Unite Employees - Research Paper Example

Organizational Culture and System Table of Contents Introduction 2 Importance of organizational culture and leadership in modern organization 2 Macro cultures/subcultures within organization 4 Assessment of culture 4 Organizational Culture Typology 5 Creation of Culture 6 The role of leadership in organizational culture 7 The Role of Culture in Change 8 Learning Culture 8 How organizational culture affects organization’s future 9 Implications of organizational culture on effective leader 9 References 11 Introduction Organizational culture is the adhesive that holds an institution together through the cohesion of symbols, myths, values and heroes that has a meaning to employees. The organizational leadership is the potential to impact, inspire and give towards the efficiency of the organization (Schein, 2010). This paper will discuss organizational culture and leadership as the topic from the class that is relevant to my interests, leadership goals, and future career. The aspect of culture and leadership is interesting because we own a family business in my home country. The company has thirty employees most of whom have a low level of education but have served the company for a period. My father created this company but died several years ago. My objective after graduation is to return home and run the business. Importance of organizational culture and leadership in modern organization The importance of this topic in today’s organizations is that a leader’s efficiency is implanted in the organizational and societal beliefs, norms and values of the individuals being led. It is also significant to note that people have a clear concept of what a leader behave, look and act. The ideas are based on the individual’s early encounters with leaders and are outlined by one’s upbringing and culture. These are the basis of expectations of a leader and determine if he or she is good, efficient and worth (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman & Gupta, 2004). The organizational culture has an impact on the behavior and attitude of the employees and also the degree of performance attained by the company. The culture is seen to penetrate the organization at three basic levels. From the outside, the artifacts of the company are visible. They include rules of conduct, rituals, dress codes, technology, structure, stories and physical layout. The second level includes the organizational values and lastly, the fundamental assumption of the organizational ‘reality. In reference to Schein’s three-level model, the culture comprises of basic assumptions that represent the approach of interpretation that people use. The strategies of interpretation recognize a situation and make sense of the ongoing human relationships, events and activities. It creates the foundation of collective action and develops over time as members of a group come up with strategies to manage difficulties. The second level of the model is values that represent a clearer presentation of culture that indicate embraced beliefs recognizing what is critical to a certain cultural group. The values give a way through which the organizational employees explain issues, signals and events that represent a lasting belief that a particular norm of conduct is appropriate than one that is contrary. Therefore, values are a set of social norms that rule acceptable types of social communication and interaction in a culturally well-defined group. In addition, organizational culture is demonstrated in different artifacts for instance ceremony, technology, visible and audible conduct patterns. For example, a company’s information system can be seen as a form of cultural artifact that is the awareness of a certain set of cultural values. From the perspective of behavior, some employees engage in working late hours after normal working hours can be viewed as a clear demonstration of implied assumption and basic cultural values (Dwivedi, 2001). Douglas McGregor came up with theory X and Y, and it is utilized to describe basic assumptions. Theory X is relies on the belief that a person does not have the morale to perform any task and, therefore, a particular form of control and pressure should be forced on him to work effectively. The kind of people requires a firmly managed work environment. In some cases, threats or disciplinary actions are a key source of motivation. Theory X proposes that employees react to monetary rewards as a way of inducement to perform beyond the expected standard. From the perspective of management, theory X that is referred to as the autocratic way of management and preserves most of their power. In such a case, the manager makes all the decisions and communicates to the staff expecting full implementation of the orders. The type of management is concerned with getting the work done and is not concerned with the employee’s attitudes toward the decisions. On the other hand, theory suggests that people are creative and ready to execute their tasks. In this theory, the employees are ready to handle more responsibilities and engage in decision-making procedures of a company compared to theory X. These type of staff work comfortably in a place where there are chances to engage personally in organizational planning and allowances for creativity. Theory Y leadership is also known as participative where a leader shares decisions with other members. The team members are permitted to vote on decisions and are encouraged to hold discussions and come up with solutions that reflect the ‘consensus’ of the group (Schein, 2010). Macro cultures/subcultures within organization The organization exists in a regional macro-culture environment. The organizational culture is a macro-culture where identity group cultures survive. An organization that is in existence for a period is understood as a set of reciprocal actions of subcultures in the bigger setting of the organizational culture. The subcultures share a majority of the assumptions of the whole organization. In addition, subcultures have assumptions that are beyond the company and reflect their functional roles, unique encounters and profession of their members. The shared assumptions that form subcultures are founded on a similarity of organizational experience, educational background of members and shared tasks (Schein, 2010). Assessment of culture Organizational culture assessment is important to diagnose and manage various institutional cultures as structural transformation happens. In addition, the assessment is crucial because of the increasing unpredictability, turbulence and complexity of the outside environment in which the organizations run. A company develops a supreme organizational culture over time as they respond and adapt to changes and challenges in the territory. The organizations are faced with increasing pressure, competition and change in the environment that necessitates emphasis and prominence in organizational culture. It is because organizational culture generates adaptability and stability for a company. Hence, organizational culture assessment is significant because of the necessity to maintain stability and change in the environment of external turbulence (Joshi, 2001). Organizational Culture Typology Organizational culture typology models have roots in a company’s information processing techniques. There are four kinds of organizational culture typology according to Quinn namely hierarchy, clan, market, and adhocracy. The market culture is concerned with productivity, initiative, efficiency and aggressiveness. The clan cultures are about social equality, broadmindedness, stress relationships, fairness, forgiveness, and cooperation. The adhocracy type of organizational culture is one that is flexible to growth and transformation. The hierarchy culture is one that puts emphasis on execution and stability of regulations. In addition, hierarchy culture values orderliness, formality, economy, logic and cautiousness (Lowman, 2002). These typologies are constructed on elements analyzing large numbers of signals of organizational performance and determining that they get to two groups that correlate with ‘archetypical’ dimensions. The typology is useful in determining the type of climate that managers establish for their staff and relating it to performance. In addition, the typology is founded on the theoretical concept that the poles of dimension are in conflict with each other, and the cultural solution is used to harmonize them (Schein, 2010). In addition, Harrison and Handy proposed four types of typologies that include support, achievement, power and role-oriented. The typologies are measured by brief questionnaires that assist the company to obtain understanding of its ‘essence’ (Cartwright & Cooper, 2005). Creation of Culture An organizational culture is created in various ways that reflects the mission of the company’s founders. The founders have a big influence on the company’s initial culture and are not restricted by previous ideas and customs. The procedure of culture occurs in three ways. First, the founders choose and preserve the staff that feels and think the same way they do. Second, they socialize and indoctrinate this staff to their manner of sensation and thought. Finally, the funder’s conduct becomes the role model that motivates the staff to recognize them, hence, internalizing their assumptions, beliefs, and values. In case the company succeeds, the vision of the founder is viewed as a key determinant of the success. At this juncture, the founder’s whole personalities are implanted in the organizational culture. As a matter of fact, a group’s culture is the collective learning, the explanation and classification of the training. Organizational theories are employed to differentiate the two main challenges that the groups face. The first problem is internal integration that allows daily operation and the capability to learn and adapt. The second difficulty is the adaptation, survival and growth in their territory. These areas of group operations show the macro cultural situation that the group exists. In addition, they provide deeper and wider fundamental assumption about the nature of the human relationships and nature, reality, space and time (Schein, 2010). In a workgroup, culture is created as the group designs its working practices and norms that form its basic value system. The group’s culture is impacted by the existing culture of the entire organization or the society. On the other hand, influence originates from the groups past unsuccessful or successful leadership, patterns of work and communication. The new members are subjected to a process of socialization that assists them to ‘fit in’ the group. A change in a group’s culture happens in reaction to important changes in the group territory, crises in its lifecycle, or when it continuously fails to attain performance excellence. A group culture can also be displayed over a short period in a cohesion that arises from collective group emotion. The meanings and emotions emerging from the same emotional bond among the group members sharing a specific reality in a certain condition is termed as sentience (Schein, 2010). In most cases, a culture is not created rather it is changed. Creation of culture applies to two situations; a) where the company is starting and b) in a merger of two or more businesses. Change occurs when there is leadership transformation, or the existing leader embraces a different transformational style. It leads to surfacing of new cultural values and norms (Rajendran, 2001). The role of leadership in organizational culture The role of a leader is to persuade others to embrace the organization’s vision, values and assumptions implanted in its vision and mission statement. In addition, the function of a leader includes creating and changing a culture. The leaders are responsible in managing the resources of a company. They make decisions on what is measured, how rewards are given and where attention is needed. Formal management procedures strengthen their values and assumptions and put in place a sequence of practices and processes that assist the employees to follow suit. Some managers interact with staff, to see how activities are carried out, enquiring and providing motivation. Other ways of communication with an employee is through newsletters, videos and meetings ensure the effective establishment of consensual cultures. A leadership conduct in particular role modeling is significant in attaining change in the organizational culture. In such a case, the leaders must strengthen new cultural assumptions and values. It means that the adopted values must be implemented. In spite of the money and energy that a leader employs to initiate a cultural change, they cannot do it by themselves. Nevertheless, a leader can design a space and opportunity for cultural change to happen through listening to staff remarks about the new assumptions and values, and interacting with subordinates. In addition, a leader can watch and listen to employee’s resistance to cultural change as well as adopting new assumptions and values (Singh, 2001). The Role of Culture in Change The organizational culture is an important factor to consider when initiating change. Recognizing the organization culture assists in understanding the way the staff will receive the change. In addition, it helps in finding methods of designing and implementing successful change and the kind of company’s reaction to change. Strong cultures are not supposed to change but in modern days change is unavoidable (Cartwright & Cooper, 1993). Learning Culture The organizational culture is learned through language, stories, material symbols, and rituals. The organizational stories comprise of narratives of important people or events. It includes the organization’s founders, response to past mistakes and rule breaking. The senior executives describe the company’s heritage and narrate how they honor people getting work done. The stories give examples from which the staff can learn by connecting the present with the past and give clear pictures of the company’s goals. Another technique of learning culture is rituals. Corporate rituals are repetitive series of operations that reinforce and express the individuals who are significant, important goals and the fundamental values of the organization. From the perspective symbols, it is reflected in the dress code of the staff, the kind of cars used by top executives and the company’s facilities. Other material symbols include executive ‘perks’, the elegance of furnishings and the size of the offices. The role of material symbols is to communicate to employees the standard of equality expected by top management, type of conduct and who is important. In an organization, the language is a way of identifying members of a culture. When the employees learn the language, it acts as a way of accepting the culture and hence preserving it. In a period, an organization expands distinct words to describe products, key personnel, customers, key personnel and supplies associated with their business. Once the language is learned, it is used to unite people of a particular culture (Singh, 2002). How organizational culture affects organization’s future The organizational culture and leadership influences the future of organizations because globalization has put more pressure on multinational companies to become the same. It is because the companies compete in a common marketplace meaning that they are influenced by similar industrial and economic opportunities and constraints. In addition, the societal and organizational cultures influence employees conduct and attitudes. The wave of globalization taking place makes it impossible to comprehend cultural interchange. Therefore, organizational culture affects the success of an organization (Tripathi, S., & Tripathi, N., 2009). Implications of organizational culture on effective leader The topic of organizational culture and leadership results in effective leader through understanding various leadership styles. Research conducted by GLOBE concluded that team-oriented and charismatic styles contributed to excellent leadership across all cultures. In charismatic style, a leader focuses on innovation, motivates staff around a vision, high standards and generates passion among subordinates to fulfill their tasks. The team-oriented style is one that implants collaboration, pride and loyalty to team members. In addition, it values more common goals or purposes and team cohesive. The participative style enhances input from employees in decision-making and execution. It also emphasizes on equality and delegation. The humane style put emphasis on generosity and compassion. In addition, this style is supportive, concerned and patient with other employees. The self-protective style is concerned with ‘face savings’ conduct, status-conscious and procedural and emphasizes on security and safety of a group and an individual. Finally, the autonomous style is about autonomy. It is distinguished by self-centric, independent and individualistic strategy to leadership (House et al., 2004). When a leader is equipped with such information, he or she is a good position to employ the best options for better business outcomes. Conclusion In conclusion, the knowledge that I have attained in class will be a great resource to my family business. For instance, I have learned that the company’s culture is based on employing staff from the community who have low education. In addition, my company has the culture of retaining employees for a long time. It is not fair for the company because it affects its productivity and staff performance. References Cartwright, S., & Cooper, C. L. (1993-2005). The Role of Culture Compatibility in Successful Organizational Marriage. The Academy of Management Executive. Vol. 7, No. 2 (May, 1993), pp. 57-70. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4165122. Dwivedi, R. S. (2001). Developing a Culture of High Performance: Some Research Findings and Experiences. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 31-57. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27767759 House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., & Gupta, V. (Eds.). (2004). Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Sage publications. Rajendran, K. V. (Jul., 2001). Developing a Culture of High Performance. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations Vol. 37, No. 1, Developing a Culture of High Performance, pp. 111-119. 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