Theories of Organisational Behaviour - Literature review Example

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction Organisational culture entails a system of shared beliefs, values and assumptions that directs how individuals conduct themselves in an organisation. The shared values and beliefs hold powerful influence on individuals in an organisation and govern how they perform their roles, act and dress. Hammond, Gross and Wesson (2013, p.59) define organisational culture as the mutual patterned sets of meanings for behaviours in organisations. In order to comprehend organisational culture, it is essential to understand its link with evolution of thought in organisation theory. The different approaches to organisational culture stems from two distinctive disciplines, which include sociology and anthropology. These concepts have instigated the surfacing of the diverse frameworks and theories in organisational culture. Sociology considers the functionalist approach that takes culture as something possessed by an organisation while anthropology considers the interpretivist view, which views culture as an organisational metaphor. This paper focuses on the functionalist theory, symbolic-interpretative theory and modernist theories of organisational culture. The paper identifies the similarities and differences between these theories, and ascertains why similarities and differences exist. Functionalist Theory The functionalist theory views organisational culture with respect to functions which culture performs in an organisation. According to Schultz (1995, p.21), the functionalist perspective is founded on the contributions of Edgar Schein. The functionalist perspective influences the concept of organisational culture (Allaire & Firsirotu 1984, 197). It provides a functional explanation of the subsistence of organisational culture and adopts the empirical assessment of organisational culture on specific functions in an organisation. The functionalist theory views organisational culture as a variable that managers can manipulate and establish a vibrant and culture. The functionalism has its foundation on the paradigm of social facts. According to the functionalism theory, organisations serve the needs and interests of individual members. This theory views organisation as systems with needs and goals. With respect to the functionalist theory, organisational culture is analysed with regard to the functions which culture takes in within the organisation. Notwithstanding that, organisational culture is envisaged in terms of organisational distinctiveness, the culture evolutions is an answer to certain universal problems, which all firms must solve to ensure survival. Devoid of a functional way of dealing with fundamental problems facing an organisation, in terms of internal integration and external adaptation, the organisation can cease to persist. Modernist Theory The modernist perspective considers culture as a tool for management and a variable to be influenced as a way of gaining the desired behaviour or performance. Modernists advocate for the rationalisation of the practices of an organisation (Schultz 1995, p.30). They tend to address the organised states or results instead of the intricate social procedures. According to modernists, the conduct of a person at work is influenced by beliefs, attitudes or values that the person hold and that can be shared among workers. According to modernists, there is a close link amid the power of organisational culture and organisational performance. As a result, organisational culture influences organisational performance. Modernists disregard, symbolic interpretative theory because symbolic interpretative theory focuses on experience outside the common senses such as emotion and intuition. Instead, the symbolic interpretative theory centres on understanding and meaning and disregards generalisation of culture beyond its production context. Symbolic-Interpretative Theory Contrary, to the functionalist theory, the symbolic-interpretive theory views culture as being a socially constructed realism. The theory maintains that people make use of and interpret symbols an aspect that helps them in constructing culture. According to the symbolic-interpretive theory, culture is comprehended by observation of symbolic constructions, hence found through the approach of many members of a culture instead of an individual. According to Sulkowski (2014, p.61), symbolic-interpretative theory of organisational culture centres on the description of links in complex organisational and social structures. The symbolic interpretive theory surfaced in the 1980s (Hammond, Gross & Wesson 2013, p.59). This theory aimed to counterbalance the functionalist approach to organisational culture. The symbolic interpretive theory depends on ideas developed within cultural anthropology. Based on this theory, organisations are approached as subjective perceptions. The symbolic interpretive theory provides a major contrast to functionalism theory. The theory approaches culture from a native viewpoint. It focuses in active establishment of meanings and how the created meanings are linked in organisations. On the contrary, the modernist theory maintain that social structure hold a powerful link between human behaviour, roles and performance. Unlike the functionalist and symbolic-interpretive theory, the modernist theory focuses in rules that ensures effective and efficient performance. Contrary to modernists, symbolic-interpretivist upholds that employees can be motivated to establish success while the modernist maintains that organisational culture influences organisational performance. Based on the three theories, managers are able to understand the requirement needed to establish an acceptable and productive organisational culture. It also helps employees in understanding what they need to adapt to in order to be effective. The symbolic interpretive and functionalist theories have helped in generating two prevalent strands of organisational culture. Within a functionalist approach, organisations are considered adaptive systems that are upheld through exchange within the environment. Information regarding theories of organisational culture is important because it helps employees to understand what they need in order to be effective while at the same help managers to inspire their subordinates. Based on the information regarding the theories of organisational culture, it is evident that organisational climate is apparently a result of theories. Different concepts and ideas from different theories help individual and line managers in establishing a productive organisational culture. The idea of organisational culture as a mind’s product and shared meaning systems as projected by symbolic-interpretative theory, in terms of functions which culture performs as proposed by functionalist theory, and the modernist view that culture concerns getting individuals to agree are powerful and rich information needed in establishing the culture of an organisation. However, the information provided in this paper differs markedly with respect to the fundamental aspects different theories emphasise as the shaping drive of organisational culture. The different concepts of culture as presented by the three theories are distinct and emphasis on the intrinsic elements of culture. In conclusion, there is no theory that is perfect than the other. However, the premises of the different theories demonstrate that culture can be maintained and celebrated based on the views of a given organisation but will go through constant critical examination and reflection from point of view of different theories to ensure effective organisational culture. The three theories consider organisation as a certain form of social and human individual expression References Allaire, Y & Firsirotu, M 1984, ‘ Theories of organisational culture’, Organisational Studies, vol.5, no.3, pp.193-226. Hammond, J, Gross, T & Wesson, J 2013, Usability: Gaining a competitive edge, UK, Springer. Schultz, M 1995, On studying organisational cultures: Diagnosis and understanding. USA, Walter de Gruyter. Sulkowski, L 2014, ‘ From fundamentalist to pluralistic epistemology of organisational culture’, Journal for Critical Organisation Inquiry, vol.12, No.4, pp.59-77. Read More