Organizational culture - Assignment Example

?Running head: Organizational Culture Organizational Culture Executive Summary This article aims at defining organization culture. Organizational culture has different mode and theories attached to it. One of the theories is the culture web. This paper will use culture web in a bid to explain organizational culture. The paper discusses to what extend the culture web plays a part to in defining the style of management. The paper also focuses o the advantages and the disadvantages of this particular type of theory which is the culture web which might have on the organization. Additionally, it will use organizational examples to vividly explain the application of culture web in a given organization. Introduction Most of the organizations today thrive depending on the innovation, creativity and the discovery of their employees. Organizational culture can be described as the manner in which a collective group of people from an organization think, perceive and feel things in relation to the company’s visions, norms, values, its beliefs and even it habits. People who work in the same organization all have a tendency in which they perceive things and their own interpretation and understanding of a particular matter if it is to occur. The culture web is an example of the theories used to define organizational culture. The culture web was first coined by Jerry Johnson & Kevan Scholes in (2005). In their definition of the culture web, they defined culture web as the ‘pattern and mode’ which is the paradigm in a work environment. He uses a number of things to clearly define what a culture web is. Organizational culture According to Mullins (2010), organizational behavior is determined a lot by organizational culture. Organizational culture can be defined as the manner in which things happen in an organization. It is the manner in which decisions are made or the way in which things are perceived in a given organization. Organizational culture is the manner in which people in a certain organization figure their way around both internally and externally. Organizational culture is important in a number of things. Firstly, organizational culture assists in that it helps people who work together in a certain organization to understand very complex situations. Additionally, organizational culture is very difficult to imitate so it is a way in which competition is created. In order to understand the organizational culture of a certain organization, one must first understand the values that are incorporated. Some of the disadvantages of an organizational culture is that it is hard to incorporate new ideas. In order to understand organizational culture there are theories that were used to define organizational culture. Culture web is an instance of how one can define organizational culture. The web culture is one of the theories that is used in studying organizational culture (Moarn & Volkwein, 1992) Culture web According to Buchanan & Huczynski (2010), the culture web, which was coined by Johnson Jerry and Kevan schole, can be defined as the set of beliefs and assumptions commonly incorporated within an organization. Additionally, these set of beliefs and assumptions are taken for granted in that particular organization but they are discrete to an outsider observer. If the organizational history and events are explained, then the set of beliefs and assumptions come to the picture. These set of beliefs and assumptions are commonly referred to as the recipe or the paradigm. The recipe or the paradigm of a particular organization can be applied when a situation arises. The recipe can then be adapted taking down in to account the factors which are most relevant to each individual in the company. The organizational culture web of a particular organization then forms its pivot point on the recipe. The recipe has an indirect influence on the behaviors of all the employees. The recipe which is also known as the paradigm forms the core of the cultural web (Billor & Dawson, 1994). The setting An example of an organization which has used the culture web to define its organizational culture is in the UK local government authority and each department is headed by three to four managers. The following are the elements of the web search which are found in the organizational culture of the UK local government authority. The surveying department is a good example. Elements of the cultural web The paradigm The paradigm the set of beliefs and assumptions which are taken for granted in that particular organization but they are discrete to an outsider observer. If the organizational history and events are explained, then the set of beliefs and assumptions come to the picture. These beliefs and assumptions are actually not considered to be of any problem and are rarely discussed. In the UK, local government authority set up the high quality service is what was perceived to be the paradigm of the departments. The routine The routine is the manner in which the members of a given organization behave towards each other. The routine is actually what links the different departments of a given organization. The routines is best described as the “way in which we do things around this organization”. The routine display best the way the organization works. The routine might be helpful because it might provide an organizational competency which is distinctive and of benefits. Besides that, the routine can represent the way of how things should happen are taken for granted around the organization. This is very difficult to change and the core assumptions in the paradigm become highly protected. The routine of the department was that the services were to be defined in terms compared to the satisfaction of the clients. The rituals The rituals of the organization tend to display actually, what is valued in that organization. Robinson (1996) proposes that the rituals of the organization include training programmes of the employees, the performance appraisal of the employees to the promotion and firing of the employees. The rituals actually reinforce “the manner in which they do things around the organization”. The stories The stories which exist are the stories told of the organization. These stories are told by members of the organization to a variety of people. The people who might be told these stories include among the employees themselves, to the new recruits, to the outsiders of the organization and to the visitors of the organization. The stories which are told consist of how the present came to be through the history of the organization. The stories which are usually told act as a flag up of the main occurrence of events in the organization and the personalities. The stories might also include those mavericks who went against the rituals and the daily routine of the organization. Symbolic aspects The symbolic aspects of the organization mostly represent the nature of the organization. Instances of symbolic aspects in the organization might include the logos of the organization, the way the offices are structured, the cars of the organization and who are given them and additionally, the terminology or the type of language which is commonly used around the organization. In the surveying department, the chief officers usually had very nice offices. They had their own parking space reserved and they also had their own secretaries. Additionally, the chief officers had their own doors different from the junior staff members. These aspects symbolized who was the most powerful individual in the department. The control system There exist certain instances of the things that occur within an organization that usually make the employees of the organization focus their attention and activity towards. Some of the things that make the employee focus their attention towards them are the formalized control system, the way they are measured and the reward system of that organization. The control system actually emphasizes what is of importance in the organization. The department seems to be the control system of the surveying department. This is where the services were delivered and the conventions of the services which were given reserved. Power structures One of the key construct that the paradigm is likely to be associated with is the power structures. The most powerful individuals or groups in the organizations are the ones who most likely will be associated with the core assumptions and beliefs of what is actually important in that given organization. In the case of the surveying department, the chief officers were likely linked to the powerful individuals of the department. The chief officers were said to control to the elected members of the local government. Additionally, they also influenced them. They also had the power to translate the elements of the whole web search to determine the response of the department. Organizational structures The organizational structures include of the hierarchical individuals of the organization. These include people who should be reported to. According to Brown (1998), the formal or the informal organizational structure is likely to display the power structures of the company. Additionally, the organizational structure once again displays what is of importance to the organization. The organizational structure of the surveying department was characterized by the overemphasis on the structuring, the bureaucracy and the budgeting of the money. Identifying the blockages that hinder change The main purpose of creating the culture web is to determine the blockages to change (Burke 1994). In the surveying department, the managers were well conversant with the strategy of the organization. Every manager of each department largely agreed to the strategy of the organization. If the managers were asked to identify the blockage system, then it was clearly identified that this sort of culture that they displayed was unlikely to deliver the strategic plans that they had for the organization. The managers additionally identified the specific blockages in the organization that hinders change (Denison 1990). The chief officers who preserved the standards of the organizational department did not help in achieving the strategy set. Besides that, the professional norms of the department which were institutionalized did not help either because they were reinforced by the structure of the organization. Moreover, the attitude of differentiating the staff did not help much either in achieving the strategies set for the department. The formality of the organizational structure was embodied not only by the committees and the plans set by the committee members but also the dress code assisted in defining the formality of the organization. The managers of the department realized this did not help in achieving the strategy set for the company. The system of individuals in the organization focusing on getting their own job did not assist at all but instead help in staring problems between their workmates since the blame was shifted from one individual to another (Morgan 1997). Advantages of the culture web on the organization One of the advantages of the culture web is that it surfaces the beliefs and assumptions of an organization which are usually taken for granted. If these recipes or paradigm are discovered, then they are used for questioning that which is normally rarely put in to questioning. Change becomes difficult if what is assumed or taken for granted is not questioned. Therefore, discovering the beliefs and assumptions of an organization which are taken for granted is useful in that change becomes easy to adapt to in a particular organization (Hatch 1993). Besides that, the cultural web has its advantages in that if the beliefs and the assumptions of an organization are figured out, then it is possible to identify the barriers which exist in an organization. If these barriers are noticed, then it is likely to indulge change in that organization. This is simply because the barriers of the change are noticed then eliminated. Additionally, in relation to the future strategies of the organization, then it is likely to notice the aspects of the existing culture which are in line with it. Furthermore, the web culture has its own advantages in providing the basis of examination for the changes which are fundamental in the organization. If the basis of the examination are provided, then what kind of changes that are needed to be put in place in order to deliver a new strategy are detected. The culture web also gives an insight of how these changes can be managed. This helps in performing practical ideas to the organization for implementing strategic change (Johnston et al,2005). Disadvantages of the web culture on the organization One of the disadvantages of the web culture is that these aspects that exist in the web culture tend to be taken for granted. These aspects are the kind of things that people in an organization. This is simply because most of the time they tend to be taken for granted. Therefore, the paradigm of the web search might be difficult to trace because they are the things that happen in the everyday life of the employees. Additionally, the linkages through the web culture might provide a hindrance in creation of the web culture. For instance, the senior staff of an organization or the groups are the ones which most of the time linked to the organizational structures that preserve power bases. In this kind of scenario, dominant rules which have symbols of authorities or the origin of their power normally tend to persist (Robinson, 2006). Some of the benefits that the senior staff experience is that they have their own offices, their parking lots and their own secretaries. On the other hand, the junior individuals of the organization have their own doors and once they are recruited, these norms are usually installed in them and explained how they should focus on their responsibilities. This tends to ignore the junior staff who might have some important idea or information which might be of benefit to the organization. In addition to that, the identification of the recipe or the paradigm is a very difficult task to achieve. One of the main reasons why the paradigm might be an uphill task is due to the fact that managers tend to overindulge themselves in the matter and actually over intellectualize the whole issue. It is very likely that the managers might end up substituting the paradigm for the notion of the strategy (Kotter & Heskett, 1992). One of the likely things the managers can do is to start putting in to discussion what the organization should take for granted or what it should do. The managers here tend to fall out of place since the main aim of identifying the paradigm is to explain to the organization actually what it does take for granted. Sometimes the management might also end up listing the values of the organization rather than the assumptions which are usually taken for granted. Conclusion Identifying the blockages that hinder change in the department is the key function of the culture web in identifying the organizational culture. In order for the system to be effective, then the departments’ heads must define the paradigm of the culture web of their organization. Every element of the culture web must be clearly defined if the organization is to focus on the strategies set for the organization. References Billor, G & Dawson, P. (1994), Understanding professional culture in the organizational context. European Group for Organizational Studies. Vol 15 No 2 Brown, A (1998), Organisational Culture, FT Pitman, 2nd edition. Buchanan, D & Huczynski A (2010) Organisational Behaviour. An Introductory Text, FT Prentice Hall, 7th edition. Burke, M E (1994), Creativity Circles in Information management. Librarian career development vol2, no 2. Denison, D. R (1990), Corporate Culture and Organizational effectiveness. John Wiley, New York. 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