Deciphering Organizational Culture through Artifacts - Term Paper Example

? Deciphering organizational culture through Artifacts Deciphering organisational culture through Artifacts Introduction Organisational culture refers to the value systems, customs, beliefs, norms and behaviors that regulate the interactions of stakeholders in the organisation (Mukherjee, 2005). Organisational culture contributes to the psychological and social environment in the organisation. Culture of an organisation is expressed in the interaction with outside stakeholders, future expectations of the organisation and information flow in the organisation (Mohanty & Rath, 68). The components of organisational culture include the organisational structure, the control systems, the power structures, the organisational processes, the rituals and routines, stories and artifacts in the organisation (Mukherjee, 2005). The topic is important since organisational culture is critical for organisational success. Due to increasing multicultural workforce, organisational culture will help the organisation establish cordial relationships and facilitate team work among the diverse workforce (Mukherjee, 2005). In addition, the culture contributes to brand image and employee retention. This paper will answer the following research questions. I. Why is organisational culture important? II. How does organisational culture affect the organisation? III. How does organisational culture affect physical structures and symbols? Organisational culture is evidenced in the manner in which the business conducts its activities such as interactions with stakeholders like customers, employees and the wider society (Mukherjee, 2005). It is also manifested by extend in which creativity and individual imitativeness are tolerated in the organisation (Mukherjee, 2005). In addition, culture is evidenced in the levels of the organisational structure and the chain of command that influences the channels of information flow in the organisation. Proper organisational culture enhances employee commitment to the shared mission and objectives of the organisation (Mukherjee, 2005). The culture will also enhance or hinder the productivity and performance of each individual employee in the organisation. Shared organisational culture unites multicultural workforce thus leading to a sense of unity and appreciation of the differences in their cultural backgrounds (Brown, 1998). In this case, the culture will foster conflict resolution and efficient communication thus leading to perceptions of equality among the diverse workforce. Organisational culture also enables the organisation to retain and attract highly qualified skilled manpower since the right culture enables employees have a sense of higher personal accomplishment by being part of the organisational workforce (Mohanty & Rath, 72). Organisational culture enables employees increase their productivity since they expect to earn appreciation and recognition from the top management (Brown, 1998). The culture facilitates achievement of the mission of the organisation through enabling employees take responsibility for their roles and responsibilities in the organisation (Brown, 1998). The culture affects the organisation in several ways. The culture acts as the organisational identity and contributes to brand image formation (Brown, 1998). Culture enables the organisations create energy and momentum for future success through outlining the employee attributes and behaviours that are essential for the attainment of the mission of the organisation. The culture promotes healthy relationships in the organisation thus limiting the chances of employee grievances and go-slows that may negatively impact on the continuance of operations and productivity in the organisation (Brown, 1998). The culture influences the rate of innovation and new product development in the organisation (Brown, 1998). A culture that tolerates risk will encourage employees to experiment news ideas without fear of making mistakes thus contributing to higher chances of implementation of innovative working processes and products. Organisational culture outlines the power structures within the organisation thus outlining the sources of power such as expert power, position power and referent power within the organisation. The culture also impacts on the organisational structure that is crucial in determining the reporting relationships, hierarchy of command, the rules and policies that should be followed by the subordinates (Brown, 1998). The control systems such as punishments and rewards assist the organisation in influencing the efforts of employees towards the attainment of the common goals. The control systems will also define the acceptable behaviour within the organisation (Jagajeevan & Shanmugam, 45). The ceremonies such as the end of year parties enable the management appreciate the efforts of individual employees and review the performance of the organisation. The stories about the past leaders of the organisation such as the founder’s success stories provide the socially acceptable behaviours (Mukherjee, 2005). Rituals suggest how visitors should be handled while the dress code suggests the level of formality within the organisation. The culture also impacts of the level of compliance with organisational ethics and policies of the organisation. Charles Handy (1976) describes four aspects of the culture that entail power culture, task culture, role culture and person culture (Brown, 1998). In the role culture, organisations will have high hierarchy and strict procedures that are followed by all members of the organisation. Person culture emphasizes the need to facilitate employee training and professional growth thus leading to more creativity and high productivity (Brown, 1998). The task culture is committed to job specialization while power culture concentrates the control and authority on few people within the organisation such as the top managers. Organisational culture can either be defensive or passive whereby defensive cultures make employees perceive a threat to their jobs security. Schein (1992) asserts that constructive cultures contribute to high achievements and development of the employees. Edgar Schein (1992) is of the opinion that organisational culture contributes to organisational change and entails all the physical attributes, values and underlying assumptions within the organisation. Organisational culture affects the physical structures and symbols in the organisation. Physical structures and symbols are indicators of the organisational normal life (Schein, 1992). Physical structures entail the tangible manifestations of the organisational culture such as building designs, logos on the walls, flowers at the reception and dress code (Jagajeevan & Shanmugam, 32). The office shape, quality of furniture and hangings on the walls reflect the shared vision of the organisation. The physical landscape influences employee ergonomics by determining the physical aspects of the work environment such as the noise level and temperatures (Schein, 1992). The tidiness and decoration also enhance the organisational image through enabling perceptions of comfort among the visitors. For instance, the store design may alter the purchasing behaviour and emotions of shoppers thus contributing to more revenues and customer retention. Accordingly, medical professionals use a white coat to symbolize a desired behaviour while physical evidence is essential in service-oriented industries (Schein, 1992). Conclusion The paper discussed the importance of organisational culture, the effect of culture on the organisation and how organisational culture affects the physical structures and symbols. Organisational culture entails the espoused values, the norms, beliefs, stories, artifacts, power systems, myths and symbols in the organisation. The culture of organisation contributes to the success of the organisation through improving the productivity of employees and creating cordial working environment. The culture unifies the efforts of employees towards the attainment of a shared organisational mission. Culture also enhances the reputation of the organisation and creates a sense of direction. Physical structures and symbols are components of organisational culture and usually reflect the underlying assumptions, the perceptions of outside stakeholders and shared values of the organisation. References: Brown, A.D. (1998). Organizational culture. London: Prentice-Hall. Jagajeevan, R. & Shanmugam, P., 2008. “Common Artifacts Contributing to organizational culture: An Indian perspective”. ICFAI Journal of Soft Skills. Vol 2(3), pp.29-59. Mohanty, J., & Rath, B. P. (2012). “Influence of organizational culture on organizational citizenship behavior: A Three-sector study”. Global Journal of Business Research, 65-76. Mukherjee, S. (2005). Organisation & management and business communication. New York: New Age International. Schein, E.H. (1992). Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2nd edition, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Read More