Organisational culture and competitive advantage: is there a link Discuss - Essay Example

For example, a company manufacturing electronics might use similar resources as its competitors, and still manage to make the highest profits (Pareek 2007). The connection between organizational culture and competitive advantage is based on the fact that an organization might use its organizational culture as a source of competitive advantage. Since the elements of organizational culture have a major influence on employees, organizations might invest in a good organizational culture, which will prioritize the employees.

This increases the level of employee commitment and performance. This in turn results in a competitive advantage for the organization. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the link between organizational culture and competitive advantage. This presents a critical analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of organizational culture, from which it will be possible to establish how organizational culture relates with competitive advantage. As observed, organizational culture might be used as a source of competitive advantage.

Therefore, by analyzing organizational culture, including its different elements and effects, its relationship with competitive advantage will be evident. . 2. The Link between Organizational Culture and Competitive Advantage Organizational culture continues to receive greater attention today starting from recent decades. This is attributed to its influence on the organization and success of the organization. Additionally, organizational culture influences the attitudes and behavior of employees, who are core to an organization, and determinants of the success of an organization.

Nonetheless, according to Ortega-Parra & Sastre-Castillo (2013), organizational culture comprises behavior patterns, values sets, and beliefs, which form the identity of an organization. These elements of organizational culture mostly date from the founding period of an organization to the present, thus include an accumulation of experiences and trends. However, Black (2003) notes that organizational culture is dynamic in nature, thus the organizational culture of a company today might vary from that in the past decades.

Different scholars have conducted researches on organizational culture and its influence on an organization in different dimensions. The nature of organizational culture determines the level of competitive advantage of an organization (Ortega-Parra & Sastre-Castillo 2013). A strong organizational culture will, therefore result in competitive advantage for an organization, as compared to a weak organizational culture. Similarly, Black (2003) argues that the effects of an organizational culture on employees and the operability and functionality of an organization are responsible for the achievement of competitive advantage by an organization.

Nonetheless, the effects of a strong organizational culture might include greater commitment level of employees, job satisfaction of