Organisational culture, leadership and ethics in maintaining a successful workplace culture - Essay Example

?Management Essay Contents Introduction 3 Leadership 3 Ethics 6 Organisational Culture 7 Critical Analysis 8 Conclusion 9 Reference List 11 Introduction A company or workplace culture is defined as practices and values shared by the employees of the company. Workplace culture is crucial; it can make or break a company. Organisations having an adaptive culture and aligning it to the business goals have always got a competitive advantage over others. In order to achieve results like this, an organisation will have to understand its culture, evolution, patterns and future requirements. The concept of workplace culture has been evolving overtime. The present workplace no longer comprises of traditional hierarchy system. It is more open and complex. Thus, the personality traits and characteristic strategies required for the management of this workplace also has to change. In the current study, present day work cultures of business organisations will be studied with respect to various topics of organisation behaviour. The purpose of the assignment is to evaluate the influence of various organisational topics in maintaining a successful workplace culture. Topics such as organisational culture, leadership and ethics in business will be studied. Through specific examples, the study will also evaluate whether these topics have helped the workplace in becoming more tolerant and open or not. Since the topic of interest is vast, the study is not limited to a specific region or country but evaluated in a global context. Looking at the drastic change in business environment, it can be arguably said that workplace has changed in every sense. As a result of globalisation and international alignments, more and more diversity can be found in the workplace. As a result people can easily adapt situation now. Also, the issues and problems arising in case of this culture are also complex. These issues cannot be handled by traditional methods and need new understanding and better techniques. Thus, the overall approach of the study will be to understand the present day work culture with respect to the selected topics and evaluate their affect on overall culture of an organisation. Leadership The competitive environment for business has changed drastically in last two decades due to various reasons like resource contingency, globalization, increase in buyer power etc. Academic scholars have pointed out that organizations need right form of leadership in order to survive in the changing competitive environment. Research scholars like Alas, Tafel and Tuulik (2007) have stated that leadership depends on personal traits of an individual such as behaviour, relationship with subordinates, interaction pattern with subordinates, influencing capability, ability to motivate people to perform well, influence on culture of the organization etc. Groves (2007) has proposed that systematic effort is needed in order to develop leadership quality among individuals. Ryan and Deci (2000) have revealed that social-contextual conditions boost psychological development and self-motivation and these two factors increase self efficacy among individuals. According to them self efficacy is an important aspect of leadership. Leadership as a concept has itself evolved over time. As a result of the increasing competition, pressure, managers are expecting much more from these leaders. Modern day leaders are expected to show few definite qualities which will complement the current open and tolerant work culture. Few of these characteristics are extroversion, ability to show respect, decision making capability and ability to take decisions that are ethically responsible. In the next section discussion will be held on how these characteristics have influenced the modern day culture of workplace. Extroversion is an important characteristic for a successful leader. Judge, Heller and Mount (2002) have stated that extroversion is linked with the positive emotions of a leader. Generally extrovert leaders are gregarious and sociable whereas introverts tend to be timid, reserved and quiet. Judge and Bono (2000) have argued that correlation between extroversion and transformational leadership is strong hence it can be said that leaders need to be extrovert in order to be successful in transforming as well as gain recognition in this stressful workplace. However, extroversion is also the way to attract social attentions and leaders must possess such quality in order to attract followers. Psychologists have pointed out that extroversion helps a leader to motivate his/her subordinates while other characteristics of personality might not help a leader to infuse optimism among subordinates. It can be noted that in an open culture which consists of cultural diversity, this quality can be both useful as well as harmful. If the leader is not able to understand the cultural reasons behind different personality traits, it can be misunderstood and create negative relations. For example, in eastern countries such as Japan, extroversion is resembled as loud and lack of manner. A leader without this knowledge will never be able to create good relations. Thus, possession of these traits can be very useful if used wisely. In the present day workplace, organizational hierarchy has seen a transformation from vertical to horizontal and sometimes mixed. Nowadays, it is not impossible to reach the head of the organization. Presence of video chats and international online conferences has also diversified the overall aspect of workplace culture. However, ability to show respect as well as gain respect from colleagues and subordinates is another trait which is extremely influential for leaders in the current organizational culture. It has also been argued that dictatorship and autocratic nature of a person might create fear in the mind of people and force them to follow the ideology of the person but that is not an effective form of leadership. A leader should be respected by the follower but not to be feared. For example, during the World War 2 German people followed the Nazi ideology which was propagated by Adolf Hitler because they were terrorized by the autocracy and dictatorship of the person. The respect earned by Hitler was not spontaneous but forced. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi led a whole nation to independence without using any weapon or any kind of violent revolution, Gandhi showed respect to not only his followers but to his enemies also, that is the reason he is still counted as one of the greatest leader in the human history. Thus it can be said that showing respect to others can help a leader to build loyalty and trust among his/her followers and subordinates. Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) have stated that reciprocal relationship between leaders and team members is characterized by trust, mutual understanding and respect. Leaders need to give freedom to team members and show respect to team member’s requirement in order to motivate them to perform the assigned task (Gabriel, 1997). In an open culture mutual understanding and coordination is as important as direction and order taking. Thus, a cooperative and supportive leader who respects his /her subordinates as well as colleagues will get respect in return. Graen, Hui and Taylor (2006) have also supported the fact that a humble and modest leader can create an effective work environment for team members. Literature review presented in the study suggests that a leader must have the capability to show respect to team members and listen to their problems in order to influence them and motivate them to accomplish the given assignment. According to analysts tradition concepts like inspirational, charismatic and visionary leadership require modifications in order to be applicable in today’s hypercompetitive business world. New generation leaders need to have the capability to take critical decisions in contingent situation in order to be successful. Thus, decision making capabilities can also be regarded as one of the important traits responsible for the development of an ever-changing open work culture. There is no doubt that these three types of leaders are driven by independent decision variables. The best example of a modern day leader is Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs took the critical decision of transforming Apple from a computer manufacturing organization to multibillion technological giant. Steve Job was known for micro managerial style and having capability to understand the requirement of customers. Industry insiders have pointed out that gut feeling of Steve Jobs helped him immensely to take right decision at right point of time. Researchers have revealed that decision making on the basis of realistic gut feelings is needed in order to be successful in competitive business environment. Ethics In broad terms ethics can be described as moral guidelines with the objective of governing good behaviour among employees. Business practice is the study of policies and the management of controversial and critical issues. These include issues such as insider trading, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, discrimination, fiduciary responsibilities and bribery (Liff and Dickens, 2000). In order to gets acceptance from the government as well as the bodies controlling policies and laws, organizations have to accept and follow certain rules and regulations and maintain certain standards in the work process. A collaborative study of these regulations, laws and issues can be termed as business ethics. Ethical concerns and regulations are considered critically important in a workplace because the objectives of work or business are connected with many investors and stakeholders, such as regulatory agencies, media, consumers, trade associations, channel members etc (Wodak, 2001). Ethics is always concerned with the moral judgment of business. Every business or organization expects to be in the good books of the government as well as the regulatory bodies. Decisions in an organization are taken by higher management but these decisions are always influenced by the culture of the company as well as the external environment in which the company operates. Involving in ethical process might seem difficult and lead to cutting down of short-term profits, but it is very essential for a successful and sustainable long term growth of the organization (Chang, 2011). Companies can significantly benefit from positive corporate social responsibility and ethical behaviour. Customers are attracted to the products and services of the firm, thus profits and sales get a boost. Employee perception towards the organization becomes positive and loyalty increases. Thus, there is a decrease in labour turnover and overall increase in productivity. As a result of the positive perception growing popularity of the organization, skilled talents are attracted and recruitment costs are reduced significantly. The share price of the company increases and investors are constantly attracted and business is always in growth phase. Ethical orientation of any organization is depended on the shared perception which is created by the leaders. Other research scholars have stated that ethical perception of any organization is subject to vary with the variation of macro environmental variables such as industry norms, government policy, economic condition etc. In this growing diversity and ever increasing competition, an ethical transformation of culture is a big question (Robertson and Athanassiou, 2009). In a workplace ethics is basically about behaviour. Leaders and ethical managers are supposed to take right and good path so that others can follow. There is close link between responsibility and ethical behaviour of leaders. An ethical leader can provide psychologically meaningful molar dynamics to employees, which helps them to understand the practice and climate of the organization. Leaders should take the responsibility for creating the ethical norms, shared value concept throughout the organizations. It is very crucial to create and sustain work culture which is ethical. Organisational Culture An organization is a platform shared by individuals and teams who perform in a united way with the objective of earning profits for the company as well as livelihood for them. The working style of each organization is unique and this often ends up contributing to the culture. The beliefs, principles, values and ideologies of an organization constitute its culture. Organizational culture is a broad field of study which focuses on the behaviours and values of an organization as well as people working there, in order to establish a unique psychological and social environment which is compatible with the organization as well as employees working there. An organizational culture essentially consists of experiences, expectations, values and philosophies ingrained in it and the fundamental brinks which hold an organization together. A workplace culture controls employee behaviour within and outside the organization. As a result of its influence, organizational culture has started getting importance in business terms and is currently the one of the most analyzed subject for researchers and analysts. Culture us a wide concept. Understanding the purpose and dimensions of culture in crucial for successful implementation of organisational culture in a workplace. Many of the success stories link performance with culture of the organization. Organizational culture can be referred as a pattern of shared beliefs and values demonstrated by company employees in their daily behaviours and activities. An organizational culture is influenced by the industry peculiarities or occupations associated with the organization as well as the official or national culture of the region. Organizational culture can be regarded as a fascinating process blending different values and linking individuals. Since individuals in an organization work together as a team with common goal, the culture created in the organization will help the members in understanding each other more effectively. Organizational culture aims to be positive in accomplishing the results of the organization. It helps to accelerate the development of an organizational. It is basically net satisfaction of various constituents in the process of transforming and gathering inputs. Organizational culture can be the medium though which an organization can fulfil its objectives without depleting its own resources and without placing any undue strain on the members. The importance of organizational culture can be understood from its influence in establishing acceptable behaviour standards and making people understand the various operating styles of the organization. Guiding, sustaining and changing are various aspects of organizational culture which contribute to its high performance. It also needs to be fortified through engagement and rigor from leaders. It also required the leaders to be able to measure variations in order to correct courses whenever needed. Through rigorous research, development and evaluations of success stories of organizations, a variety of benchmarks and best practices are available in order to facilitate management culture. A proper implementation of these practices can help an organization remain competitive and its employees healthier and happier. Linking strategies and policies required commitment as well as everyday activities and expectations. Critical Analysis Employee performance depends on various factors like organizational culture, employee motivation, performance appraisals, employee satisfaction, training and development as well as compensation. It is very critical to have a culture which complements the different cultural backgrounds and is not biased towards any particular culture. A healthy and cooperative culture encourages workers to stay loyal and motivated to an organization (Ackroyd and Crowdy, 1990). However, there are few negative cultural practices which can have harmful effects on overall performance of the employees as well as organisation. Many organisations have a culture which is power oriented. The head of the organisation hold all decision making power. It is dominated by a top most person and their approach is mostly single mindedness. This type of orientation lacks operational bureaucracy and streamlined business flow. If an organisational culture is strictly based on rules of authority, strict performance evaluation, creativity and open mindedness among individuals in lost. Ethics in organisation is another aspect which has an influence on the overall working capacity of an organisation. Workplace in ethics brings discipline, coordination and efficiency. In bigger organisations and MNCs, unethical behaviour by any employee might lead to difficult consequences for them. However, in smaller organisations many of the unethical conducts go for informal settlement or might even go unnoticed. Cases of physical and psychological violence and sexual harassment are majorly buried down because of authority or lack of support (French and Strachan, 2007; Dipboye and Halverson, 2004). These strategies might work for such organisations but in the long run, the credibility of such organisations is lost. From the above discussion it is clear that few unethical decisions can prove to be catastrophic for any organization. The profitability of the organization gets affected, there is a decrease in the employee morale and they are unable to resolve customer complaints. There is a negative reputation of the company. These ethical issues have a long term effect on the brand image of the organization. Organization should avoid those strategies and plans which might compromise the quality of products and services as well the value promised by the firm. Concept of leadership has also changed in last twenty five years. Looking at the present business environment as well as work culture which is extremely diversified, it is can be said that traditional methods of decision making techniques would not be enough. It is evident from the literature review that leaders lacking the capability to strong decision not only elongate the decision making time but decreases organizational efficiency also. In order to effectively lead modern day work place, a leader will have to show creative and innovative decision making capabilities. Conclusion The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of organisational culture, leadership and ethics in maintaining a successful workplace culture. The study used extensive literature reviews to evaluate the current workplace culture. Leadership in workplace have evolved over age. Present day leaders are more open, collaborative and supportive. It has also been found out that in order to create a strong presence among follows and team members, a team leaders will have to show attributes such as creativity, ability to think out of the box and critical decision making ability. As diversity and globalisation has increased, the overall ethics in workplace has changed. Increasing competition and a desire to be at the top has resulted in rise of unethical behaviour. Even though most of the organisations have strict laws for ethics, many of the minor ethics violations go unnoticed. This can cause substantial damage to the organisation in the long run. Literature review as well as observations from the present day work culture has revealed that organisational culture has become more complex. As a result, firms are offering training sessions and learning classes for employees so that they are in a better position to adjust with the environment. It has been found out that culture of the organization has an influential effect on the overall development of a workplace. An organizational culture which is well accepted within the organization creates a positive impact on the overall job performance of the employee working in that organisation and thus helps in overall growth of the business. Reference List Ackroyd, S. and Crowdy, P., 1990. Can culture be managed? Working with “raw” material: The case of the English slaughter men. Personnel Review, 19(5), pp. 3-12. Alas, R., Tafel, K. and Tuulik, K., 2007. Leadership style during transition in society: Case of Estonia. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 5(1), pp. 50-60. Chang, C.H., 2011. The influence of corporate environmental ethics on competitive advantage: The mediation role of green innovation Emerald Management Reviews, 104(3), 361-370. Cropanzano, R. and Mitchell, M. S., 2005. Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6), pp. 874-900. Dipboye, R. and Halverson, S., 2004. The dark side of organizational behaviour. San Francisco: Wiley. French, E. and Strachan, G., 2007. Equal opportunity outcomes for women in the finance industry in Australia: Evaluating the merit of EEO plans. Asia–Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 45(3), 314–32. Gabriel, Y., 1997. Meeting god: When organizational members come face to face with the supreme leader. Human Relations, 50(4), pp. 315-342. Graen, G.B., Hui, C. and Taylor, E. A., 2006. Experience-based learning about LMX, leadership and fairness in project teams: A dyadic directional approach. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 5(4), pp. 448-60. Groves, K., 2007. Integrating leadership development and succession planning best practices. Journal of Management Psychology, 26(3), pp. 239-60. Judge, T. A. and Bono, J. E., 2000. Five-factor model of personality and transformational Leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(5), pp. 751-65. Judge, T. A., Heller, D. and Mount, M. K., 2002. Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, pp. 530–41. Liff, S. and Dickens, L., 2000. Ethical issues in contemporary human resource management. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Robertson, C.J. and Athanassiou, N., 2009. Exploring business ethics research in the context of international business. Management Research News, 32(12), pp. 1130–1146. Ryan, R. M. and Deci, E. L., 2000. Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-being. American Psychologist, 55, pp. 68-78. Wodak, R., 2001. Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: Sage. Read More