Organizational Culture and Adaptation - Essay Example

Running Head: ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE AND ADAPTATION Organisational Culture and Adaptation Organisational Culture and Adaptation:Culture is often described as ‘the way we do things around here’. Introduction Every organisation has a culture, regardless of leadership, circumstances, or longevity of the organisation (Deal and Kennedy 1982). Culture exists as a fundamental and naturally occurring outcome, a system of thought, feeling, and behavior that inevitably results from sustained group interaction (Trice and Beyer 1993). Richard Gallagher (2003) emphasises the enormity of cultural influence when he asserts that culture, rather than the business practices, drives the success of an organisation. He cites various successful business models, including Vanguard, Dell Computer, Wendys, and Cirque du Soleil, to exemplify the importance of organisational culture. Gallagher (2003) writes, "Strong cultures dont necessarily need a mission statement, but they need a mission, an idea that inspires people to be part of something greater than themselves" (Gallagher, 2003 11). The culture of an organisation develops as a result of the unique circumstances found within each organisation. Leaders and leadership styles differ from one organisation to another. The organisational mission, cultural norms, artifacts, and professional standards vary widely between organisations. Therefore, the ability to learn and adapt to a new culture is a quality sought by employers and valued by learners themselves. In an unknown cultural environment, it is crucial for new managers to understand, learn, and know how to adapt to a new culture and its expectations. Organisationa1 Culture: “The way we do things around here.” The term "organisational culture" came into vogue among researchers in the early 1980s (Reichers & Schneider, 1990). Because the term "culture" was borrowed from anthropology, organisational theorists felt called upon to explain what it meant. There are many different definitions of organisational culture. According to Vecchio (1991) organisational culture can be defined as "the shared values and norms that exist in an organisation and that are taught to incoming employees" (Vecchio, 1991, p. 550). The teaching of culture need not be verbal or explicit; it may arise through observation or through taking part in organisational rituals (Rosen, 1991). According to Elsmore (2001), organisations hold unique sets of values, beliefs, basic assumptions, shared understandings as a formula for success and survival. Members of organisations accept and adopt these characteristics and act upon these values which in turn determines the feel of the organisations and that is what differentiates one organisation from another. Robbins (1996) broadly defines organisational culture as a system of shared meanings held by members of the organisation, and on the other hand, Hawk (1995) simply defines organisational culture as "what its like to work around here" (p. 32). A number of theorists have developed models that portray how organisational culture operates as a multilevel phenomenon. The most notable of these is Schein (1992). In his model, Schein outlines the most basic level of culture, which includes tangible "artifacts" that are visible to an observer. Artifacts are the surface-level manifestations of culture that are first encountered by someone new to an organisation. Artifacts include the architecture of the buildings, the decor in the lobby, and the published mission statement hanging on the wall. The second level of culture in Scheins (2004) model is the espoused beliefs and values of the organisation. Espoused beliefs and values provide a basic roadmap for desired behaviors within an organisation. Some organisations such as Hewlett-Packard espouse a belief that innovation leads to success. Other organisations promote a belief that hard work is the key to success. In an organisation where independence and creative thinking are espoused values, the work rooms may be decorated with lounge chairs and whiteboards, and flexible work schedules might be encouraged by management. According to Schein (2004), at the deepest level of culture are the basic underlying assumptions that drive an organisation. These basic underlying assumptions develop over time as a result of repeated success in implementing particular beliefs and values. These basic assumptions, according to Schein, are hidden from view and may be taken for granted over time unless they are consciously made explicit. Schein (2004) writes that basic assumptions are "nonconfrontable and nondebatable, and hence are extremely difficult to change" (31). Others have also proposed the existence of multiple levels of culture within the organisation. The Bath model distinguishes between five cultural levels (Stanford, 2010). Artifacts reflect what is most noticeable about the culture (i.e., its buildings, logo, mission statement, purported values, etc.). Behaviours are also observable and reflect the values of the organisation in action. Beneath the surface are the mindsets that represent the belief systems of the organisation. Mindsets, in turn, produce the emotional ground or climate of the organisation. Finally, there are the motivational roots of the organisation that reflect how closely individual motivations are aligned with those of the organisation as a whole. Through the various definitions of culture, the common theme found throughout the definitions is the shared values, symbols, behaviours and assumptions of those within the organisation (Schein, 2004). Simply put, organisational culture is ‘the way we do things around here.’ Understanding Culture and Adaptability Anderson (1994), considering cultural adaptation for socio psychological perspectives, argues that adaptation begins when the person understands and acknowledges the difference and works out a consistent strategy to solve problems in the new cultural environment. Anderson (1994) expressed the idea of adjustment to a new culture by learning it. He sees cultural adaptation as a process where learning and adjustment are interdependent. From his point of view, cultural adaptation involves adjustment, learning, and interpersonal relationships. More than that, adaptation to a new culture takes place when a manager learns how to understand a culture and how to function within it. Cultural adaptation was connected to a learning process by such scholars as Anderson (1994), Brislin and Bhawuk (1999), Brislin and Pedersen (1976), Hannigan (1990), and Taylor (1994). For example, in learning how to learn, Brislin and Pedersen (1976) saw the trainees ability to transfer skills from the learning situation to other situations in real life in another culture. Brislin and Bhawuk (1999) suggested that trainees must be motivated to gain the learning how to learn skills in training programs. Andersons (1994) study added another perspective to learning and adaptation in a new environment. According to Anderson, the development of competence is the way to cultural adaptation in response to challenges and not merely a mental health concept. Anderson argues that sojourners "must learn the parameters of the new sociocultural system and acquire skills necessary for participating in it" (p. 294). This conclusion serves as an important element, providing a link between adaptability and learning. Andersons findings contribute to the development of theory in the fields of learning and cultural adaptability. The central point in providing a link between learning and adaptability is in the ideas of Hannigan (1990), Kim (1991), Anderson (1994), and Taylor (1994). According to Hannigan (1990), learning new knowledge, skills, and attitudes is seen as the process of adaptation to new environments. He connected adaptation with a learning process and concluded that a better performance resulted from the development of cultura1 adaptability. Anderson (1994) sees adaptation as a process of learning about another culture in order to function in it. In Andersons view, cultural adaptation is a process where learning and adjustment take place and intervene with each other. The findings of Kims (1991) study suggest that competency is linked to the individuals adaptive capacity "to self-reorganise by being open, flexible, resilient, and creative - not being closed, rigid, intolerant, and habitual" (p. 271 - 272). Kim stated that [a] person equipped with greater adaptability is likely to be more open to learning different cultural patterns" (p. 268). This implies that cultural competency depends upon adaptability, which is defined as "the individual capacity to suspend or modify some old cultural ways, [and] to learn and accommodate some of the new cultural ways" (p. 268). Therefore, there is interconnectedness between the processes of learning and adaptability. Kims study, however, did not explore in depth the learning process itself. Taylor (1994) developed further the research started by Kim. He focused his attention on the learning process that takes place in the person in becoming culturally competent. Taylor considers increased responsibility for the learning process to be an important step toward cultural competency. He also underlines the role of critical reflection in transformative learning that leads to cultural adaptation. Conclusion There are many different definitions of organisational culture. Through the various definitions of culture, the common theme found throughout the definitions is the shared values, symbols, behaviours and assumptions of those within the organisation. Simply put, organisational culture is ‘the way we do things around here.’ Understanding and learning this new culture is a prerequisite for successful outcomes for manager. Culture is learned through experiencing it (Jacobson, 1996). Fostering learning can be a way to enhance the learning process, and therefore, cultural adaptability. References Anderson, L. (1994). A new look at an old construct: Cross-cultural adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 18,293-328. Brislin, R., & Bhawuk, D. (1999). Cross-cultural training. In John Adamopulos and Yoshita Kashima (Eds.), Social psychology and cultural context (pp. 205-216), London: SAGE Publications. Brislin, R., & Pedersen, P. (1976). Cross-cultural orientation programs. New York: Gardner Press. Deal, Terrence E., and Allan Kennedy. 1982. Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. Cambridge, MA: Perseus. Elsmore, P. (2001). Organisational Culture: Organisational Change?. Ashgate Publishing Limited. Gallagher, Richard S. 2003. The soul of an organization. Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade. Hannigan, T. (1990). Traits, attitudes, and skills that are related to intercultural effectiveness and their implications for cross-cultural training: A review of the literature. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 14,89-111. Hawk, E. (1995). Culture and rewards: A balancing act. Personnel Journal, 74(4),30-37. Jacobson, W. (1996). Learning, culture, and learning culture. Adult Education Quarterly. 47, 15-28. Kim, Y. (1991). Intercultural communication competence. In S. Ting-Toomey & F. Korzenny (Eds.], Cross-cultural interpersonal communication (pp. 259-275). Newberry Park, CA: Sage. Reichers, A. & Schneider, B. (1990). Climate and culture: an evolution of constructs. In B. Schneider, (Ed.), Organizational climate and culture (pp. 5-39), Jossey-Bass Publishers. Robbins, S. (1996). Essentials of Organisational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, Prentice-Hall. Rosen, M. (1991). Breakfast at Sprio’s: dramaturgy and dominance. In Frost, P. Moore, F., Louis, M., Lundber, C., & Martin, J. (Eds.). Reframing organizational culture (pp. 77-89), Sage Publications Schein, E. H. (2004). Organisational culture and leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publisher. Stanford, N., (2010). Organisation Culture: Getting it right. Economist Books. Trice, Harrison M., and Janice M. Beyer. 1993. The cultures of work organizations. Englewood Cliffs. Prentice-Hall. Vecchio, R. (1991). Organizational behavior. Chicago: Dryden Press. Read More