Link Between Management And Organizational Culture - Research Paper Example

Link Between Management And Organizational Culture Introduction Organizational Culture is a not really a definite idea or concept. Most management writers identify organizational culture in the class of soft elements and aspects of management. However, organizational culture is an important aspect of businesses all over the world. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze and review the way through which organizational culture is defined and formed. To this end, the paper will examine the relationship between stated and actual organizational cultures.

It will assess the departures between the expressly defined organizational cultures and what actually happens in practice. This will give way for the identification of differences and similarities and the assessment of the implication of the departures in organizational culture and systems. What is Organizational Culture “Management is a social function that is embedded in a culture, a society, a tradition of values, customs and beliefs. Management is, and should be culture conditioned, but, in turn, management and managers shape culture and society.

”[Dwi13]. This implies that management has a symbiotic relationship with the culture of the broader society within which it operates. This includes the mainstream society and its values and customers. These come together to define the ethics and standards that must be used by the organization to carry out its internal affairs. On the other hand, the management of an organization will have to put together a system and structure that will help to ensure that the work environment is flexible enough to attain desired results.

Smircich defines organizational culture as “they symbolic cultural dimension in some way contributes to the overall systematic balance and effectiveness of an organization”[DeW14]. This implies that organizational culture is the way things are done in an organization and this is the process through which the organization works to attain systematic balance and achieve the targets and elements of the organization. Organizational culture is therefore seen as a process that comes with two important variables: 1.

Shared values and social norms within the organization; 2. External adaptation and internal integration of values and norms[Pfi09] This implies that organizational culture is about the way and manner through which the organization consolidates its practices and processes and how these processes become institutionalized in the organization. After institutionalization, organizational culture leads to the creation of a culture and a system for the conduct of affairs and defines the way things are to be done.

Secondly, organizational culture defines the extent to which mainstream external cultural practices are internalized in the organization. Stated Organizational Culture Versus Actual Organizational Culture There are numerous theories and ideas that attempt to define the way things are done in an organization. Schneider and Barbera discuss these differences under three main contrasting ideas of organizational culture: 1. Stated versus real cultures; 2. Strong versus weak cultures; 3. Functional versus dysfunctional cultures[Sch141] Stated organizational culture refers to the organizational culture that is defined and written by the authorities of an organization.

This typically include written organizational cultural practices that are presented as part of the mission and vision of the firm and other documents like articles of incorporation that defines the way and manner within which things will be done. In most situations, stated organizational culture refers to the way and manner in which an organization seeks to meet its ends. On the other hand, real culture refers to how things are done in the actual sense. This includes how the official and unofficial processes come together to define the actual culture of the organization.

This includes the formal and informal processes that the members of an organization are accustomed to following. This includes those processes that are consciously utilized by the staff members and those that are unconsciously integrated through continuous practice and continuous activities in the organization. It is apparent that actual organizational culture refers to strong cultures and this includes a set of practices that are highly understood and highly utilized by the members of the organization[Sch141].

However, weaker cultures refer to situation where there is a low degree of understanding and acceptance of the cultural practices. This often suggests a situation where there is individualism as opposed to a strong culture which is based on high levels of compliance and discussion in the organization. Communication Management and Stated/ Actual Organizational Cultures Communication of organizational culture plays a major role in the definition of stated and actual organizational culture. Authorities identify that stated organizational culture is often embedded in the organization’s philosophies and this is presented openly in various official documents of the organization[Cla121].

Stated organizational culture includes important slogans, value statements and ideas that reflect the core and fundamental values of the organization. However, organizational philosophy cannot possibly cover everything that the members and employees of an organization from all levels can apply in their activities. Therefore, organizations come up with their statements of practice but on the field, various practices and processes develop amongst the members and this helps to define the actual culture.

Actual culture can only be deduced by examining and trying to understand the organization through a critical observation of the dominant practices and customs that are used by the organization[Cra10]. There are two types of actual organizational cultures and this includes the departures from stated organizational culture and actual cultural practices that are not covered by the vision and mission of the organization[Cra10]. Another perspective on the development of organizational culture is that every firm might have stated objectives and processes on how to do things.

However, every firm has a desire to achieve competitive advantage through the institution of a leadership structure that elects the means they can use to achieve the end of competitive advantage[Cam112]. This is because the approach and methodology that any type of leader will use to achieve competitive advantage is different from another. Therefore, a charismatic leader will implement a management approach different from an expert leader who gets his power by his qualifications and familiarity with the scientific method.

Some writers also identify that the concept of actual culture include the social and informal interaction between the members of the organization. This includes corporate relations or business environment, manifestation of corporate values, corporate heroes, corporate rules and rituals as well as the secret networks (of rumor mongers, spies, cliques and whisperers)[Duf12].