Organisational Culture and Why It Can Be So Important and the Meaning of Organisational Stability - Coursework Example

Strategic Management 1Evaluation of the notion of Organisational Culture and why it can be so important andthe meaning of Organisational Stability 1.1.1Introduction The topic that revolves around the organisational culture is understoodto be an asset of acompany, whichcan be applied to raise the business performance. The organisation culture influences myriad actions and decisions. An organisation’s prevailing values,ideas, beliefs, and attitudes guides the means that its employees are thinking, feeling, and acting mostly unconsciously. However, while important, the culture of an organisational is a too slippery concept thatcan be defined concretely. 1.1.2Organisation Culture The definitions of an organisational culture are many as those of a culture. One definition that is helpful, offered by Edgar Schein of Sloan School of Management states that organisational culture is a pattern of basic assumptions shared. The assumption is the one the group learned as it was solving its challenges of internal integration and external adaptation. This definition has worked well, and it is considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new group members as the correct means to perceive, feel and think in relation to those challenges (Bruce, 2003). The organisation theory is concerned with explaining and understanding how organizations are operating to enhance the ability to design more efficient and effective organisations. This can be in terms of organization goals that might end up prioritizing, incorporating, and legitimizing the perspectives and problematic of Gouldner’s senior managers.However, to assist in understanding the cognitive and symbolic layers of organisation culture, there are categorisations of the places where culture is found in three fundamental categories: espoused values, basic underlying assumptions, and observable artifacts. The observable artifacts are representing an organisation’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours, as well as how it sees things, what is meaningful and significant. However, these include the physical surroundings and architecture, its technologies, its style, its products, its mission statement and published values, gossip, its language, jargon, and humour, its myths and stories, and its practices, ceremonies, rituals, and taboos (Bruce, 2003). Espoused values are championed by an organisation management and leadership. They are differentiated from the enacted values that are those which employees’ real behaviour reflects because the chief executive officer is claiming that the company valuing its customers does not mean that the employees act accordingly. The function that values perform in organisational culture is not deniable, majority of scholars are claiming that it is erroneous in ascribing values, that are inherently human and located in individuals, to any corporate entity and group of individuals. Such position keeps maintaining that the values of influential leaders are what is rallying other employees and, therefore, influences organisationbehaviour. However, basic assumptions are the underlying, always unconscious, determinants of a corporate actions, attitudes and thought processes. Such assumptions are key to its culture. Values that are gaining a long-term acceptance always become so ingrained and are taken-for-granted that individuals are unaware of their influence. They provide an unquestioned impetus and tacit sense of security and for behaviour and perceptions (Bruce, 2003). The topic about the organisational culture is increasingly being understood as a corporate asset that could be applied in increasing the performance of a business. While significant, the organisational culture is a more slippery concept when it comes to defining it concretely. Perhaps, the culture of a company influences its myriad actions and decisions. An organisationis prevailing values, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes guide the means in which it employees can think, act and feel quite always unconsciously. Therefore, understanding culture is more fundamental to the analysis and description of an organisational phenomena. In some organisation, culture is considered as the glue that is holding the organisation together and others, the compass that is providing direction. These are two of many metaphors that illustrates that organisational culture is indeed important, but whose definition is often contested and slippery(Bruce, 2003) . Understanding and evaluating corporate culture holds the best promise for the leadership of a corporate being able to influence group and individual performance, organisational performance, facilities performance, and the ever significant components of finance in a business performance. It is reported that organisations with strong cultures are more effective than those which do not have. Organisational culture is offered as an asset that can be managed in order to improve the performance of a business. Since the year 1980, applied exploration and academic of organisational culture have steadily gone up and today there is little indication of abatement as data management changes, values, work organisation, demographics, lifestyles, outsourcing, and a host of other social, knowledge-intensive work, technological and economic factors continue to have impact on the relationship between workers, organisations, and the working place(Bruce, 2003). Organisational stability can be defined as maintaining the status quo in an organisational processes and features, including aspects of acquired accepted practices and learning. Stability can be associated with terms such as centralisation, conformity, conflict reduction, consensus, consistency, control, continuity, formalisation, integration, hierarchy, maintenance, order, security, standardisation, and status quo. However, the elements of stability can be found in ceremonies, formal practices, control systems, formal structure, mission, identity, policies, quality information and operating systems, standard operating procedures, rituals and symbols. In addition, stability need to be recognised for its contribution to managing and organizing enterprises, consolidating gains made, gaining efficiencies for profitability, providing regularity in organisational life, giving meaning and security to organisational members, knowledge accumulation, providing uncertainty reduction, cooperation, reliability and trust (Noel &Darl, 2006). 1.1.3 Conclusion To summarise, understanding of organisation culture is important to the analysis and description of an organisational phenomenon. Has it has been discussed, various organisation view culture differently, for some, they consider culture as a glue that is holding a company together and for other organisation; culture is the compass that gives direction. However, these are only two metaphors among many about an organisation culture that, indeed, illustrate that culture is very important. 2.1Explain, Discuses and Evaluate the Importance of Ethics 2.1.1 Introduction Corporate governance can be referred to as a system that companies are controlled and directed. One goal of the corporate governance is a creation of an internal mechanism that ensures there is a sound managerial decision, considering the responsibilities and rights of diverse stakeholders, with the ethical standards and norms of the company. Therefore, creation and maintaining of a positive ethical climate is a crucial aspect of governance in any organisation or corporate. It minimises the costs that are associated with more intrusive and reduced value of an asset when ethical transgressions come into the light (Elango, et.al, 2010). 2.1.2 Importance of Ethics in Organisation and Evaluation of Organisation Understanding its Corporate Social Responsibilities Theoretical Overview Values form a significant basis for the ethical behaviour. Values might be assessed on the organisational and individual the levels. The correspondence between the values of a company and an individual values can be termed as person-organisational fit or simply the congruence. Corporation governance is referred to the system by which organisation are controlled and directed. One of the main goal of a corporate governance is creating a set of internal mechanisms in order to ensure that managerial decisions are made, considering the responsibilities and rights of diverse stakeholders, together with the standards and ethical norms of the company. Maintaining and creating an ethical climate that is positive has been recognised as the most significant aspect of the corporate governance, minimizing the costs that are associated with the more intrusive, most possibly less effective, ways of a formal social control, the damaged reputation costs, and minimised asset value when the ethical transgressions come into light (Elango, et.al, 2010). Failure in maintaining an appropriate ethical culture and providing employees with appropriate models of ethical behaviour could have a high cost for the organisation. The ethical climate is very effective when corporate members are motivated internally to behave ethically. Since effective organisation governance can be enhanced by the concordance between individual ethics and organisational, it is significant to understand the elements that are producing this congruence. Most studies have offered several implications for an organisation seeking to promote the corporate governance via effective internal mechanisms. It has been found that better governance can be attained through a tight coupling of individual ethics and organisational ethics. Firstly, the strong relationship between individual ethics and organisational ethics demonstrates the essence of recruiting managers with high ethical standards if an organisation needs to create an ethical culture that is positive. In addition, findings highlight that there is the need for an organisation board members screening a senior manager’s standards of ethics before making international assignment decisions. Secondly, the strong relationship between the individual ethics and organisational ethics indicates that organisation require creating a positive ethical culture with monitoring ethical performance and programmes of ethical training(Elango, et.al, 2010). In articulating key values, the corporation might be inadequate in providing a company a basis to resolve ethical issues that are in practice. However, training programmes provides actual examples or case studies of ethical dilemmas that need behavioural preferences by the employees. In addition, actions in international activities that deviates from the accepted practice in the organisation need to be recognised and applied as a tool for teaching within the company. Employees who might have the inclination of resolving ethical issues properly would be discouraged from doing in case they notice unethical behaviours go without being realised in the overseas settings. They might lack confidence in their decision-making skills in case prevailing ethical climate do not offer support (Elango, et.al, 2010). The most interesting question is the extent degree to which value congruence in an organisation or the individual can influence the real behavioural preference that individuals make when they confront ethical dilemmas. Most studies have demonstrated that there is an association between ethical decision-making and value congruence. Still individuals with common values can make diverse behavioural preferences in ethical decision-making because of different organisational and cultural factors. For instance, an organisation with aggressive accountability and auditing systems might influence individuals to adhere strictly to the organisational ethical guidelines out of fear of getting caught violating the expected ethical. However, the impact of organisation ethics on young managers is most significant. Older managers might be able to make a more informed ethical judgments based on their individual maturity and own experience, but the young managers need more direction from the company if they are to act in an ethical manner. In addition, young managers who might have fewer years of experience in the corporate world might require validation through corporation feedback on their ethical preferences(Elango, et.al, 2010). Therefore, in order to ensure a good corporate governance, companies need to strive, create and reinforce a better ethical climate via support and selection of individuals with a congruent ethical decision-making and ethical standards skills. These considerations are significant for business operating internationally. In a situation where managerial discretion is proximity to high level and high the corporate decision makers are low, for instance in a case of international posting, the ethical climate of a company firm is vulnerable to forces that can undermine standards. In such scenarios, the correspondence and ethical congruence between Individual Ethics and OrganisationEthics, might be a powerful force in ethical decision-making when an employee is posted aboard (Elango, et.al, 2010). Corporate Social Responsibility involves organisations voluntarily deciding to improve their environmental and social standards, and so minimise their impacts that are negative on the environment. A corporate accountability is defined as the ability of the ones who are affected by the corporation, and they control activities of that corporations. However, this concepts demand fundamentals changes up to the legal framework that the organisation operates. Managers of organisation currently need to understand that Corporate Social Responsibilities forms an indestructible section of their brand identities and reputations. They understand that a source of the difference between organisation are the capabilities and resources that they contribute and possess to their competitive advantage (Ionescu, 2006). Therefore, CSR is representing a valuable strategic asset. Top management need to spend increasing amounts of resources owned by the corporate on improving the human, social, and environmental situations under which organisations are operating. CSR operations are contributing to social progress and intended to promote the corporate images. Corporate social opportunities are creating products that are sustainable and services for the low-income people in the developing nations and respect the norms of good citizenship. In addition, it involves investing in sustainable ventures that are small-scale in those nations and hence promotes entrepreneurship(Ionescu, 2006). 2.2.3 Conclusion Therefore, it can be summarised that failing to maintain and promote an appropriate ethical culture as well as providing employees with desired models of ethical behavior can result in a high cost for any organisation. In addition, ethics can be most effective only if an organisation team is motivated to behave in an ethical manner. Also, corporate social responsibility is another strategic asset that is more valuable. Organisations have recognised the need of working and improving the living standards of the people in the society and it is a way of giving back to the society as well as creating the corporate image. 3.1 Explain, Discuss and Evaluate the Role that Power and Politics may have in an Organisation 3.1.1 Introduction The structure of organisations makes the creation of sectional interests inevitable and differentiates the understandings of the organisational goals. Making a decision is viewed as a game power between interest groups that are competing over controlling the resources of an organisation. However, there is a generation of power relations, and power is accumulated to the divisions that are having control of scarce resources of the organisation. Therefore, power and politics is not just a matter of status or authority, but it is concerned with controlling of information and resources, as well as the skillful application of the resources (Gotsis&Kortezi, 2011). 3.1.2 Role of Power and Politics According to Gotsis&Kortezi (2011), organisational politics is searching for the self-interest of individuals in an organisation without considering their effect on the organisation efforts to attain its objectives. By adoption of an alternative view of behavioural assumptions, a positive political behaviouris deduced. According to Beyes& Volkmann (2010) the identification of political organisation theory must be encouraged. The contents of work and the hierarchy level are useful in interpreting the politics of an organisation. Most research state that there is an intervening effect of politics in the organisation on the relationship between performance and headship. Performance involves the mode that the workers are performing their duties and the flexible behaviour of an individual to move ahead of basic requirements of work for the benefit of the organisation. It has also been found that there are positive and direct relationship between performance and headship. Employees who show a high level of involvement in work consider their tasks to be important part of their lives. In addition, exploration of the new science sees organisational power as that which allows workplaces to organise relationships, both the patterns of relationships and the capacities available to form them. However, in management theory, power is portrayed from a traditional, organisational perspective and power is named as both a force and a resource. Machine imagery has been used to reflect such organisations, in which power is an elusive, energetic force if ever there was one, a measurable resource defined by a share of the pie. There is a drawn imagery to scorn organisational reference for understanding parts in order to comprehend the whole and for thriving on setting boundaries, similar to machines, in which every piece knows its place(Shaver, 2003). Systems theory is difficult to describe succinctly. Theorists provide convoluted definitions, databases often record this literature under the name of systems thinking or even systems approach instead of under systems theory and scholars often differ on the origins of systems thinking. The concepts of organisational power and politics seem to be related in the most studies. As in systems thinking, it is difficult to pin down power and politics or to provide working examples of these constructs. However, researchers appear to share a few commonalities in their perspectives. First, most scholars seem to view power as an extrinsic resource, an intangible to keep, share or even give away, and as an intrinsic resource, that is a capacity to act (Beyes&Volkmann, 2010). Power is perceived as a medium, through which conflicts of interest are ultimately resolved, and it influences who gets what, how and when. Similarly, others have analysed power as a medium for, and product of, collective activity. While others shares both these views with an observation that a political environment is one in which who is more important than what and power is both concentrated and wielded arbitrarily. In studies of power, politics, and organisational learning, politics has been defined as activities within organisations to develop, acquire, and use power and other resources to obtain ones preferred outcomes. The definition appears to stray from traditional insights that perceive power as the withholding or reallocation of resources rather than as a resource in itself. It also suggests that politics is the means and power are the ends. It is suggested that power is anything that creates a dependence on one person or groups and it stems from a possession of, or mediation of, desired resources. For instance such an ability to reward or punish, control critical skills, knowledge or information, and or an ability to solve critical problems; and politics are the battlefields where people either win or lose, usually associated with decision-making, resource allocation, and conflict resolution (Gotsis&Kortezi, 2011). In addition, the use of power and politics can also influence organisation’s training in positive ways. Planning has been defined as a social activity in which educators negotiate organisational and personal interests in order to construct the educational programmes in a company. They agree with many researchers that planning always occurs in a power struggle. Capacity to act and influences through which power is utilised can apply constructively to further the cause of programme planning. Managers can acknowledge a willingness to help other business units develop training strategies, although it is emphasised that collaboration would succeed only if the total management group and leader of every unit are committed to and involved with, the development of training methodology. Although some companies does not totally support the training function, they emphasise when management decides who will ultimately be responsible for company training, the function must cross business unit boundaries to avoid supporting one part of the business over other units (Gotsis&Kortezi, 2011). 3.1.3 Conclusion Organisation politics and power are reality in many organisations, and while the game playing may appear to be wasted time, it is necessary to progress ideas, secure resources, achieve personal goals, and always to enhance someone standing. Despite that, the role of power and politics can be seen as a theoretical framework for viewing the decision-making. Decision-making is because of an outcome of a dynamic process, whereby the power holders are struggling for status and as well as their perceived interests and are forming a network of relations. 4.1 Explain, Discuss and Evaluate the Strategic Change 4.1.1 Introduction When there is change, capacity development of an organisation is most likely to occur depending on the scope of the change. It is a reality that a majority of organisations today are undergoing some form of changes. However, there is no means of managing strategic change that is easy or simple formula that would and bring strategic change. It is emphasised that change need to be context sensitive. A culture web framework is introduced as a way of addressing the issues that are softer and as well, barriers to change need to be identified (Tricia &Haughey, 2014). 4.1.2 Strategic Change Most of organisation change programmes comes from the management fads for business process engineering, instant culture change, empowerment as well as total quality. Other initiative changes are being driven by the need for companies to be repositioned in the face of the changing competitive situation. A perfect example is the changing process that is under way at the Marks & Spencer. Strategic change is always reserved for such initiatives. These always involve radical transitions within the corporations, and it encompasses the structure, strategy, processes, systems, and culture. However, the tracking record of success in bringing strategic change within firms has been poor. Most fail to understand that it is implementation instead of formulation that is the difficult part (Tricia &Haughey, 2014). In order for strategic intent to become a reality, it is important to change the way that individuals within a corporation behave. This needs more than just new systems and restructuring. Perhaps, there are issues that managers need to address while leading: Main change needs a shift in underlying culture organisation and hence the behaviours and attitudes of the employees in the company. Most initiatives change stumble due to failure in delivering this shift by addressing political and cultural reality of a company. This happens because of a misunderstanding about the nature of culture in any organisations, how hard it is in changing the culture as well as the interventions that are needed in order to achieve a cultural shift. However, in order for change implementation to be successful, the organisation need to be designed in a way that it fits the organisational context, in other words, they are supposed to be context sensitive. Often, due to the complexity nature of change, companies try to pull down the shelf solutions and recipes that they have observed work in any other contexts, but that are not appropriate to their operation context. Change is all about changing the people, and not organisations (Tricia &Haughey, 2014). However, organisations can only change when the employees and managers change their means of operating the business. It requires to be known that employees are an intrinsic section of the process of change. In addition, change can be categorised by the extent of the change needed, and the speed that is needed to achieve the change intended. However, the changing speed is about the means that change is being implemented. It can have a wide range across a continuum from big bang form of change to an all-at-once or a step-by-step, and stage-by-stage incremental form of change (Tricia &Haughey, 2014). Culture is doing with the taken-for-granted and shared beliefs and assumptions within a firm that is shaping the means of doing activities around an organisation. More precisely, transformation is the fundamental change that exist within a company and it that cannot be handled within existing organisational paradigm. For instance, the retail banks in United Kingdom have been trying such shift in the last ten years. They have tried to move from internally purposefulcorporations concerned with secure lending and safe to a more retail organisations that are focused on customers. On the other hand, realignment fails toengage anessentialreassessment of the key beliefs and assumptions within the organisation (Tricia &Haughey, 2014). The best way of doing areview of the extent of change needed is applying a framework, for example, the culture web. A culture web is exemplifying culture as an interconnected set of subsystems driving the visible culture manifestations, for instance, routines, organisational symbols, and rituals, control systems, stories, and structures. The culture web can be done for the presentorganisational culture, and then redrawn in order to represent the kind of culture that is important in case the changes proposed need to be successful. However, if the changes need amendment key beliefs and assumptions sitting in the paradigm, then changes would be transformational (Tricia &Haughey, 2014). Change initiatives at times are costly and time-consuming, significantly driving an organisation’s toward success. However, nearly half of organisations might fail. The reality is one of the things that are unavoidable include change, organisations are supposed to resolve on how to successfully sustain and adapt change. Strategic changes in any organisations are delivered via projects and programmes, and, therefore, organisations that succeed lead change through managing their programmes and projects effectively. Programmes and Projects by their very nature can create change. Charismatic leadership is a leadership that is based on the ability of the leader tobehaveand communicate in a means that can reach followers on an emotional ways, basic, inspiring and motivating ways. Contingent leadership involves the leader assigning on what should be done withactual and promised rewards in exchange for a satisfactorily carried out assignment.In order to execute a successfully organisational strategy, companies require programme and leaders with the necessary skills of driving and navigating change and ensuring that the changes are aligned strategically to the business goals. The failure or success of changes initiative is not about planning, initiating, monitoring, evaluating, and executing the project that would drive the change. It involves preparation of organisation for transformation and ensuring that stakeholder buy-in, and engage executive sponsors in championing and supporting the change before, during as well as after the implementation. Therefore, organisations need to identify where they could create effectively, efficient change management, as well as developing competencies to implement and sustain change successfully. It is a reality that change cannot be evitable, and companies that can manage it effectively would pull ahead and compete effectively (Tricia & Haughey, 2014). 4.1.3 Conclusion In summary, it is certain that in organisations of today, there would be a change that is not less. Therefore, all the managers should have the ability to manage such change properly. It is also important for organisations to support managers at the middle level by training them in change management and the interpersonal skills that they would need in facilitating change. References Beyes, T., &Volkmann, C. (2010). The fantasy of the organisationalone:postdemocracy, organisational transformation and the possibility of politics. Journal ofOrganisational Change Management, 23(6), 651-668. Bruce M. T, 2003. Defining Culture and OrganisationalCulture.Journal of Strategic Management, 4(9), 2-5. Elango, B., et.al, 2010.Organisational ethics, individual ethics, and ethical intentions in international decision-making.Journal of Business Ethics, 5(3), 1-19. Gotsis, G., and Kortezi, Z. (2011).Bounded self-interest: a basis for constructive organisationalpolitics.StrategicManagement Research Review, 34(4), 450-476. Ionescu, M. S., (2006). The competitive advantage of corporate social responsibility,StrategicManagement Journal, 43(2), 91-92 Noel, B. &Darl, K., (2006). Stability and change for sustainability. Business review, 8(2), 33-34. Tricia S. C., &Haughey, A., 2014.Enabling organisational changethrough strategic initiatives.PMI’s Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report,5-16. Read More