Management Control of Organisational Culture - Literature review Example

Management Control of Organisational Culture s Introduction An organisation is an assembly of individuals working together so as to attain common objectives via division of labour. An organization offers a means of utilizing people’ strengths within a group in order to attain more that can be finished by the collective efforts of group members working individually. Proceeding further, organisational culture stands for collective beliefs and values, together with principles of members of an organisation. Correspondingly, organisational culture is a combination of shared mental assumptions which guide the organisation’s understanding and actions by outlining suitable behaviours for different situations. Culture comprises of the organisation’s visions, values, norms, language, habits, systems, and symbols. Every organisation has a set of shared values, symbols, norms, and habits for various situations irrespective of being either in the private or private sector. It is the duty of management to control this culture so as to ensure optimal performance of the organisation. The role of the control function is to detect any weaknesses after getting feedback due to management activity. To that effect, drawing on a variety of sources the paper will discuss the extent unto which the management can control organizational culture. Discussion Parker (2009, p.15) defines organisational culture as “the behaviour of people within an organization as well as the significance humans attach to those behaviours.” According to a view shared by Ravasi and Schultz (2006, p.434), organisational culture impacts on the performance and productivity of the organization, and offers guidelines on taking care of the environment, attendance and punctuality, quality and safety of the products, and customer service. Organizational culture also extends from methods of production, advertising practices, marketing, to development of new products. Although these rules are not formally written down, employees know what is expected of them. To that effect, it is crucial that the management control the culture of the firm. The managers need to recognise their firm’s pulse as well as to be skilled in embracing what serves best for the overall benefit of the company. They are supposed to recognise the manner in which to push the forces of change to make the firm greater, while maintaining the identity of a culture that employee view as vital (Parker, 2009, p.34-38). In this regard, the corporate level strategies have to be taken with a sense of understanding and courage so as to have proper control of the organisational culture. The other way in which the management may control organisational behaviour is through deliberate role modelling. Smircich (1983, p.341) acknowledges that culture is a system of knowledge and beliefs. When the firm selects and recruits new employees they usually undergo training for a specified period of time. In cultural terms, this training timeframe is known as deliberate role modelling. The trainer usually shows the new staffs how the enterprise operates and the manner in which they are expected to act and perform. Deliberate role modelling continues throughout the employee’s tenure at the firm (Cross, 2015). Moreover, Jones, Lasky, Russell-Gale, and LeFevre (2004, p.214) argue that the managers can act as role models. According to Meek (1988, p.453) leaders create culture. Therefore, Kilmann, Saxton, and Serpa (1986, p.88) posit that the main thing is the leader acting in a manner that is consistent with the desired social value. In this regard, the leaders can act in a way that it reflects the norms and values of the organisation that the employees can emulate. According to Schein (2010, p.23), natural leaders have charisma that is a great influence on the culture of the group he leads. In actual fact, organisational culture will often reflect the values and behaviors of the leader. This is because his or her solutions to the problems faced by the group have proved successful over time, and thereby have been adopted slowly as basic assumptions. Since management control entails the process of influencing others so as to effectively to attain the goals of the business, the next way of controlling organisational culture is through conducting appraisal. The amount of employee performance is crucial in streamlining the obligations that affect the individual’s behaviour within the organisation. The performance appraisal system is supposed to be effective and on target on the organisation’s norms, vision, norms, language, systems, habits, and symbols. This enhances a person’s cognitive stability. Culture is stabilising force in human mind (Fleming and Sturdy, 2009, p.570). Cognitive stability lays the foundation for improved self-esteem and increased performance by the employee. The other way in which the management can control organisational culture is through the mission statement. Most of the mission statements are written form. The mission statement gives proper direction for all the employees to take in relation to behaviour and actions, as well as quality control. Within the company, the mission statement is the starting point for creating and cultivating the organisational culture. For example, a mission statement that says “To inspire and nurture the human spirit” implies that there are high ethics standards, quality, and societal activism within the company (Cross, 2015). The next way the management can control culture within the organisation is through creating social norms. Meek (1988, p.453) illustrates that culture and social structure are distinct entities. Most companies often endeavour to create an environment of conformity. They often develop certain expected levels of behavioural norms, irrespective of whether they conformity with a group or an individual. Social norms are regarded as set of behavioural regulations, which the manner in which a person will react in various situations. The social norms are often enforced by peers by means of social sanctions (Cross, 2015). The next technique of cultural control in the organisation is by means of rules and regulations. The employee handbooks that are often given on the first day of working usually provides an insight in terms of what the firm expects with regard to behaviour and company culture. Violation of the policies in the handbook could lead to both verbal or written warnings, and even termination in extreme cases. The rules and regulations are often incorporated into the organisational culture. As a consequence, they are embedded in the social norms and shared values of the culture in the organisation (Cross, 2015). Anybody who shuns or disrupts the controls within the organisational culture can be regarded as defiant. Organisational misbehaviour is an active requisition of resources to become more independent, while resistance is that part that makes up an answer from employees with regard to control from management (Barker and Graham, 1997, p.223). Therefore, the management needs to ensure that is avoids resistance and organisational misbehaviour from the employees in its effort to control organisational culture (Edwards, Collinson, and Giuseppe, 1995, pp.283-285). As cited by (Pfister, 2012, p. 4), employees that are not committed usually do not act in harmony with norms, values, and habits of the organisation. The management can control this culture by leading by example, engraining sustainability, and ensuring accountability from every employee. Another way the management can ensure that it controls organisational culture is through creation of a cooperative atmosphere. This influences the behaviour of the employees thus impacting on the overall performance of the firm (Nurwati, 2013, p. 40). Communication is key in creating a cooperative environment. For instance, the employees need to know that they will only be promoted on professional and performance basis. This reflects the attainment of the original objectives that had been sanctioned by the firm. Pfister (2012, p. 5) posits that the management can set clear and continuous messages, promote effective communication, and encourage constructive debate about issues relating to culture in the organisation. There is a direct correlation between management control and organisational culture. A view shared by Nurwati (2013, p. 46) points out risk assessment and adequate monitoring as control mechanisms of organisational culture. By carrying an evaluation of the risks in the firm, the managers can implement control strategies at all levels including organisational culture. The controls in the culture can rarely be challenges because the employees view it being strategically aligned to the corporate structure. Direct testing and control management of culture together can impact on the performance of the organisation. Since there is a direct correlation between organisational culture and management control, the managers can influence culture in the firm through democratic communication. Studies have evidenced that an organisational culture that puts emphasis on employee behaving in accordance with organisations demands may result in either good or bad behaviour. In this case, the management can use democratic yan in order to enhance the sense of fun and increase good behaviours of individuals within the organisation (Nurwati, 2013, p. 42). The management can use group discipline to control organisational culture. McKinlay and Taylor (1998, p.187) share the evidence that adherence to group discipline results in self-regulation by the employees. This implies that anything the employee thinks to do and they are at work they are not required to do as directed by the management. This ensures discipline among the employees. It is equally important to note that teams are collective agents to discipline the employees. The management can instruct the team members to evaluate each other through peer reviews in relation to standards concerning organisational culture. The use of peer review as a group discipline mechanism can improve the collective beliefs, values, and principles of members in the firm, thus improving the overall performance of the firm (Cross, 2015). The management can control culture by instilling self-belief in the employees. Ackroyd and Crowdy (1990, pp.4-5) argues that by the management controlling organisational behaviour certain behaviours are limited while other will be encouraged. Fleming and Sturdy (2009, p.569) argue that by having a liberal regime it exposes more of the employees to self-corporation. This implies that they are less likely to resist work. The researchers further argue that the private dimensions of the employees’ selves can influence organisational culture. Fleming and Sturdy (2009, p.578) note that the management can blur the distinction between the organisation and home by enforcing the play ethic. This ensures the norms and values in the firm are under control. Conclusion In summary, controlling a firm through culture works by not only entails developing a positive image of an individual, but also a group. Culture comprises of the organisation’s visions, values, norms, language, habits, systems, and symbols. These elements affect the overall performance of the firm. This results in a situation where the managers and employee are responsible for both the economic and non-economic resources to sustain the firm’s growth and development. The managers in the organisation come with cultural control so as to create a sense of shared values and social norms within the firm. Other ways the management can control culture in the organisation is through group discipline resulting in peer reviews, democratic communication, risk assessment, the mission statement, rules and regulation, deliberate role modelling, self-regulation, and conducting appraisal. There is a positive relationship between control and organisational culture. The executives are the key gatekeeper of culture, thus tasked with controlling organisational culture. The culture can be managed from the top through formal and informal controls. Control of organisational culture results in: improved employee performance, increased profits and revenues, employee motivation, and job satisfaction. 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