Organizational Culture and Identity - Essay Example

Name and Id Course name and code Instructors’ name Organizational behavior Organization culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, actions and mind-set within the organization (Martin 90). These characteristics are due to the strengths, weaknesses, experiences and upbringing of the employees. These characteristics are the base that is laid to help the organization in achieving the goals that have been outlined. The leaders of the organization often lead the organizations attributes and shape the way the organization employees act. Culture can be said to be what the organization is and not what the organization has. The organizations with a strong and definite culture usually achieve better results than the organizations with a weak character. This is because the firms with a strong character have a way of defining what to do, when to do it and how to do it. The management of the organization therefore imposes standards that will replicate the intentions of the organization towards achieving its goals. Strong and weak cultures A strong culture is well reflected by the firm when the personnel follow a certain way of doing things mutually without any regulation. This is because they have been exposed and skilled on what they should follow since they joined the organization. Strong culture can be explained through cultures like the brand congruent culture. Through this, the employees are proud and passionate about their company and they share the vision, goals and objectives of the leaders (Martin 89). These employees always strive to give their best to the company. A leadership enriched culture is also a strong culture which is explained by the alignment of personal goals to those of the organizations. Leaders develop other leaders in the organization and they equip them with knowledge to make crucial decisions. When there is a weak alignment with the organizations’ culture, then it can be said that the organization culture is fragile. This a display of weak leadership of the organization and it leads to lack of impulse and innovativeness (Parker 78). A weak culture can be recognized as a blame culture. This is where no one wants to take responsibility for certain actions. This brings distrust among the employees and gives no room for innovation (Cameron & Quinn 20). Another weak culture is the multi-directional culture which is illustrated by loyalty to groups or certain departments. This diminishes teamwork and communication throughout the whole organization. Let and live culture is a feeble trait that is witnessed when people gang against another person and there is no significant growth in the organization. The culture of an organization should be the guideline for the achieving of the goals that have been set (Keyton 80). Therefore an organization culture is of the outermost importance because it represents the ambitions of the firm and its impact directly influences the performance of the organization. Changes in culture An organization may need to change its culture due to diverse rationale that affects its day to day operations. To help in creating a sustainable organization culture, the organization has to offer administrative support and training to the employees. Through administrative support, the management gives an example of how the employees should act (Alvesson 40). They have to do this consistently so that the employees can learn from them through emulating them. Through training the organization is expected to teach new actions and define their limits. The organization must first formulate a tactical and clear new vision for the organization. The new vision will provide the employees with the knowledge and let them know the clear objectives (Fisher 67). This helps them to share the same values and beliefs that will lead them through their stay in their organization. The management also needs to display commitment to the organization culture change to indicate the willingness to implement the new changes through the provided framework. (Parker 90). The organizations structure should be modeled to support the organizational change by showing the specific directions and rules towards certain actions. Deviant workers should have their services terminated so that the newcomers are taught about the values and they can easily adapt. The organization also needs to develop a legal and ethical structure for the employees. This will help in employee control, change in employee veracity and give job security. Changing the culture of an organization is inevitable but is more difficult than maintaining the new culture. The change in culture may lead to tensions and resistance by the employees so the management needs to convince them that the possible gains outweigh the losses (Fisher 67). Resistance to changes in culture The success of a new culture does not occur naturally but through a systematic method that is not immune from errors. The employees resist changing due to various reasons that they have to be helped to overcome. One of the reasons the employees fear culture changes is that there is no guaranteed gain from these changes. When the management does not give a clear outline for reason of the change then it is natural that the employees feel threatened and trigger the resistance (University of Wisconsin 2010). This means that the management has to explain and make the employees understand the reasons for the change. The employees also resist changes when they are not consulted about the intended changes. The informed employees have a high performance than the uninformed employees. This is especially critical to the employees whose job specifications may be affected. Employees also resist to changes when they feel that their relationship towards one another is being modified or changed entirely. These established relationship patterns are usually what employees count on when communicating. The employees also resist when they feel that the communication channel that is being used is not sufficient and does not care about their feelings (Keyton 55). This may be in terms of the timetable for change, the promotions, termination or demotions of the employees or change in the compensation structure. The gain and rewards to the changes should be proportional to the trouble associated with the implementation of these changes. If the employees feel that they are being short changed, then they will definitely resist these changes. Employees will obviously resist to changes when they feel that their occupation, rank or command in an organization have been threatened (Schein 78). Acceptance of changes However the decision makers will agree and respond positively to the changes when they feel that they are being considered and they are convinced that the changes will be gainful to them. The employees will gladly agree to the changes if the information presented to them corresponds with the current values, stances and beliefs. This gives them a sense of security and comfort as they understand the current system already in place. The employees need a change that will not only benefit the organization but also benefit them too (Parker 89). When they are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the changes will benefit them than cost them, then the employees will be positive to the changes. When a change requires marginal and not major changes, then the employees are bound to accept them. This is because they do not necessarily have to change major decisions in their lives. When the employees have confirmed a need for change, then they will gladly support the new innovations. If the change is gradually introduced then the employees will be able to adjust to these changes without much resistance (Keyton 78). Resistance is not always terrible since it occasionally demonstrates that there might be an erroneous scheme being executed. A resistance should constantly be detected and critically evaluated to accomplish a compromise. Conclusion The culture that is being introduced must show significant advantages over the current practices in the organization. This should be evident through the cost-benefit analysis that is associated with the change. The culture must also be simple to adjust to that the employees can be enthusiastic towards the changes and the implementation of this new culture. When the new culture is deemed to be very convoluted, then the execution will also be incredibly intricate to deploy. The new culture might not be faultless or be any superior to the organization than the existing one so it should be basic to try and easy to abandon if it is not working to the advantage of the organization. The impact of a new culture should also be easy to appraise in terms of competence, time and money. This will give easy assessment of the benefits or loss accrued by change initiated. Change in culture is important and unavoidable but the employee reaction is of outermost importance as it affects the organization as a whole. Change in culture is directly associated with the visions and objectives of the organization and it should help in achieving them. When the changes are warmly embraced by the employees, then the culture should be sustained. This is because the changes should directly reflect positive results through showing improved performance in effectiveness, time and money. References Alvesson Mats. Understanding organizational culture. London: Sage 2002. Cameron Kim & Quinn Robert. Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: based on the competing values framework. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Fisher Robert. The research productivity of scientists: how gender, organization culture, and the problem choice process influence the productivity of scientists. New York: University Press of America, 2005. Keyton Joann. Communication and organizational culture: a key to understanding work experiences. London: Sage, 2005. Martin Joanne. Organizational culture: mapping the terrain. London: Sage, 2002. Parker Martin. Organizational culture and identity: unity and division at work. London: Sage, 2000. Schein Edgar. Organizational culture and leadership, 3rd Ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. University of Wisconsin. Resistance to change. Retrieved on March 16, 2010 from http://www4.uwm.edu/cuts/bench/change.htm Read More