What Is Organizational Culture, the Effect of Globalization - Coursework Example

What is Organizational Culture Institution Date What is Organizational Culture Introduction The 21st century has seen businesses experiencing rapid growth and development in the various aspects of their operations. The rapid growth and development in organization weaves right from the top management all the way to the lowest ranking positions. This is evidenced by the fact that more and more firms across the globe are embracing the idea of division of labour and specialization in their organizations. The changing organisational management set ups and the adoption of strategic management in global companies has been the order of the day in global organizations, which are associated with large economies of scale, large employee base and connections in different corners of the world. The major contributor to the rapid growth and development in the corporate world is technology. Technology is growing at a fascinating speed giving organizations enormous opportunities for growth and development. It is important to take note of the fact that leadership in organizations plays a central role in driving the growth and development of these organizations. Bezuidenhout, Grobler and Rudolph (2013) stated that leaders in organizations play the role of ensuring that the goals and objectives are achieved. The relationships established between leaders and their followers determine the effectiveness of the organization. The effectiveness of an organization is measured by its ability to achieve its short term and long term goals within the time limits allocated for the goals. This paper seeks to inform the reader's understanding of organizational culture, which according to Schein, is embedded in leaders. Additionally, with the help of Schein's three levels of culture, the paper will shed light on the ways in which culture can be expressed within organizations. We shall also look at how globalization, technology and leadership relate with organizational cultures. Leadership in Organizations Going by Robbins and Barnwell's (1994) definition, an organization is a consciously coordinated social entity, with a relatively identifiable boundary, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. This means that an organization is bound by a distinct boundary up to which its operations are expected to extend. In order to satisfy this description of an organization, it is inevitable that organizations should have a source of guidance to act not only as a constant reminder of the organization's goals and objectives but also to act as a motivation. Further, Casimir and Waldman (2007) leaders play the role of guiding the members of an organization in achieving the set goals and in order to carry out this task with effectiveness, it is important that they possess a certain set of traits. The possession of these traits will enable leaders to influence the performance of the organization. Theories about leadership try to explain the existence of leaders. Such theories include the great man theory, the trait theory, the contingency theory as well as behavioural and relational theories. All these theories sum up to the fact that effective leaders possess a set of traits that enable them to impose their will on the followers (Karp & Thomas, 2009). The setting of an ideal organization is comprised of the leader, the followers and the context. The leader can be either one or a group that is hierarchically aligned. The followers, on the other hand, are the members of the organization on the receiving end who get instructions from their leaders. The context is the situation at hand that calls for the guidance of leaders. As such, the three aspects of an organization’s setting come into play, necessitating a systematic means for carrying out activities in an organization. The leaders of an organization are responsible for creating an environment and availing opportunities that allow the members to thrive. This way, the organization is said to be effective. Organizational culture is described by the environment, the opportunities and the support given to the members of an organization by its leaders (Kissack & Callahan, 2010). The support comes in the form of a conducive working environment and an effective means of communication between the leaders and the followers. The diverse roles of leaders include making decisions that ensure the organization's performance is in line with its goals and objectives. Petrick, Scherer, Brodzinski and Quinn (1999) argued that this ensures that the overall performance of an organization is at the same level or even better than its rivals. The size of an organization is an important factor that determines the extent to which its culture affects the outside world. Global organizations espouse high expectations from the members of the public. The Effect of Globalization A review by Ardalan (2009) stated that the advent of the internet brought about a shift in the way business is done in the 21st century. The world has become a small village whereby one can move from one part of the world to another within an incredibly short time thanks to the efficient and fast air transport system. Communication has never been so convenient. The internet has made it possible for people to access information first hand through live feeds on YouTube and other video streaming websites. Jones (2002) stated that this has led to a reduced reliance on information from the mainstream conventional sources. The buying and selling of goods can take place regardless of the location of the buyer and seller. For instance, one is able to purchase a pair of shoes at a store in London from the convenience of his/her home in an African country. This is made possible by the advances made in the transport and communication fields. The emergence of multinational companies has been trend in the corporate world in the 21st century. The demands that come with running such companies call for highly effective leaders with the right combination of attributes. The possession of managerial skills alone might not qualify one to lead a company with an estimated 1600 employees (Roukis, 2006). This is why global leaders ought to be all rounded with skills and competencies that are capable for keeping an organization in operation amid stiff competition and global challenges such as economic recession and inflation. Additionally, Prasad and Prasad (2007) stated that a combination of interpersonal skills such as effective communication and charisma alongside the conventional qualifications required will enable one to lead a global organization. The expression of culture in organizations especially in the 21st century comes as a result of the public's expectations regarding the performance and operations of the company. For instance, following the stiff competition that is fuelled by technology advancements, leaders are expected to be the facilitators of change. In doing so, leaders will be able to increase the performance of their organizations through the incorporation of new methods of doing things. Delmestri (1997) stated that effecting change in an organization calls for both competence and speed in executing decisions. Organizational structures show how the interaction between the positions of an organization occurs. The design of the organization, on the hand, shows the flow of work and the structure of an organization. Both the structure and the design of an organization can be changed to enhance its effectiveness. Modern day leaders are measured by their ability to influence their followers into action in pursuit of the goals set by the organization. There exists a regular audit that is meant to assess the performance of an organization. This assessment is important as it enables organizations to make vital decisions regarding the running of the organizations (Santos, Akabane & Santos, 2013). What these audits do is they compare the goals of the organization with the previous performance to establish whether the organization's leadership is doing enough to take full advantage of the opportunities that come with advances in technology. The mobility created by the advent of the internet has made it possible to analogize organizational culture with a garden planted with crops. The essential inputs that make an organization successful in its practices include effective leadership, dedicated, diligent and loyal employees as well as an enabling environment (Mikl-Horke, 2004). A combination of these inputs coupled with the daily practices of the members of the organization comprises the modern day organizational culture. However, it is worth noting that the practices in which organizations are involved are moderated by the values and principles embedded in the mission and vision statements of the organization. The Impact of Technology in Organizational Culture Research findings by the one Edgar Schein highlight the dynamic nature of corporate culture. In his study, Schein points out that organizational culture can be analysed at three levels. He goes ahead and argues that corporate culture determines the future performance of an organization, whether it will be successful or not. Technology is said to have the quality of simplifying how things are done. This is true because, the business sector, for instance, has benefited from services such as teleconferencing and electronic commerce, better known as ecommerce (Ryssel, Ritter & Gemunden, 2004). Such services have simplified global transactions in the sense that business partners do not have to travel across the Atlantic to attend boardroom conferences. Such conferences can be held with the attendees from their respective countries through teleconferencing. Moreover, Ozigbo (2013) argued that E-commerce has enabled businesses to cut down on the cost of transport for most of the international businesses activities. This is because it allows one to purchase products from a country overseas and have them delivered to his doorstep. Such business transactions are as a result of technology, which has the capacity to diversify the nature of corporate culture especially in global organizations. This is because of the convenience brought about by technology. In order to benefit from the impact that technology has had on the corporate sector, one needs to take note of the fact that despite the fact that organizational culture is dynamic, it can have both positive and negative effects on the current and future status of an organization (Chow, & Liu, 2007). Schein categorizes organizational culture into three levels whereby each level represents the extent to which an aspect of an organization's culture is visible. In other words, Schein's research asserts that the observable aspects of an organization constitute its culture. The technical systems of an organization fall under the artefacts of its culture. Other artefacts include the buildings, layout, employee dressing code requirements and regulations, traditions and historical events that characterise an organisation. The espoused beliefs and values are the perspectives of the employees of an organization and their awareness concerning the strategies of the organization. In other words, the fact that employees are aware of the business strategies of an organization in which they work is another aspect of the corporate culture (Belbin, Erwee & Wiesner, 2012). This is because the awareness is among the factors that influence their dedication and the commitment that they put in their work. The third aspect of corporate culture according to Schein is the underlying assumptions representing aspects of the organization thought to be true by the members. Due to the impact of technology, these assumptions are subject to change affecting both the structure and design of an organization (Murugan, 2009; Burnes & James, 1995). Communication, Efficiency and Effectiveness in Organizations We have seen that the 21st century has seen organizations aligning themselves along the demanding nature of the corporate world. The requirements for leadership positions in organizations have taken a whole new dimension necessitating the need for more qualified and all rounded managers. All this is as a way of meeting the demands of the 21st century (Jabbarifar, 2009). Today's leader has got to understand the value of communication in an organization. In addition, he should be able to have full understanding of the organization and its culture in order to be able to communicate the basics of its practices to the employees in a clear way. It has been established that culture is the unwritten rule that governs how a certain group of society carries out its activities. Further, Lu and Ju (2014) established that an organization is a continuously coordinated social entity with distinctly identified boundaries. Going by this previous establishment, it is clear that the same way cultural norms are passed from one generation to the next in society is how it will be done in the corporate world. In society, culture is transferred through either communication or observation (Khan, Farooq & Hussain, 2010). This goes without saying that leaders ought to be goo communicators to be able to pass on the culture of the organization to the members. On the other hand, members should be observant enough to capture the visible and physical aspects of an organization. Organizational efficiency and effectiveness are essential aspects that determine the performance of an organization. This is because of the fact that both aspects touch on the relationship between the goals of an organization and the practices that are aimed at achieving these goals. The effectiveness of an organization is described as the degree to which an organization attains its short term and long term goals. The leadership of the organization play a central role in determining this degree of attainment. In fact, this is the basis of measuring the performance of a leader in an organization. The need for high profits and returns is among the reasons organizations strive to be effective. Ineffective organizations tend to make losses and frustrating outcomes in their operations leading to bankruptcy and eventual exit from the market. Another reason could be customers' demand for high quality products and services. Such demands cannot be met in the absence of high levels of effectiveness in an organization (Keren & Littlejohns, 2012). Effectiveness in organizations helps in the cutting down of the overhead operations cost hence enabling the organization to maximize use of its finances on improving the quality of its products and services. The pressure from rivals and the need to maintain the market niche are also the positive pushes that motivate the organization to maintain high effectiveness. This is because organizations resort to compete with their rivals in an effort to attain the top notch status and be the market leader in the respective industries. Conclusion In summation, Organizational culture is the combination of a number of observable aspects of an organization, which enable the organization to be unique and different in its practices. The different ways in which organizations strive to remain afloat in the corporate world have been transformed by the advent of the internet and advances in technology. One of the most outstanding aspects of technology is the fact that it is able to alter organizational culture. It does this through the enhancements and simplifications it renders to the practices of business organizations. We have seen that leadership, despite the fact that it is a broad subject with theories from the 1900s trying to demystify it, is the driving force behind organizational culture as it offers guidance to the members of the organization. Without leadership, it would be difficult to measure the effectiveness of business practices. This is because, it s leadership that determines the direction an organization takes in pursuit of the goals and objectives. Globalization has reduced the world to a small village where business transactions are carried out without obstacles. This is as a result of advancements in transport and communication. Communication in business is essential as it acts as the means through which culture is transferred from the decision makers to the followers of an organization. The leadership of an organization is expected to enhance its effectiveness so as to register high profits, keep up with the prevailing state of competition, and meet the customers demand for high quality goods and services and to maintain the market niche. References Ardalan, K. (2009). Globalization and culture: Four paradigmatic views. International Journal of Social Economics, 36(5), 513-534. Asree, S., Zain, M., & Mohd, R. R. (2010). 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