Organizational Culture and Its Principal Manifestations - Coursework Example

Explain organizational culture and list its principal manifestations. Give an example of each indicating the culture at your university. Briefly describe your perception of the culture at Victoria University- Australia Essay Plan Introduction It is a Latin word ‘Culture’ which is derived from ‘Colere’ and it means ‘to cultivate’ and it refers to “patterns of human activity and symbolic structures which give it significance.” Organization Culture Elements of organization not only define its culture but also shape and change culture. “It is a pattern of basic assumptions that a group has invented, discovered or developed in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptations and internal integration” (E.H Schein, 1986). Manifestations of organisational culture Symbols It involves the participation of objects, acts, events or qualities serving as a vehicle for conveying meaning to internal and external environment. Stories These are narratives which are based on true events, which may be inject and highlight intended values and culture. Rites These are more elaborate, dramatic, planned sets of activities intended to convey cultural values to participants. Ceremonials The rites systems performed in conjunction with a single occasion or event called ceremonials. Changing organisational culture Because they involve fairly stable values, beliefs and assumptions, organizations can be difficult to change. Changing culture approach Surfacing actual norms Articulating new directions Establishing new norms Identifying culture gaps Closing culture gaps Internal and external environments Analysing environmental conditions Dynamism It is the rate and predictability of change in the elements of an organisation’s environment. Environmental bounty It is the extent to which the environment can support sustained growth and stability Managing environmental elements Three approaches to managing the environment: Adaptation Involves changing internal operations & activities to make the organisation and its environment more compatible Buffering Stockpiling either inputs into, or outputs from, a production or service process to cope with environmental fluctuations Smoothing Taking actions aimed at reducing the impact of fluctuations, given the market Forecasting Predicting changing conditions & future events that significantly affect an organisation’s business Rationing Providing limited access to a product or service in high demand Favourability influence It involves trying to alter environmental elements to make them more compatible with the organisation’s needs. Advertising & public relations Boundary spanning Recruiting Negotiating contracts Coopting Strategic alliances Trade associations Political activity Domain shifts Changing product/service mix to create favourable interface for stakeholders It is about Moving out of a current product, service or geographic area into a more favourable domain. It is about expansion of current domains through diversification or expansion of products/services offered. Promoting innovation Strategic Focused on identifying opportunities Commitment to seize opportunities Willing to make major, fast changes Commitment of resources Many stages with risk assessed for each stage Control of resources Rental or outsourcing of resources for flexibility Management structure Few levels, with informal communication How leaders influence cultural change Crisis identification Communication of a new vision Motivation of key staff Corresponding strategy Conclusion Organizational culture is dynamic and interpretive. It constantly shape and define the performance of an organization. Introduction Culture Culture is a term which can not be expressed distinctly, but it is a thing which we can easily sense. We can easily distinguish culture and environment of a university from a hospital. It is similar to sensing the personality of a person, dressing, mannerism and communication style tells a lot about personality. It is the personality of organization, comprised of assumptions, values and artifacts of organization’s member and their behaviors. Corporate cultures work like a system. It has its input and output. Input includes feedback from professionals, law makers, stories, and values on competition or service, heroes, society. Outputs are; technology, strategy, image, appearance, product, service and organizational behaviors. Organizational Culture Culture in the context of an organization reflects a number of facets which vary from values, leadership styles, controls, and reward mechanisms and other aspects which work together and create a set of behaviors to define an organization’s culture. Its definitions vary from simple to complex. “The way we do things around here” (Balogun &Hailey, 2004) “A pattern of shared values, norms and practices that help distinguishes one organization from another” (Higgins, McAllister et al, 2006). Organizational Culture Organizational culture is the environment of workplace which is formulated from the employees’ interaction. It is experiences, strengths, upbringing, weaknesses, education, of employees. Executive leaders play a major role in defining organizational culture and on the other hand, employees contribute to the formation of organizational culture. Nature of organisational culture It is a system of shared values, assumptions, beliefs and norms uniting organizational members’ (Smircich 1983; Kilman wt al.1986). The ‘glue’ binding the disparate parts (or the oil that keeps them moving).The interpretive part of the organizational behaviour: it explains, gives directions, sustain energy, commitment and cohesion External and Internal environment External environment Types of external environment Mega-environment; task environment Analysing the environment Models: ecology & resource dependence Managing the environment Adaptation, favourability influence & domain shifts Internal environment (Culture) Nature of organisational culture It is a system of shared values, assumption, beliefs and norms which unite organisational members. Manifestations of culture Symbols, stories, rites and ceremonials Promoting innovation Requires strategically oriented organisations with ability to change quickly Changing organisational culture Difficult because of need to change values & behaviour Leadership & cultural change Leaders convey need for change, provide new vision & motivate key staff Analysing environmental conditions Dynamism It is dependant on the rate by which organization grow. Elements of cultural (i.e.) norms, values and rituals predicts and regulate the change in culture. Organizational cultures are interpretive and change constantly but slowly. Dynamic nature of an organization is clearly visible if studied consistently over a period of time. Environmental bounty It is all about the settings and systems of an organization which either support growth in a consistent manner or not productive in terms of growth. Managing environmental elements There are three approaches to manage environmental elements for growth and stability. Adaptation It involves changing in the internal environment; comfortable sitting arrangements, friendly technologies and may be more security (financial and life). It includes the different activities, functions and events to stand out in the industry and make members feel more productive. Like the events organized by university for employee trainings, seminars and conferences. Buffering Stockpiling either inputs into, or outputs from, a production or service process to cope with environmental fluctuations Smoothing Taking actions aimed at reducing the impact of fluctuations, given the market Forecasting Predicting changing conditions & future events that significantly affect an organisation’s business Rationing Providing limited access to a product or service in high demand Favourability influence Environments are dynamic, they change and demand people to grow with them. Like environments, people also change, their needs, views and experience creates new gaps which are to be filled in favour of their needs and requirements. There are some factors; Advertising & public relations Boundary spanning Recruiting Negotiating contracts Coopting Strategic alliances Trade associations Political activity For example, technical and trade innovation offers advanced learning and on-job-training. Domain shifts Observing the market and needs organizations tend to change products and services. For user convenience and for getting into newer areas organization shift their domains and make their interface more favourable for stakeholders. Move out of a current product, service or geographic area into a more favourable domain. Expand current domains through diversification or expansion of products/services offered. For example “Tafe” in university provides a chance for technical studies to national and international students. Manifestations of organisational culture Symbols Symbol is a thing that stands for an idea, as a dove stands for peace (Chvalier & Cheerbrant, 1994). However, it is also applicable to other contents. The term idea refers to the things which stand for the ideas of components in an organization. These are objects, acts, events or qualities serving as a vehicle for conveying meaning. Symbol is a physical manifestation of an organizational culture which is visibly indicates organization’s lifestyle. Symbols are experienced through sound, sight, smell and touch. It helps the members to make meanings, social conventions and interactions. Symbols are easily manipulated but can’t be necessarily changed easily. Culture’s dynamics are strongly indicated by symbols. In border meaning, symbols are composed of physical setting of culture and the objects within that; meanings, ideas and experiences people have about organization. Symbols are integral to organizational life. They are not simply by-products of organization, but rather elements that structure members’ active construction of sense, knowledge, and behavior (Rafaeli & Kluger, 1998). During a small visit to some organization, we realize and convince ourselves about a specific feeling of environment there. How it happens? The answer is simple! It is symbol, which convince us to believe in the message which organization wants to convey. It differentiates one culture from the other. People, behaviors, and objects are symbolic. To understand objects in a scene, people rely on both local and global contextual features, and the consistency between them (deGraef, deTroy, & D’ydewalle, 1992). Symbols convey a powerful and long lasting meaning to not only external but internal members. Its major functions are; It is the reflection of basic values, assumptions, expectations and philosophies of organization. Members’ roles are assigned by leaders, but they are made aware about the duties by symbols. It influences behaviors by internalizing norms and values. It facilitates communication between members about organizational life. It acts as a frame of reference which facilitates conversations. Final function of symbols is to capture the meaning system to integrate emotions, cognition and behavior. Basic dynamics of the motivation to preserve consistency in situation, including consistency between internal and external cues, guides to cognitive efforts to understand a scene (Festinger, 1957; Siddiqi, Tressness, & Kinia, 1996; Rogers, Lee, & Fisk, 1995). Stories Story is a crucial and traditional motivation tool which is sill effective and practical. It is influential because it holds shared cultures, beliefs and history of a group of individuals. It plays role in; Organizational culture consolidation, motivate and educate employees and triggers employees’ best output. Storytelling brings organizations a chance, to experience their lives, boosts energies and keeps the desired identity alive. It is about whatever an organization narrates through its culture. Stories always circulate in organizational environment. Member exchange stories of personal success, failures and legends on regular basis. It not only gives them a sense of participation and organizational history but also reveals future possibilities. A second subsystem of the culture is an organizational belief system that embodies the myths, values, and ideologies of the organization (Allaire and Firsirotu, 1984).Leaders often influence the development of beliefs and values and consciously define and redefine the purpose, strategies and policies in order to organize work structure. Individual belief system of organization is based on the ideas, experiences, personalities, goals and beliefs of collective individuals in the organizations. Bolman and Deal (1984) have identified the ‘mythological’ roles that leaders, as heads of organizations, play in order to teach organizational values, mission and responsibilities. Organizations learn in a way or the other; learning is not always in a positive way. Organizations, which have enhanced capacity to learn, adapt and change is considered as learning and changing for good. It is the kind of organization in which learning process is monitored, analyzed, managed and aligned with improvement and innovation objectives. System level development and change is accelerated through vision, values, structure improvements and processes. Success Stories at VU VU projects a strong international organization. Its success stories of faculty, Olympic championships, financial and economic services, and culture and creative industries participation portray a great deal of innovation and leaderships presence. Rites It is relatively elaborate, dramatic, planned sets of activities intended to convey cultural values to participants and, usually, an audience. It is all about what a specific culture enact. Each and every organization develops different rites and rituals. It gives a sense of membership to the employees and orient members temporally. It includes; reviews, coffee breaks, smoking breaks and meetings. Knowledge, values and beliefs hold an important position in the organization. In higher education and its values, range of differences and similarities gives diversity to an organizational culture. There is no alternative to the practical experience and exposure which leads to growth and self-discovery. People come in direct contact and overcome prejudices, they actually realize the importance of diversity and whatever they have common with their peers. “It is not enough to value the environment, if one can not perceive the social forces working against conservation and does not have the capacity to use the general procedures of problem-solving, specific skills and conceptual understating, in combination, to contribute to overcoming these forces”(Stevenson,1993:9). Cultural artifacts It is about systems of rites performed in conjunction with a single occasion or event.There are two major types of cultural artifacts; conceptual and physical. Cultural artifacts initiate and coordinate interaction between organization people and outer world. Internal environment of organization formalize the power and status in a vertical order and stratification becomes visible through physical artifacts, tradition and technology. It’s an old saying, “First impression is the last impression.” A very first visit to the organization depicts organizational culture through its physical manifestations. offices or departments variation is Size and furnishing, area, number of windows, size and quality of furniture, meeting table and carpets, etc. Office or department location within the hierarchy If it is near the main power or authority, it’ll be measured more powerful both status and authority. Dressing style difference between heads of departments and employees Cultural artifacts at VU VU provides education to a diverse range of people from every corner of the world. Overall environment is a manifestation of beautiful architect, pleasant environment, discipline and strong sense of quality. Promoting innovation Strategic Focused on identifying opportunities Commitment to seize opportunities Willing to make major, fast changes Commitment of resources Many stages with risk assessed for each stage Control of resources Rental or outsourcing of resources for flexibility Management structure Few levels, with informal communication Changing organisational culture Because they involve fairly stable values, beliefs and assumptions, organisations can be difficult to change. One approach to changing culture: Surfacing actual norms Articulating new directions Establishing new norms Identifying culture gaps Closing culture gaps Leaders influence on cultural change Crisis identification Communication of a new vision Vision of the leadership is the strong base of organization culture. It is about sharing the big picture with employee. It is about a commitment for progress between ownership and employees. People tend to change when they notice gaps between the things which are actually happening and the things which should happen. The need is to focus on the vision and simplify it into segments, to make then part of the belief system of the organization. Leaders motivate the staff and enhance their leadership skills and understanding by Implementing new vision With communicative motivational tools there should be a clear vision of leadership about policies and procedure. To support and keep employees loyal they should introduce compensation systems, performance system and other policies and procedures. Conclusion Organizational culture is a combination of beliefs, attitudes, behaviours, values, and underlying assumptions shared by its members. Culture is formed and manifested in everything around us: it is in language we speak, in stories we hear, in our legends and even in daily work routine. Cultures are dynamic, they change and improve. Leadership can emphasize and enhance desired culture by using motivational tools and strong vision. References Bartol, K., Martin, D., Tein, M. and Matthews, G., 2001, management, A Pacific Rim Focus, 3rd edn, McGraw-hill, Sydney. Shamil, N 2001, People and organizational management in construction, Thomas. William, B (eds) 1983, Handbook of Organization Management, CRC, NY. Read More