Organizational Culture - Essay Example

Introduction: Many scholars and business analysts believe that innovation is a very important force that contributes to the growth and development of a business organization. On this basis, it is very important for a business organization to have knowledge and understanding on the various factors that constrain, or improve innovative practices. It is important for managers and leaders of business organizations to understand that one of the factors that can contribute or hinder innovation within an organization is its culture (Brown, 1998). The culture of an organization has the capability of unifying the employees of the organization under consideration, and it also has the capability of creating a barrier between the employees of the organization. For instance, organizations that has a culture whose leadership is autocratic, would limit the level upon which the employees of the organization under consideration interact with the senior management. This paper focuses on the role of organizational culture, in promoting innovative practices within an organization. This paper has a conclusion, which is a summary of the main points contained in the paper. The structure of this paper is as follows, after the introduction, there is the theoretical framework that describes culture and innovation, after which the paper will discuss the characteristics of organizations which are innovative. The next section will discuss the concept of organization culture, followed by models of organizational culture that promote innovation. The last section will be conclusion. Theoretical Framework: Culture and Innovation: Gallagher and Hinkleman (2012) denote that innovation is the introduction of a new product, or a significant improvement of an existing product or service. Studies further reveal that innovation occurs in two major phases, namely initiation, and implementation. Under the initiation stage, new ideas which are useful are developed, and the organization will adopt these ideas at the implementation stage. Studies further reveal that in as much as organizational support plays a significant role in the initiation stage, the creativity of an individual also matters. Scholars denote that for innovation to succeed, there are specific conditions that must exist. Denison (2012) further reveals that one of these conditions and the most important of them all is a favorable organizational culture that promotes innovation. The organizational cultural effect develops on the basis that different situations and problems in an organization can be tackled under two opposing processes, that is the tradition that the organization has put in place to tackle the problem or situation, or through the innovation of an organizations employee. Some organizations encourage their employees to be innovative, for purposes of solving their problems and interacting with customers, while other organizations are very conservative, and insist on following the set up process and procedures in regard to interacting with customers and solving various organizational problems. On this basis, the openness towards creation of new experiences and ideas varies from one organization to another, because of their cultures. Culture is a concept that is learned, and understanding the culture of an organization helps to predict the behavior of employees when they are faced with a situation or problem that stems from their work. Studies reveal that organizational culture has two very important functions, that is it creates unity amongst the employees of an organization, and it also assists these employees in making decisions while they are fulfilling their duties (Matouk, 2010). However, the main issue amongst scholars is determining the extent upon which organizational culture plays a role in influencing employees of an organization to be innovative. Characteristics of organizations that is highly innovative: An initiative to innovate is not enough to make an organization innovative, on this basis; organizations must have certain characteristics that would encourage innovation. One such characteristic is having a clear mission, objective, aim and strategy. These organizations normally have a relevant and unique strategy that motivates their employees to be innovative. For example companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple have a clear strategy, which are well communicated to their employees, and they relentlessly follow these strategies. For example, one of the strategies and aims of Apples is to create sleek and beautiful telecommunication technologies, which are easy to use (Matouk, 2010). Looking at this vision and strategy, it is very clear what then objective of the company is, and employees of the organization will therefore strive hard and be innovative, for purposes of developing high quality technology that satisfies this strategy. Another characteristic of these organizations is that they are market leaders on whatever business field that they engage in. This is because the companies under consideration use their innovative products for purposes of achieving the strategic goals of the organization. However, it is important to understand that market leadership does not always translate to being profitable or successful. Take for example a company such as Amazon, which has always been innovative from the beginning, establishing standards that regulate the e-commerce. However, the company was able to become profitable after a considerable number of years. Another example is Cord, a car manufacturing company which was the most innovative in the world, during the periods of 1920s, and 1930s. Despite its leadership in the market, the company was not successful, and it had to close its operations in 1938. On the other hand, companies such as Google, and Apple are innovators, are market leaders in their respective fields. For instance Google is a leader in the internet search engine, and advertising, while Apples is a leader in the telecommunications and mobile technology sector. These companies have managed to achieve very high profits, and are successful in their ventures. Another characteristic of these organizations is that they are open to failure. These organizations normally give their employees freedom to fail, and this is without endangering their career. This in turn encourages employees of an organization to take risks, and develop innovative products that will serve the interests of the company. It is important to understand that in an organization that victimizes failure, employees would avoid taking risks, therefore innovation would not be possible. Take for instance the development of an adhesive product referred to as Post It Note. This product was developed when one of the employees of 3M Company in Minnesota tried to improve on the quality of 3M adhesive products. A researcher developed an adhesive product that turned into tiny spheres, which was seen as a failure. However, this new product later became an important innovation for the company, and was used to temporarily attach notes, on various documents. Thus the name, Post it Note. The Scientist under consideration was Dr. Spencer Silver. Finally, these organizations have an open culture. Organizations which have an open culture are not restricted to their areas of operations. Employees of these organizations normally have an open mind, and they have the capacity and capability of looking at issues with a fresh eye. An organization with an open culture will always encourage its employees to innovate and develop products, which are useful to the organization, even if these products are not the main reason as to why the business organization exists. A good example of a company that transformed itself into a huge and profitable multi-national company is Nokia. The original business product of Nokia was logging, and wood pulp. With the collapse of communism, and the opening up of the Russian market to Western countries, the core business of Nokia was under a threat by cheaper imports from Russia. To beat competition, the management of Nokia decided to develop a communication system which would help them get in touch with their companies remote logging operations. By implementing this communication system, Nokia transformed itself a successful telecommunications company. The Role of Organizational Culture in Promoting or Hindering Innovation: Doran (2012) defines organizational culture as a set of traditions, ideologies, values and commitments which are shared within an organization, and they play a role in influencing how the organization under consideration carries out its activities and affairs. Studies reveal that in an organization, what matters are the values in which an organization instills in an individual, and now the kind of values that an individual brings to an organization. Studies reveal that successful organizations are companies that do not use the technology of other organizations, but are organization that develop their own technology, or refine the technology of other organizations for their own use (Senior, 2002). This kind of a capability is only possible with an organization that focuses and values innovation in its organizational culture. On this basis, organizational cultures that promote innovation and creativity are better placed to steer the company to profitability and leadership of the market under consideration. An organizational culture that promotes innovation is one that lays emphasis on its management to embrace any attitudes of an open mind, and risk taking. An organizational culture will promote innovation through the socialization process, whereby employees of a business organization will learn on the norms of the organization, and whether the organization values innovation or not (Suh, 2010). Studies reveal that an organizational culture that limits an individual’s capability to be creative, do not encourage innovation. These cultures insist on the uniformity of their products, and they do not value any risk taking tendencies from their employees. Therefore, it is important to understand that the culture of an organization plays a great role in promoting innovation, or hindering innovation. Models of Organizational Culture that promote Innovation: One of the cultural organizational models that support innovation is the long-term, Short-Term orientation model. This is one of the five models developed by Hofstede (Argyris, 2012). The long term orientation I described as a search for virtue by an organization, while organizations with a short term orientation normally denote a strong commitment to establish the truth. Organizations with a short term orientation are very traditional, and they do not encourage innovation. On the other hand, organizations with a long term innovation are very liberal, and they normally encourage innovation. Organizations that normally depict a long term orientation model are companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apples (Argyris, 2012). These organizations are very liberal in their approach of doing business, and they normally encourage innovation for purposes of becoming market leaders, and achieving profitability. Another model developed by Hofstede that encourages innovation is the uncertainty avoidance. Under this model, organizations are uncertain about their future Argyris, 2012). On this basis, these organizations must develop new technologies, and initiate new laws for purposes of guiding them against uncertain future. These new technologies will only come through innovation. A good example is Microsoft Company, which is uncertain about its market position after the emergence of Apples, and its dominance of the telecommunications market. To protect itself against these uncertainties, the company decided to be innovative, hence the development of computer software referred to as Windows 8. Another model is the organizational profile model, developed by O’Reilly et al (Polizzotto, 2010). This model provides a distinction amongst seven categories of an organization, which are, respect for people, stability, innovation, attention to detail, aggressiveness, and team orientation. This model measures how the culture of an organization affects its performance, and the value of an employee is also measured in accordance to the values of the organization. Due to these measurements, an organization will develop a culture that encourages innovation, and this is because innovation is the key to an organizations success. Another model that encourages innovation is Daniel Denison model, which describes the culture of an organization under four different models. These models are adaptability, mission, consistency, and involvement (Janicijevic, 2013). Mission contains the objectives, goals and vision of the organization, while adaptability is the ability of the organization to focus on the customer, and create change. Involvement on the other hand is empowering the employees of an organization. This model encourages innovation because it allows for the communication of the values and goals of the organization to its employees. Conclusion: In conclusion, the culture of an organization can play a great role in encouraging innovation. An organizational culture with is open, and encourages risk taking, will motivate employees to take risks and come up with products that are innovative, and satisfy the needs of customers. These organizations normally emerge as market leader, because of their capability to identify the various needs of customers, and satisfy the needs under consideration. For an organization to succeed in its endeavors, it must be innovative. This is because competition for customers is very stiff, and on this basis, an organization that has the capability to satisfy the various needs of its customers will carry the day. This satisfaction can only happen when an organization is innovative. An organization will only be innovative, when it has an organizational culture that promotes innovation. Bibliography: Argyris, C. (2012). Organizational traps: leadership, culture, organizational design. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brown, A. (1998). Organisational culture,. New York: Financial Times Pitman Publishing. Denison, D. R. (2012). Leading culture change in global organizations: aligning culture and strategy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Doran, J. (2012). Are differing forms of innovation complements or substitutes?. European Journal of Innovation Management, 15(3), 351-371. Gallagher, B., & Hinkleman, K. (2012). Intentional teaming: shifting organizational culture. Toronto: Inclusion Press. Janicijevic, N. (2013). The mutual impact of organizational culture and structure. Economic Annals, 58(198), 35-60. Matouk, J. (2010). Financing innovation: an historical approach. Journal of Innovation Economics, 6(2), 147. Polizzotto, L. (2010). Creating Customer Value Through Innovation. Technology & Innovation, 12(1), 5- 12. Senior, B. (2002). Organisational change. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Suh, N. P. (2010). A Theory Of Innovation And Case Study. International Journal of Innovation Management, 14(05), 893. Read More