Individual or Organisational Culture - Essay Example

1 Individual or organisational culture is part of society and the society is a conglomeration of small and big families, major and minor religions and traditional and modern beliefs. Social organisations, especially in underdeveloped countries like India, differ in their perspectives and views of social values forming part of the culture. What is culture and what is organisational culture Edgar H Schein, one of the most prominent theorists of organisational culture, defines culture as a phenomenon that surrounds us all. According to him, culture helps us understand how it is created, embedded, developed, manipulated, managed, and changed. He says that it defines leadership too. With regard to the organisational culture, Edgar says that each organisation has its own way and an outsider brings his / her baggage as observer. ( Schein, opening section ,first three lines and Defining Organisational Culture, third point). Practically, one can understand the term 'culture' as a regular practice of beliefs, habits and traditions for a longer period. It starts with an individual and envelops people living in his/her vicinities over a period. Our actions, behaviour, public relations, happiness, and suffering are the direct result of our culture. Every person, every race, every religion, every organisation and every country has its own culture. The greatness of a culture is that it has an irrepressible power to transform people into good or bad. The wings of culture are very wide that they can spread their influence to every nook and corner. They can engulf illiterate people residing in a thatched roof in an Indian hamlet or hug highly educated corporate executives sitting and relaxing in the closed circuits of India's hi-tech 2 city. It has no gender difference. It does not know who is adult and who is child. It does not differentiate between the rich and the poor. That is the speciality of culture. Organisational culture is an extended form of an individual culture. It acquires varied dimensions. When an organisation, social, political or commercial, adopts a particular culture and imposes it values, either by force or by convincing methods, on people it controls, it equals to implementing its organisational culture resulting in either destruction or elevation of the people. When it repeats the act on other groups / sects /religions, it may lead to an open conflict. Think of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) attempt to impose a Common Civil Code in India. Think of the resistance it received from the country's Muslim groups. Sometimes, organisational culture may come in conflict with individual cultural values in the same circle. India's latest tennis sensation Sania Mirza who was chastised by her Muslim community elders for wearing the 'exposure dress' at her tennis matches has defied the community. Majority of Indians sided with her when she had asked the community elders not to teach her 'culture lessons'. Obviously, she does not want to go by the Muslim organisational culture. The point to understand is that no force on Earth can coercively implant an organisational culture on any group. Social organisations, during their gradual transformation, imbibe in them certain cultural values and develop different perspectives on matters concerning families, religions, beliefs and gender. The gradual growth and transformation of Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's foremost social organisation, into a dominating outfit, shows us how 3 followers respect the views of social groups. RSS, having a close association with BJP on the Indian political front, has certain opinions about families and upbringing of children. It believes in the cultivation of patriotic feelings, respect to the law of the land and protection and preservation of Hindu religious values. It also believes in equality of law for all, irrespective of the cultural background of various groups. It advocates education for all. All these objectives / practices of this organisation form the basics of its organisational culture. One may ask, what is wrong with this organisational culture Certainly, one would respect these values. However, the problem generates when it wants to impose its culture on other groups like the Muslim minority. RSS, representing the Hindu culture, argues that the Muslim families are not systematic in begetting and upbringing of their children. It argues that the Muslim families are begetting innumerable children but neglecting their welfare adding to the population pressure and complicating the social problems further. The 'beget and forget' attitude of the Muslims is depriving their children of educational growth, RSS says. It is also against the Muslim men marrying several women and abandoning them to their fate. Leaders of Indian cultural organisations have been frequently questioning the system of forced marriages of Muslim minor girls with the rich Arab Shakes who are abandoning them after satisfying their sexual desires. India, of course, is not the leader in the hijacking of organisational culture. Pakistan, Turkey and some North African countries too deserve special mention in this regard. Time magazine's exposure on the plight of the innocent girls of these countries reinforces 4 the need to bring transformation in the values of organisational culture. There is an overt need to overhaul its ethics and dynamics on an emergency basis. The magazine's article (Special Report, 2003, Para 1) is a revelation on the sufferings of Muslim girls who are becoming the scapegoats for the misconceived ethics of Muslim organisational culture. The article says that in Britain at least some one thousand women are made to have forced marriages every year and most of them belong to the South Asian communities. In France, most of the coerced brides are from the families of North African origins. In Denmark, most of the forced marriages are taking place among the girls of large Turkish community. It provides a general picture of how Muslim girls are facing harassment due to the misconceived notions of their organisational culture. The 1997 murder of Rukhsana Naz, a 19-year-old Anglo-Pakistani girl who had fled an arranged but forced marriage, was one of the first cases to focus attention on forced marriages. Coming back to India, it is no exaggeration to say that at least once in a month newspapers publish the news of Gulf Shakes marrying, raping and abandoning the innocent Muslim girls by paying them a paltry sum of five thousand rupees through brokers. Why should the Muslim girls turn as 'use and throw' pieces at the behest of these Arabs When viewed from the educational and social angle, it is true that the Muslim children are yet to make a march into the educational field in India, (and of course, in Pakistan too). It is also a fact that the Muslim girls and women are the most neglected lot by their elders. Nevertheless, the RSS's talk of these facts has not helped reduce the friction. Moreover, it has obviously led to the counter allegations from the Muslim social 5 groups that the RSS has been trying to impose its organisational culture on the country's Muslim minority. This has resulted in an attitude of conflict between the Hindu ad Muslim social organisations. The conflict is still raging and there seems to be no end to this. Over a period, the adamant attitude of the RSS on these issues has shaped and transformed the organisation into playing the role of watchdog of Hindu culture while the Muslim social organisations have adopted a 'care a pig' attitude towards the loopholes of their organisational culture, attracting criticism and exposing their hypocritical attitude towards important issues. Ponder over it: why do the Indian Muslim social organisations, which objected to Sania Mirza moving in frocks in public in the name of their organisational culture, keep silent when their community girls are becoming scapegoats due to their innocence in the name of marriages with rich Arab businesspersons Why are the political parties too silent The simple answer is that the Muslim social organisations implement their culture in case of women but keep silent when it comes to Muslim males. And as far as the political parties are concerned, the entire problem poses an excellent opportunity for the ruling and opposition political groups to take advantage of the situation and transform it into votes during elections. If that is not the case, why are the Governmental agencies or officials not initiating any action to change the organisational culture of social organisations indulging in the exploitation of these people The above arguments and facts establish that there is a great and emergent need for transforming the organisational culture of some social organisations in several countries. 6 As some top-notch corporate companies, like the British Airways, which has changed its work and corporate culture to turn itself into profitability from financial sickness, social organisations too must change their culture to turn into practical entities ( Organisational Culture, 3rd Para ) so that they can be of some use to the people concerned. But, who will change them One must note that these social organisations, deep rooted in their organisational cultures, are not going to change themselves. Somebody should take the initiative and try to change their operational behaviour, lock, stock and barrel. This somebody can be any one, a complete outsider who will take the new initiative or a person, belonging to the lower rungs of the concerned organisations themselves, who will turn the things upside down. Who ever the person might be, he / she will turn out to be the future leader. Here are some tips for such a person. 1. Expose the hypocrisy hidden in the organisational cultures of these organisations. 2. Explain to the people how they are suffering because of the hypocrisy. 3. Come out with your own plan of action to lead and turn these social organisations into useful entities benefiting the public. 4. Imagine yourself in the footsteps of Eric K. Shinseki ( Military Review , first Para) so that you will build strong teams to operate along with you. 7 5. As Gareth Morgan says, stories and myths also form part of the organizational culture. Try to remove the 'myth part' from your scheme of things. (Organisatioanl Culture, fifth Para) References: Schein Edgar, H. Organisational Culture & Leadership by Edgar H Schein. Notes Compiled by Ted Nellen. Retrieved October 11,2005., from http://www.tnellen.com/ted/tc/schein.html Special Report,(2003, May 5). Society, Culture Clash, A Time Special Report explores forced marriage and female circumcision in Europe. Retrieved October 11, 2005, from http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/0,13006,901030505,00.html Organisational Culture, Tool Pack Consulting,. Tools to turn information into action Retrieved on October 11,2005, from http://www.toolpack.com/culture.html Bullis, Craig, Developing the professional Army Officer: Implications for Organisational Leaders. Retrieved October11, 2005), from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PBZ/is_3_83/ai_109268910 Morgan, Gareth. Organisational Culture, Organisational Change, Retrieved October11,2005, from http://www.soi.org/reading/change/culture.shtml Read More