1. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

2. What is Organisational Culture?
Culture is the soul of the organization—the beliefs and values, and how they are manifested.
Culture provides stability to an organization and gives employees a clear understanding of “the way things are done around an organisation.”
Culture sets the tone for how organizations operate and how individuals within the organization interact.

3. Definition of Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is the pattern of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way to think and act within an organization.
The key features of culture are as follows:
• Culture is shared by the members of the organization.
• Culture helps members of the organization solve and understand the things that the organization encounters, both internally and externally.

4. Definition of Organizational Culture Cont’d
• Because the assumptions, beliefs, and expectations that make up culture have worked over time, members of the organization believe they are valid. Therefore, they are taught to people who join the organization.
• These assumptions, beliefs, and expectations strongly influence how people perceive, think, feel, and behave within the organization.

5. Levels of Culture
Artifacts - These are what you see, hear, and feel when you encounter an organization’s culture. You may notice, for instance, that employees in two offices have very different dress policies, or one office displays great works of art while another posts company mottos on the wall.

6. Levels of Culture
Beliefs, Values, and Assumptions, unlike Artifacts, are not always readily observable.
Beliefs are the understandings of how objects and ideas relate to each other.
Values are the stable, long-lasting beliefs about what is important.

7. Levels of Culture
Assumptions are the taken-for-granted notions of how something should be.
When basic assumptions are held by the entire group, members will have difficulty conceiving of another way of doing things.

8. Characteristics of Culture
Research suggests that seven primary characteristics capture the essence of an organization’s culture:
• Innovation and risk-taking. The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks.
• Attention to detail. The degree to which employees are expected to work with precision, analysis, and attention to detail.

9. Characteristics of Culture
Outcome orientation. The degree to which management focuses on results, or outcomes, rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve these outcomes.
People orientation. The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization.
Team orientation. The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals.

10. Characteristics of Culture
Aggressiveness. The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easy going and supportive.
Stability. The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth.

11. Function of Culture
Culture performs a number of functions within an organization:
It has a boundary-defining role because it creates distinction between one organization and others.
It conveys a sense of identity to organization members.
It helps create commitment to something larger than an individual’s self-interest.
enhances stability; it is the social glue that helps hold the organization together by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do.

12. Do Organizations have Uniform Cultures?
Organizational culture represents a common perception held by the organization’s members.
Dominant culture
A system of shared meaning that expresses the
core values shared by a majority of the organization’s members.
Subcultures
Mini-cultures within an organization, typically defined by
department designations and geographical separation.

13. Do Organizations have Uniform Cultures?
Core values
The primary, or dominant, values that are accepted throughout the organization.

14. Contrasting Organisational Cultures

15. How a Culture Begins
An organization’s current customs, traditions, and general way of doing things largely owe to what it has done before and how successful those previous endeavours have been.

16. How Organizational Cultures Form

17. How Organizational Cultures Form
Once a culture is in place, human resource practices within the organization act to maintain it by giving employees a set of similar experiences.
For example, the selection process, performance evaluation criteria, training and career development activities, and promotion procedures ensure that new employees fit in with the culture, rewarding those who support it and penalizing (even expelling) those who challenge it.

18. How Organizational Cultures Form
Three forces play a particularly important part in sustaining a culture:
Selection practices,
The actions of top management
Socialization methods.

19. Selection
The explicit goal of the selection process is to identify and hire individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the jobs within the organization successfully.

20. Top Management
The actions of top management also have a major impact on the organization’s culture.
Through what they say and how they behave, senior executives establish norms that filter down through the organization.
These norms establish whether risk-taking is desirable; how much freedom managers should give their employees; what is appropriate dress; what actions will pay off in terms of pay raises, promotions, and other rewards; and the like.

21. Socialization
No matter how effectively the organization recruits and selects new employees, they are not fully trained in the organization’s culture when they start their jobs.
Because they are unfamiliar with the organization’s culture, new employees may disturb the beliefs and customs that are in place. The organization will, therefore, want to help new employees adapt to its culture.
This adaptation process is called socialization.

22. Matching People with Organizational Cultures
Research by Goffee and Jones provides some interesting insights on different organizational
cultures and guidance for prospective employees.
Goffee and Jones argue that two dimensions underlie organizational culture.

23. The Two Dimensions The first is Sociability
The second dimension is Solidarity

24. Sociability This is a measure of friendliness.
High sociability means people do kind things for one another without expecting something in return and they relate to each other in a friendly, caring way.

25. Solidarity It considers the strength of the group’s task orientation.
High solidarity means people can overlook personal biases and rally behind common interests and common goals.

26. Four Culture Typology

27. Networked culture High on sociability, low on solidarity
Organizations with this type of culture view members as family and friends. People know and like each other. People willingly give assistance to others and openly share information.
The major downside to this culture is that the focus on friendships can lead to a tolerance for poor performance and creation of political cliques.

28. Mercenary Culture Low on sociability, high on solidarity
Organizations with this type of culture are fiercely goal-focused. People are intense and determined to meet goals.
They have a zest for getting things done quickly and a powerful sense of purpose. A mercenary culture is not just about winning; it is about destroying the enemy. This focus on goals and objectivity leads to a minimal
degree of politicking.
The major downside to this culture is that it can lead to
an almost inhumane treatment of people who are perceived as low performers.

29. Communal Culture High on sociability, high on solidarity
Organizations with this type of culture value both friendship and performance. People have a feeling of belonging, but there is still a ruthless focus on goal achievement.
Leaders of these cultures tend to be inspirational and charismatic, with a clear vision of the organizations’ future.
The major downside to this culture is that it often consumes employees’ lives.

30. Fragmented culture Low on sociability, low on solidarity
Organizations with this type of culture are made up of individualists.
Commitment is first and foremost to individual members and their job tasks. There is little or no identification with the organization.
In a fragmented culture, employees are judged solely on their productivity and the quality of their work.
The major downside to this culture is that it can lead to excessive critiquing of others and an absence of collegiality and cooperation.

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