ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

1. Assignment 1
Organization Culture
Amjad Wali
ID: 12179
ORGANIZATIONALCULTURE
Organizational culture referstoapatternof sharedattitudes,beliefs,values,andnormsbythe members
of an organizationwhichguidethe behavior of individualandgroups inthe organization.Itiswidely
believethatthe organizational culture distinguishesandsetsanorganizationapartfromall other
organization.Some definitionssay:
 The collectionof traditions,values,policies,beliefs,andattitudesthatconstituteapervasive
contextforeverythingwe doandthinkinan organization.(Mullins)
 A patternof beliefsandexpectationssharedbythe organization’smembers,whichproduce
normswhichpowerfullyshape the behaviorof individualsandgroupsinthe organizations.
(Schwartzand Davies)
INFLUENCES IN ORGANIZATION’SCULTURE
Organization’sculture isdevelopedovertime anditupdatesaswell withpassage of time.There are
manyinfluenceswhichimpactthe culture of anorganization,including:
 Organization’s founderhasthe greatestinfluence onorganizationculture.Founderindicates
his/hervaluesintothe organizationalculture.Forexample,Microsoftculture influencedbyBill
Gates.
 Organization’shistoryinfluencesthe culture asitreflex the experience gainedovertime,
managementbehaviorinupsanddown,and prioritiesof the higherupsduringthose times.
 Leadershipandmanagementstyleof existingmanagementcanprove critical indecidingthe
culture.
 Organization’senvironment,the PESTLE.

2. FACTORS THAT SHAPE ORGANIZATIONCULTURE
A combinationof factorsshapesthe culture of a workgroup or an organization.
 Formal Structure and Size:To some extent,the culture of anorganizationisaffectedbyitssize
and itsformal organizationstructure.
 Leadership:The leadersof anorganizationcaninfluence culture,forexample bystatingthe
valuesof an organization,anditsgoalsandstrategies.
 Environment:Culture developsawayof respondingandreactingtothe environmentinwhich
the organization operates.
 Events:Culture developsasaresultof many events,andhow a groupor organizationresponds
to those events.
IMPORTANCEOF CULTURE
Culture isthe mostimportantthinginan organization,asitmakespeople workanddeliverinthe
requiredway. Culture’simportance isevidentfromthese points:
 It providesguidance toemployeesaboutwhattodo andwhyto do.
 No needof tightcontrol as culture becomesnature of people.
 Motivatesemployeestoworkbetterandsmarter.
 Allowschangesasperbasiccultural values.
 Maintainsstatusquo, in case change is againstthe culture.
EXCELLENT COMPANIES– PETERS AND WATERMAN
Excellentcompanies’culture hasmanyfeatures,butthe mostnoticeableonesare:
 Innovation –creatingnewand improve productsandmethods.
 Adaptability –adjustingwiththe environment.
Both featuresexplainthe factthatthese organizationsare alwaysreadytodeal withthe changing
trends.Excellentcompaniesuse:
 Culture inplace of rulesandguidelines.Inotherwordsthese companieshave strongculture.
 Valuedcultural symbolsasrewardsforemployeesandcustomers.Forexample,the benefitsto
employeeswill be aspercultural practicesof the nation.
 Cultural valuestodrive organizational changes,meanschange isthe culture of these
organizations.

3. Dysfunctional aspects of culture
The existence of awell-definedandrobustculture canbringdysfunctional aspectstoan
organization aswell.The three keydysfunctional aspectsare:
 Creatingbarriers to change towards somethingthatisnotconsideredpartof the existing
culture – for example resistance frommanagementtothe introductionof a‘work-life
balance’initiative includingrelaxation,familyandleisure timeinahigh-performing
corporate finance organization.
Thiscan be dysfunctional whenthe sharedvaluesare notinalignmentwiththose that
wouldfurtherthe effectivenessof the organization andistypicallyseenindynamic
environments.
An example wouldbe the corporate administrationof EastmanKodakwhofailedto
respondtothe market’sshiftindemandfromtraditionalphotographyequipmentand
processingtodigital-basedproducts.
 Creatingbarriers to diversity forexample facingresistance whenaimingtoachieve greater
genderbalance inboardroomcomposition.
The diversitytheme createsakindof paradox wherebymanagementwishnew employees
to conformto existingcultural normswhilstsimultaneouslywantingthemtobe different
(diverse)insome way.
Organizations seektohire variedand diverseindividualsbecause of theiralternative
approach andfreshideas.However,inrealitythese diverse strengthsandbehaviorsby
theirverynature are likelytoweakenthe existingculture definition.
 Creatingbarriers to mergersand acquisition whenoperational fitisachievedbutcultural
practicesare notaligned.The objectivesandtestsforcorporate consolidationare typically
focusedonsynergiesandcostsavingswhereasinrealitythe greatestfactorinsuccessor
failure tendstobe whetherthe culturesare matchedornot.
Corporate culture: the views of Handy
CharlesHandy(inhisbookGods of Management) suggestedthatthere are fourdifferent
categoriesof corporate culture.He describedthese ascultural ‘stereotypes’:
 A powerculture,alsocalledaclubculture anda spider’swebculture 
 A role culture
 A taskculture
 A personal culture,alsocalledanexistential culture.

4. Power culture
In a powerculture,there isone majorsource of powerat the centre of the organization.Power,
authorityandinfluence spreadoutfromthiscentral point,alongfunctional orspecialistlines,but
control remainsat the central point.Handycomparedthe powerculture toa spider’sweb,withthe
spiderat the centre controllingeverything.Individualsclosertothe centre of the webhave more
influencethanindividualswhoare furtherfromthe centre.
Role culture
A role culture isprobablythe mostreadily-understoodof the fourcorporate cultures.Itexistsina
bureaucracy,where the responsibilitiesof eachindividualare definedbythe jobthathe or she has,the
jobdefinitionanditspositioninthe organizational structure.There isatraditional hierarchical structure
to the organization,andeachjob(role) hasa specificfunction.The organizationreliesonformal
communicationsratherthaninformal communication.
Task culture
In a task culture,the focusison tasksand gettingtaskscompletedinthe mostefficientandeffective
way,and the mainaim isthe successful solutionof problems.
Person culture
In a personculture,the entire organizationstructure isbuiltaroundone individual oragroup of
individuals.The restof the organization existstoserve the needsof the central individual.The culture is
basedon the viewthatthe organizationexiststoserve the talentedindividual orindividuals