1. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
ORGANIZATION CULTURE AND CLIMATE
.
PRESENTEDBY:
RITA MULINGE: BBA/NRB/0359/12
EDITH KIMEU: BBAM/LMR/1382/14
CATHERINE-ANNE W. WACHIRA: BALM/NRB/0194/12
A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE
COURSE OF DEGREE OF BBAM, BBA AND BALM IN ST.PAUL’S UNIVERSITY,
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
DATE: 19 MARCH 2015

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................2
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................................................3
1.2.3 Organizational Climate.........................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO...............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE....................................................................................................................4
2.3 Types of culture ......................................................................................................................................6
2.3 Organizational Culture as a drivers for competitive advantage ..............................................................7
2.4 Characteristics of Organizational Culture ..............................................................................................8
2.5 Importance of Culture and Climate in an Organization ..........................................................................8
3.2 Types of Organization Climate...............................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................13
4.1 LESSONS LEARNT ..................................................................................................................................13
4.2 APPLICATION ........................................................................................................................................14
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Organization culture and climate are most times mistaken to mean the same thing. Although these
two terms have similar characteristics, they express two separate concepts. Organizational

3. climate is a term that has been used for many decades. Its early use denoted the spirit, of an
organization. More recently, organizational climate is thought to represent the attitude of an
organization. An Organization culture is the system of shared assumptions, values, beliefs that
govern how people behave in an organization. In view of these distinct definitions, it is safe to
point out that the culture of an organization creates its climate.
Every organization including a family unit has its culture and climate. In some families a culture
of protecting each other is developed and over time you find that the attitude of the members of
the family is unity.
An organization’s culture dictates its collective personality. Hence if culture is the personality of
the organization, then climate represents that organization’s attitude. It is much easier to change
an organization’s attitude (climate) than it is to change its personality (culture).
1.2 Definition of Terms
1.2.1 Organization:
The Business Dictionary defines an Organization as a social unit of people that is structured and
managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals. All organizations have
a management structure that determines relationships between the different activities and
the members, and subdivides and assigns roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out
different tasks. Organizations are open systems they affect and are affected by their environment.
1.2.2 Organizational Culture:
Robert, (2006) defines organization culture as a philosophy that underlies an organization’s
policy, the rules of the game for getting along, and the feeling of climate conveyed by physical
layout of the organization and it is a matter of norms.
In other words, Organization culture is the system of shared assumptions, values, beliefs that
govern how people behave in an organization. The culture of an organization provides boundaries
that the members of the organization know the correct ways to perform their work. It is seen as
the personality of an organization.
The culture of the organization is widely used by the management circles to explain why the
organization does things the way it does.

4. 1.2.3 Organizational Climate
On the other hand organizational climate is the indication of employees feelings and beliefs of
what the organization is. It is based on the perception of the members towards the organization.
It also can be defined as shared perceptions of and the meaning attached to the policies, practices
and procedures employees experience and the behaviors observed getting rewards that are
supported and expected.
Although there is continuing controversy surrounding definitions of organizational climate, and
especially its differentiation from organizational culture, the most widely adopted definition is
that of Benjamin Schneider (1975), who defined organizational climate as a mutually agreed
internal (or molar) environmental description of an organization’s process.
CHAPTER TWO
2.1 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Rituals and Stories are norms borrowed from cultural anthropology and play a key role in
mentoring and building organization cultures. For example it is very common with universities to

5. hold ceremonies when appointing a new vice chancellor this can be viewed as an organizational
ritual which becomes a culture of that university.
2.2 Levels of Culture
Culture has various levels as explained by Schein(2004). These are;
i) Artifacts – These are aspects of an organization’s culture that you see, hear, and feel. For
Example, the behavior the employees and management portray. If a company is known to
have good customer service, customers view the organization as an effective one and have
feelings of satisfaction.
ii) Beliefs - The understandings of how objects and ideas relate to each other. These are deep
seated ideas that individuals have about things within and around the organization. If these
beliefs are positive employee motivation is high and the turnover reduced.
iii) Values - The stable, long-lasting beliefs about what is important. Values are formed by
beliefs and hence contribute to the organization’s productivity.
iv) Assumptions - The taken-for-granted notions of how something should be in an
organization. These are silent expectations of how things should work such as compensation
commensurate to performance.

6. 2.3 Types of culture
i) Power culture dimension: In any given organization there is a need to use power in
order to exercise control and influence behavior of the people. Harrison and Stokes
(1992, p 14) defines power-oriented culture as “organizational culture that is based on
inequality of access to resources.
This type of culture has the advantage of clear, fair rules and guidelines to protect
individuals from exploitation and abusive use of power. Good systems, procedures and
organizational memory prevents having to "reinvent the wheel “Structure, routine and
predictability provide security and reduce stress.
This type of culture also has its limitations, jobs are so tightly defined, there is little
room to contribute one's unique talents and abilities. People are treated as
interchangeable parts of machine rather than as individual human beings. It is difficult
to get approval for changes that people give up on making needed improvements.
ii) Support Orientated culture: Harrison and Stokes support oriented culture and
organizational climate that is based on mutual trust between the individual and the
organization.
Support orientated culture is good at sensing environment, provides caring response service,
has high trust between individuals and organizations and there is good balance for
achievement of culture.
However, support orientated culture has its limitations in that people may focus on
relationships and neglect the work; changes may take longtime because of the need to get
everyone on board, People are rewarded on the same way although they may not have
contributed in the same way, thus employees end up being frustrated.
iii) Achievement Oriented Culture: Harrison defines achievement orientated culture as the
aligned culture which lines people up behind a common vision or purpose. It is often referred
to as task culture which entitles organizations members to focus on realizing the set purpose
and goals of the organization. This culture enables rapid adaption to change, increased high
self-esteem for organizational members, rapid learning and problem solving. On the other hand
achievement oriented culture may have its challenges because people believe so much in what
they are doing that the end justify the means of what people believe. Total commitment to
excellence at any cost may result to waste and inefficiency.

7. v) Role Culture: This culture rests on the strength of strong organizations pillars.
Harrison and Stokes (1992) defined role oriented culture as substituting a system of structures
and procedures for the naked power of the leader. This type of culture mainly focuses on job
description and specialization. Role culture ensures well designed structures and systems
make a room for efficient operation and reduce the time for learning jobs. In addition clear,
fair rules and guidelines protect individuals from exploitation and abusive use of power. Well
defined structures, routine and predictability reduce stress.
This type of culture has its limitation in that people follow the rules even when these rules get
in their way of doing their work. It is more important to avoid deviating from the norm that it
is to do the right thing.
It becomes difficult to get approval for changes that people give up on making need for
improvements.
2.3 Organizational Culture as a drivers for competitive advantage
According to Kotler and Keller, (2006) Comparative advantage is the ability to perform in one or
more ways that competitors cannot or will not match.
One of the components leaders use to grow dynamic organizations is organization culture.
In organizations leaders start culture formation process by imposing their assumptions and
expectations on their followers. Schein, (2004) states that as organizations stabilizes because of
success in accomplishing its primary tasks, the leader’s assumption become shared and
embedding those assumptions can be thought of more as a process of socializing new members.
Once culture is established it becomes strong leadership tool to communicate these leaders beliefs
and values to the organizational members and specifically new members.
As leaders promote culture, they become successful in maintaining organizational growth,
services demanded by the society, address problems before they become disaster and
consequently they become competitive over rivals.
Schein (1999), states that corporate culture matters and decisions made without the operative
culture forces may result in undesirable consequences.
Management is confronted with many complex issues when making decisions about the best
methods to generate organizational achievements in the complex environment. Their success
depends on the understanding of organizational culture to enable them predict the outcome and
stop any unwanted outcomes.

8. Organizational culture is important for sustaining performance and competitive advantage.
Culture develops ethical environment that develop people in the organization with shared beliefs,
trust and team coordination for critical success
2.4 Characteristics of Organizational Culture
The following are some of the major characteristics of Organizational Culture:
i) Innovation and risk taking: This is the degree to which the employees are encouraged to do
both as along these will not jeopardize the organization’s goals and reputation.
ii) Attention to detail: this is the degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision.
Some roles within the organization such as the financial department cannot afford inaccuracy
in figures as this would cause losses in the organization, hence most times they recruit staff
who are keen to details.
iii) Outcome orientations: This is the degree to which management focuses on results rather
than on the processes used to achieve them. In some organizations, the managers are more
concerned with deliverables other than how they are arrived at. For example, Google Africa
is not concerned with how the employees manage their working hours so long as the targets
are met at a given timeframe.
iv)People orientation: This is the degree to which management decisions consider the effect of
the outcome on the people within the organizations. The management understands and are
more concerned that the policies are made for the people and not the people for the polices.
v)Team orientation: This is the degree to which work activities are organized in groups rather
than individuals. It focuses on synergy of the team members to achieve a common goal.
2.5 Importance of Culture and Climate in an Organization
A culture in an organization dictates the way employees interact in a work place hence a health
culture motivates employees to stay motivated and loyal towards the organizations.
Organizational culture helps to promote a healthy competition at the work place. Employees try
their level best to perform better than their fellow workers and earn recognition and appreciation
from their superior. It is the culture of the organization that motivates employees to perform.
An organizational culture pre-defines policies and an organizational represents certain predefined
policies which guide the employees and give the sense of direction at the work place. This means

9. every individual is clear about their roles and responsibilities in the organization and know how to
accomplish the tasks ahead of the deadlines.
Every organization has a distinct culture which goes a long way in creating the blank image of the
organization. It is the work culture that gives an identity to the organization.
Organizational improvement and enhanced effectiveness will not be likely accomplished on a
sustainable basis without the presence of favorable organization climate.
i) The culture determines the way employees interact at their workplace: A healthy culture
encourages the employees to stay motivated and loyal towards the management, which also
applies to the organizational climate.
ii) The culture and climate of the workplace also goes a long way in promoting healthy
competition at the workplace: Employees try their level best to perform better than their
fellow workers and earn recognition and appreciation of the superiors.
iii) The culture of an organization represents certain predefined policies to guide the
employees and give them a sense of direction: Every organization must have set guidelines
for the employees to work accordingly. Every individual is clear about his roles and
responsibilities in the organization and knows how to accomplish the tasks ahead of the
deadlines.
iv) The work culture goes a long way in creating the brand image of the organization:
No two organizations can have the same work culture. It is the culture of an organization
which makes it distinct from others. The work culture gives an identity to the organization.
v) The organization culture brings all the employees to a common platform: The employees
must be treated equally and no one should feel neglected or left out at the workplace. It is
essential for the employees to adjust well in the organization culture for them to deliver their
level best.
vi) The Organization culture unites the employees from different backgrounds: Individuals
have varied attitudes and mentalities. The culture gives the employees a sense of unity at the
workplace as the organization’s culture dictates the kind of attitudes and mentalities expected
of employees within the organization. Certain organizations follow a culture where all the
employees irrespective of their designations have to step into the office on time. Such a
culture encourages the employees to be punctual.

10. Every employee is clear with his roles and responsibilities and strives hard to accomplish the
tasks within the desired time frame as per the set guidelines.
vii)The culture of the organization brings out the best out of each team member: In a culture
where management is very particular about the reporting system, the employees however busy
they are would send their reports by end of the day. No one has to force anyone to work. The
culture develops a habit in the individuals which makes them successful at the workplace
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE
We define organizational climate as how members of an organization experience the culture of an
organization.
The climate of an organization is subject to change frequently and can be shaped by the upper
management of an organization. If culture represents the personality of the organization, climate
is the organization's mood. Organizational climate is much easier to experience and measure than
organizational culture and also much easier to change.
3.2 Types of Organization Climate
There are many different types of climates that can be produced by the culture of an organization
and they can be grouped in many different ways. Andrew Halpin and Don Croft (Halpin & Croft,

11. 1963) discovered six types of organization climate through a research they carried out in schools
with the purpose of discussing organization climate and the factors affecting it.
These types were:
i) Open Climate: This climate encourages good relations with the heads of department and
people generally work well with each other. It enables people to develop relationally and
especially in their work.
ii) Autonomous Climate: This climate allows employees to have control over their objectives,
plan of action, self governance and initiative in their work. Their morale is high as they are
independent in their thinking thus productivity is high in this kind of climate.
iii) Controlled Climate: This kind of climate gives employees, less independence of their work
and top management has more control. It is more concerned with goal accomplishments and
not people’s feelings.
iv) Familiar Climate: it is a socially oriented climate where people’s needs are mainly
considered over their productivity. Hence, the employees do not perform to their highest
potential.
v) Paternal Climate: The top management act paternally ( like a father) towards the
employees, which causes them to be less motivated and encourages insincere behavior such
as sneaking in to the office late and pretending to have reported early.
vi) Closed Climate: This kind of climate is neither concerned with high achievement nor any
social connectivity. Employees do not work well together (they mistrust each other out of
being paranoid or just being suspicious of each other) and top management is ineffective in
its decision making and management of people.
3.3. Factors to achieve the desired organizational Culture and Climate
i) A vision that excites and captures the imagination of individuals. This must be a vision that
makes the individuals want to own it as it helps them find meaning to their work. It is a
challenge worth their best effort, hence they give their total commitment and they put their
best foot forward in the work.

12. ii) A set of values in alignment with the vision that proclaim the organization’s beliefs. Values
are the abstract ideas that influence the thinking and actions in the organization and can also
shape assumptions about the future and the range of choices to be considered. e.g. a value
regarding shared leadership can be reflected in a streamlined organizational structure
affording individuals decision-making authority.
iii) Accountabilities for both performance and behaviours along with consequences when
standards of performance and behaviours are not met. The most difficult decision a leader
faces is firing individuals who achieve their performance objectives but do so in a way that is
the antithesis of the desired behaviour.
iv) High performing teams that work interdependently and put the needs of the organization
before their personal needs. These teams have a common sense of purpose; i.e. encourage out
of the box thinking; build synergies; and work effectively across organizational boundaries.
v) Intellectual capital is vital. This includes on-going talent development, retention and
promoting from within which are potent messages of the organization's culture.
vi) Change management protocols in place for the next changes to support the organization's
abilities to anticipate and move quickly to take advantage of market conditions.
vii) A campaign specific to the change initiatives can contribute to building a critical mass of
supporters to the change. Change needs to be a topic for discussion throughout the
organization. There is no such thing as over-communication during any major change
initiative. Consistent, frequent repetition is an essential ingredient for a successful change
implementation.
viii)A result-driven environment with everyone performing at their best where goals are clear and
individuals' talents are tapped. This creates an atmosphere of energy, collaboration and joy.
ix) Organizational alignment makes the difference in measuring the successful implementation of
change. A change in any area of the organization shifts all other parts of the organization.
Misalignment can be very costly in terms of duplication of efforts, loss of customers,
interdepartmental conflicts etc.
x) A new vocabulary in the organization helps support the climate. Key words, phrases, mottos,
etc. are important.
xi) A "stake" in the organization - everyone gains or losses on the ability of the organization to
achieve its goals. Internal competition among departments and functions is destructive and

13. dysfunctional if it is not well managed. The end result is duplication of efforts; distrust and
missed opportunities. Competition should be focused externally as it is a healthy way of
building a healthy organizational climate.
CONCLUSION
4.1 LESSONS LEARNT
We have learnt various things in regards to culture and climate as group and on individual levels.
Some of the lessons learnt were:
i) Through good and well known culture and climate, an organization is able to boost its
productivity. Employees are able to carry out their activities and tasks according to the norms
of the organization, thus enhancing efficiency and effectiveness
ii) We have also learnt that cultures which are positive can be borrowed by other organizations to
achieve their organizational goals and objectives.
iii) Various types of organization culture and climate and their application differ from one
organization to another.
iv) Culture and Climate are two different things but inter-related. Culture forms the climate of an
organization.

14. v) The cultures of organizations are influenced by the founders of the organization.
vi) Culture has various levels. Beliefs form values which create the artifacts of the organization.
4.2 APPLICATION
An organization is made up of various individuals from diverse backgrounds hence they have
diverse cultures. The organization has to reinforce their own culture so as to achieve its goals. For
them to do this they have to put up policies that inform the employees of the values and behaviors
expected of them. They have to influence the employees with beliefs that will cause them to
imbibe values that will cause them to behave in a suitable way expected by the organization.
For effective organizational culture and climate the leadership has to set the pace. If the
organization wants to imbibe a culture of punctuality, the leadership has to exercise the values of
timekeeping so as the employees to emulate.
Likewise, we as a group developed a culture of honesty, participation and teamwork. We were
able to do this by respecting the opinions of each member and valuing each other’s time and
effort. These lessons we will carry to our various areas of specialization.
REFERENCES
Halpin Andrew, C. D. (1993). TheOrganizational Climate of Schools
Harrison, S. (1992). Diagnosing Organization Culture.
Ireri, J. (2014). Organization change management revision notes.
Kotler, K. (2006). Marketing and sales
Robert, V. (2006). Organizational Behavour.
Schein, E. H. (2004). Organization Culture and Leadership.
Scheinder, B. (1975). Organizational Climate.