Organizational culture

Organizational culture

Organizational culture (alternatively known as corporate culture; hereinafter, the Culture) is a system of the shared meaning, mental models, principles, traditions, values, and ways of doing things held by members of the organization that influence the way organizational members act and that distinguish the organization from other organizations.

Trivia

Definitions

According to Organizational Behavior by Robbins and Judge (17th edition),

Organizational culture. A system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations.

According to Management by Robbins and Coulter (14th edition),

Organizational culture. The shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act and that distinguish the organization from other organizations.

According to Marketing Management by Keller and Kotler (15th edition),

Corporate culture. The shared experiences, stories, beliefs, and norms that characterize an organization.

According to the Corporate Strategy by Lynch (4th edition),

Organizational culture. The set of beliefs, values and learned ways of managing in an individual organization. Note that it is important to distinguish this from national cultures.

According to the Strategic Management by David and David (15th edition),

Organizational culture. A pattern of behavior developed by an organization over time as it learns to cope with its problem of external adaptation and internal integration, and that has worked well enough to be considered valid and to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in the firm.

According to the HRBoK Guide,

Corporate culture. The beliefs and behaviors of an organization. The values, language, rules, procedures, expectations, and processes that affect how employees of an organization think, act, and view the world.

Types

Main wikipage: Gods of management

Gods of Management: The Changing Work of Organizations by Charles Handy (Author)

Charles Handy’s Gods of Management Charles Handy’s1

model of culture is based on the way in which organisations 

are structured. It is important to remember that a single organisation may have more than one of these cultures because parts of the organisation may be structured differently and because of different occupational/professional cultures. Handy uses the Greek gods as metaphors for his cultural types because each god represented a particular trait or set of values. • Zeus is the god representing the power or club culture. Zeus is a dynamic entrepreneur who rules with snap decisions. This culture is based on personalities with power and influence coming from a central source, usually the founder or leader. Organisations with this culture are usually small and informal and are capable of adapting quickly to changing circumstances. However the success of the organisation depends on the luck or judgement of key individuals. These organisations are really clubs of like-minded people where personal contact is more important than formal liaison. An ACL provider, led by a dominant Head of Service who has recruited individuals on the same wavelength to key positions, may have elements of this culture. • Apollo represents the role or bureaucracy culture. The underlying presumption is logic and rationality. Apollo organisations have formal structures and well defined rules and procedures. The structure defines the authority and responsibility of individual managers. Fulfilling the requirements of a job description is important, but individuals must remain within the boundaries of their authority. The Apollo approach works well for large organisations, with predictable work in a stable environment. You would expect the payroll section in a large organisation to work this way. The task, time frame and rules and procedures are clear and the result is that people are paid on time. The downside of Apollo organisations is that they can be inflexible and are generally slow to adapt to change. Some local authority providers feel that they are part of a large bureaucracy with a strong focus on rules, procedures and standardisation. • Athena is the goddess of the task culture. Management is seen as completing a series of projects or solving problems. Task cultures usually have matrix structures or are organised as project teams. The principal concern is to get the job done and performance is judged by results. The ability to accomplish a particular task is more important than formal status. Task cultures depend on variety and creativity which requires a tolerance of

1

Handy, C (1995), Gods of Management, the Changing Work of Organisations, Oxford, Oxford 

University Press HANDY’S GODS OF MANAGEMENT 2 © FPM mistakes. These organisations are flexible and constantly changing with project teams being disbanded and new ones formed. This culture is suitable for organisations (or parts of them) which are concerned with problem solving and short one-off exercises. There is a conflict between the desire to see results in meeting targets (task culture) and the way accountability is being enforced through procedures, returns etc. (bureaucracy). The leader’s role is to strike an appropriate balance between these competing demands. • Dionysus is the god of existential culture. In the three other cultures, the individual is subordinate to the organisation or the task. An existential culture is found in an organisation whose purpose is to serve the interests of the individuals within it. True existential cultures are rare although many professional practices come very close. These organisations are characterised by management having lower status than professional work. Management can only happen with the consent of the managed and the organisation’s success depends on the talent of the individuals. Occupational/professional culture is dominant here and in the past many education professionals, among others, found it difficult to accept the need for any form of management. Handy advocates a ‘best fit’ approach to organisational culture. The most effective organisations have an appropriate fit between the individuals, the type of work, the environment and the culture. This implies that changes in the work or the environment may lead to a requirement for culture change as well.

Components

Application areas

With regard to its application areas, every Culture can be divided in four parts:

1. historical organizational culture or the culture envisioned by the founders and others that is no longer executed,
2. operational culture or the culture exercised by an enterprise today for its operations,
3. change culture or the culture related to change in the enterprise, and
4. risk culture or the culture related to handling risks.

Cultural web

With regard to its sources,

Related concepts

• Strong organizational culture. An organizational culture in which the key values are intensely held and widely shared.
• Positive organizational culture. An organizational culture that emphasizes building on employee strengths, rewards more than punishes, and emphasizes individual vitality and growth.
• Organizational subculture. A miniculture within an organization, typically defined by department designations and geographical separation.

Related lectures

• Organizational Culture Quarter.