Module 09 - ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

The origins of this field of organisational behaviour and the related discipline of management began investigating organisations in term of culture as early as the 1930s.

“Organisational or corporate culture is the pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that may not have been articulated but shapes how people behave and things get done. Values refer to what is believed to be important about how people and the organisations behave. Norms are the unwritten rules of behaviour” (Armstrong, 2010).

Organisational culture is as concerned abstractions values and norms such as stopping over in whole or in the organisation. Different cultures can also occur in organisations. The exterior-looking marketing sector can be entirely different from the internal production process. There may be some organisational values or standards. However, different work environments are different.

Components of culture as follows,

• Values - It can be trusted to be the best or the best for the organisation and something must or should happen. A 'value set' of an organisation can be identified only at the highest level and can be shared through a business. Values are strong, and they have a greater impact on how they behave. In an organisation's culture, it is strengthened by the values and management of profoundly enhanced values that do not influence their exemplary and mental behaviour.

•  Norms - Norms are the unwritten rules of behaviour, the ‘rules of the game’ that provide simple guidelines on how to behave. It says that what they are supposed to be doing, saying, believing and even wearing. They are never expressed in a written form - they are then policies or procedures. They have been adopted by verbal or behavioural conduct and are violated when the people's reaction can operate them.

• Artefacts – It is the visible and tangible feature of an organisation that people hear, see or feel. Further, it can include the environment of the organisation, the tone and language used by the people in a meeting or over the telephone and the welcome given to the visitors.

• Leadership or Management Style - There are many styles of leadership, and leaders can be classified — Eg: charismatic or non-charismatic leader, an autocratic or democratic leader and Transactional or transformational leader etc.

As Furnham and Gunter (1993) suggest:

Culture represents the ‘social glue’ and generates a ‘we-feeling’, thus counteracting the process of differentiation which is an unavoidable part of organisational life. Organisational culture offers a shared system of meanings which is the basis for communications and mutual understanding. If these functions are not fulfilled satisfactorily, lifestyle may significantly reduce the efficiency of an organisation.

However, the culture is differentiated with the organisation to organisation as well as the employees attached to the same. They build and develop their own culture to increase the productivity and discipline the people of the organisation and the management of the company also influence employees to adhere to their culture.

References,

Armstrong (2010). Organizational Culture | Organizational Culture | Value (Ethics). [online] Scribd. Available at: https://www.scribd.com/document/36894638/Organizational-Culture [Accessed 23 Dec. 2018].

Armstrong, M. (2006). Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th Edition). 10th ed. London, GBR: Kogan Page, Limited.

DrMaverick (2018). Culture bound syndromes. [online] Slideshare.net. Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/DrMaverick13/culture-bound-syndromes-104998657?qid=84cb7cc9-114c-4a16-91fd-e1d3c5ac25b2&v=&b=&from_search=2 [Accessed 25 Dec. 2018].