The presence of a strong and appropriate organizational culture has become
essential for an organization to function effectively and efficiently in the
modern era. Organizational culture is the consciously or subconsciously
accepted and followed way of life or manner of performing day-to-day
activities in an organization. It plays an important role in determining and
controlling employee behavior at workplace. The core values, assumptions,
norms, procedures, etc. that are followed in an organization constitute its
culture. These are more often than not, accepted and followed throughout the
organization, without much deviation.
However, the presence of individuals from various social cultures and
backgrounds in an organization, may lend a slight variation to the beliefs
and ideologies of the organizational members. This difference results in the
formation of subcultures within organizations. The presence of subcultures
may be advantageous to an organization as the deviations from the norm may
throw up alternatives to existing practices, which are often useful to the
organization in adapting to changes in the external environment. Such
adaptability is essential for the organization to survive.
However, if the differences in ideologies go beyond a desirable level, they
may have a negative effect on the organization and undermine it. The strength
of an organizational culture depends on the sharedness and intensity of the
core values of the organization. A strong culture tends to enhance employee
commitment and loyalty towards the organization. Organizational cultures have
been classified into four major types - market culture, adhocracy, clan
culture and hierarchical culture.
Organizational culture deals with the internalization of the core values and
norms. If the organizational culture is well internalized, it can replace the
formalization of rules and procedures in an organization. The difference
between the two lies in the fact that, while formalization deals with the
standardization of jobs and involves documentation of accepted values and
norms, a strong organizational culture can achieve a certain amount of
uniformity in work processes without documentation being required.
Organizational culture plays a variety of roles in strengthening bonds
between the members of an organization. The boundary-defining role of
organizational culture implies that it helps to draw distinctions between one
organization and another. It also creates a sense of identity and
belongingness among the employees of the organization. Organization culture
synergizes the efforts of organizational members towards the achievement of
the common objectives of the organization. It also maintains the stability of
the social system in the organization by minimizing individual differences
between employees.
Organizational culture is determined largely by the values, assumptions and
personal traits of the founders. These values lay the foundation for the
organizational culture, which is then accepted and followed throughout the
organization. Culture in organizations is also learnt by its members through
artifacts like stories, legends, rituals and material symbols. Stories
pertaining to significant events in the company's history, the rituals of the
organization, and even material symbols such as the physical layout of the
organization, serve to transmit the core values of the organization.
Language, which refers to the commonly used terminology, jargon and acronyms
unique to a particular organization, also helps in the permeation of
organizational culture.
Change in organizational culture is sometimes inevitable as the organization
needs to adapt to changes in the environment. However, the highly complex and
pervasive nature of organizational culture makes it difficult to push through
any change in its culture. As members of the organization internalize the
core values over a period of time, attempts to change it often invite
enormous resistance from employees. Nevertheless, a well thought out action
plan, with a change agent to assist in its implementation, can result in the
successful transformation of an outdated organizational culture, to one which
is more aligned to the external environment.
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Short Case Studies / Caselets
