Organizational Culture - Essay Example

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE By + ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Culture broadly refers to as the values, norms and beliefs that are shared among members of a particular organization in regards to the manner and significant priorities of doing particular tasks as well as how to relate to workmates in that particular organization (Wilson, 2010). From the perspective of an organization, culture may refer to the common interests that bring people together as well as the visions and values that a particular organization thrives in that is used to bring the people together. This paper is going to give a critical analysis of how organizational culture provides members with an organizational identity and how it facilitates collective commitment. An organization’s culture affects every aspect of how the organization operates and how work gets done. In the quest for sustainable performance in an organization and to ensure that a particular culture is appropriate for the future of an organization, organizations try their best to have the appropriate culture in order for them to achieve this sustainable performance that is very paramount for the success of the organization (CIPD, 2011). The culture in an organization is argued to be an independent variable that is subject to changes and management just like any other variables present in an organization. The culture of an organization is uniform and it offers the labor force in that organization with a unique sense of identity. This culture is usually created by the management of the organization concerned. Once they create this culture, they can then direct it towards their subordinates and manage it in a manner that they consider to be fit. The same management of the organization can also destroy the existing culture and come up with a different one, with or without consultation with their subordinates. From the positivists’ point of view, a powerful culture in an organization is associated with the success of that organization. This therefore can be translated to mean that if an organization has a weak culture, then it may not be able to succeed in its dealings. The culture in an organization can emerge from the social interactions that occur among the work force in an organization (Weick, 1995). This culture would be in the form of beliefs and knowledge that is developed and re-developed from time to time. It determines the manner in which employees behave and perform their duties in an organization that is a result of the social interactions that these employees have among themselves. From this phenomenological view, it can correctly be argued that maybe this culture cannot be established by the top officials in an organization and then directed towards their subordinated. This is because this phenomenological view argues that the culture develops from the social interactions that the employees have as opposed to development from the management. Values in an organization are closely associated with both the moral and ethical codes of the people. They determine what the members of an organization think needs to be done. Values in an organization which have worked successfully tend to become facts of life of the organization and always seem to be the correct ones. This is because these particular cultures become rooted deeply in the suppositions that people in an organization share and hence it helps to guide the people’s perceptions, emotions, actions and feelings about things. These organization cultures are help in the sub-conscious mind of the employees and usually do not receive much debates on their rightness or wrongness (Smircich, 1983). Management of the culture of an organization is very significant for a number of reasons. This type of culture of the organization is closely associated with the theories of motivation and commitment that exist in an organization. The organizational culture affords the members of an organization an organizational identity that distinguishes the members from other members of other organizations. The culture of an organization facilitates the cooperative commitment of the members of the organization. It helps to shape as well as to control the behavior of the members of the organization by helping them to draw sense of their environment and surroundings (Ravasi & Schultz, 2006). It improves the motivation that the members of an organization have so that they can effectively perform their duties and come up with concrete outcomes. With this in place, the social system of an organization can gain stability and be promoted. It enhances a stimulation of positive psychological contract among the members of the organization. The culture in an organization nurtures an environment of sound ethical practices as well as equality among the members in that organization. The organization of a culture supports the engagement and loyalty that the members of that organization have towards the organization. The members of the organization will be in a better position to know the goals aspired by the organization and work towards achieving them effectively. This is only possible if there is working culture in an organization and measures have been put in place to ensure its proper implementation. In most instances, the culture of an organization is shaped by the leaders/management of that organization (Schein, 2004). It is therefore of critical importance that the role that the leaders play is played properly and duly recognized. For successful management of an organization, the culture developed in an organization has to be continuous and in no circumstance should it be broken down. The employees in that organization should also be ready to accept any changes that the management may make in regards to the said culture. Organizational culture promotes collective commitment in an organization in a number of ways. It enhances the commitment in an organization as all members are accountable to only one superior. This will ensure that the management has only the one of employees that it can be able to handle at any particular moment. It will also ensure that the management attends to the unique tasks assigned to it while at the same time controlling those who are subordinate to it. With this type of commitment and coordination, it will ensure that routine work in an organization is effectively performed by the subordinates. The employees will also be able to work as a team as the activities of the organization will be distributed among the employees in working groups. Team work in an organization is also enhanced and thus ensuring that the employees gather a sense of belonging in the organization. Coordination in any one organization is only possible if the organization has a culture that guides it in the performance of its duties. This culture will ensure that the management can easily assign tasks to their subordinate and be sure that the work will be done. The members of an organization that has a laid down culture will also be in a position to be linked together and hence giving precision in the structure of the management of an organization (Merriam, 2001). The presence of an organizational culture ensures that there is effective communication in an organization. The decision making process in the organization will be coordinated and all opinions of the members of the organization will be taken into account. Members of the organization will gain organization identity as they feel that they are being involved in the day to day running of the functions and activities of the organization. The members’ professional identity in the organization will be enhanced and their career paths set in the right direction. This will be both for the benefit of the organization as well as for the benefit of the employees. Organizational culture makes the organization to identify the appropriate processes that will ensure that it makes a maximum output while using a minimum input of labor and resources (Leung, 2007). Collective commitment will be enhanced as each of the employees in the organization will have a clear role to play in ensuring the implementation of these processes. The same implementation will increase the profitability of the organization and the members will acquire a sense of belonging in the organization as they will feel that they contributed to its success. The members of the organization will therefore be proud enough to identify with that organization after seeing the increased profitability that was enhanced by them. An organizational culture in any particular organization also enhances the trust and responsibility of the members of that organization (Legge, 2005). Trust and responsibility will ensure that there is collective commitment of the members of the organization as they will endeavor to work towards achieving the set down objectives of the organization. Organizational culture allows maximum specialization within a field in an organization. Other departments in the organization will also have access to the expertise that they require. This specialization will simplify the coordination between functions in the organization and hence promoting the collective commitment of the members. This is because the members will have specific tasks to perform in order to achieve the objectives of the organization. This means that all the employees will work towards the same objective though they will be doing different things according to their areas of specialty. An organizational culture clarifies the performance of business responsibilities in an organization. Clarification of these responsibilities will enable a significant growth in the organization without loss of control from the management. The decision-making authority in the organization will be moved closer to the problems and hence the solutions to the organization’s problems will be easy to come by. The culture also enhances the socialization as well as the training of the younger employees in a given organization. This will create an organizational identity for the members of the organization and even better improve the collective commitment that is expected of them so as to ensure the objectives of the organization. An organizational culture enhances transparency in an organization which will enable magnitudes of organizational choices to be carefully assessed. This assessment is to be carried out by all the members of the organization and this will ensure that they gain an organizational identity as they will be involved in this assessment. It makes them to feel that they are part of the organization as they are being involved. The members of the organization will also be in a position to adjust efficiently so as to attain concentrated production in the organization (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, 2010). The members will also have a collective commitment to replace the parts of the organization and avoid key staff of the organization if they are not putting positive inputs to the organization concerned. Infighting in an organization will also be reduced in order to maintain achieved positions. Infighting happens in situations whereby there is no collective commitment in an organization and this can also be argued that it is due to the lack of a defined culture in an organization. An organizational culture also provides members with an organizational identity and facilitates collective commitment as there will be motivation for the members to perform their duties. Motivation ensures that the employees achieve the needs that are not easy to observe (Schein, 1992). These needs are physiological needs, safety, security, social contact, esteem and self-actualization. This will ensure that there is no tension between the members of the organization and it will be possible for the objectives of the organization to be achieved. Once these needs are satisfied, it will be easy for the members of the organization to identify with it. However, if these needs remain unsatisfied, there will be no collective commitment and the employees will not have a sense of identity in the organization. An organizational culture enhances values like passion, boldness, nurturing, collaboration, accountability and knowledge in an organization. These values enhance the collective commitment of the members of an organization. The members will identify with the organization as they will have a duty to be accountable for all the actions that they do in the organization. They will also have the passion to perform their duties effectively and collaborate with their colleagues in the organization for the attainment of these objectives. The knowledge that the culture inculcates in them is equally important. Organizational culture provides a sense of identity to members and increases their commitment to the organization. When employees internalize the values of the organization, they find their work fundamentally rewarding and they are able to identify with their fellow workers. Motivation among the employees is enhanced and their morale to perform their duties is boosted. The commitment that the employees are likely to have to the organization is in three stages. First is the compliance stage. This is whereby the employees in an organization will conform to the values of the organization in order to obtain the similar material benefit from the organization. Secondly is the identification stage. This is where the demands of the organizational culture are accepted by the employees in order to maintain the good relationship with the fellow colleagues in the organization. Lastly is internalization. This is whereby the employees find the adoption of the culture values of the organization to produce immense satisfaction to them. With all these benefits of a culture of an organization, the culture also has its own weaknesses. This is because the culture in an organization may promote group thinking of the members of the organizations. This will be particularly unfortunate for the organization because it will lack diversity that is needed. Diversity is very important as it will give an organization a variety of choices to choose from when making a decision. A culture in an organization may also not take into account the existence of sub-cultures among the members of an organization. It tends to employ the approach that the culture will be accepted by all the members in that organization which is not necessarily true. With this, cases of inequality can begin to be promoted and this will only lead to the detriment of the organization concerned. A culture of an organization may also not take into account gender, race and ethnicity of the members that work in that organization (CIPD, 2011). It tends to promote the acceptance and internationalization of the culture without even the consent of the members. This type of a culture is also located between power relations as it can be seen from the foregoing analysis that the culture in an organization can be created by the top officials in that organization and then directed towards their subordinates. The culture in an organization fails to put into consideration the resistance that may come from the members of the organization. The management of the organization may not even be in a position to take into account the resistance of the employees to this organization culture that is directed towards them. This type of a culture is argued that it makes attempts in harnessing the labor of the employees through the use of emotional underwritings. It will therefore fail to show whether this culture of an organization is enhancing the commitment of the employees to their work or is it just a means of control that is exerted by the management of an organization to the employees (Laegaard & Bindsley, 2006). In conclusion, from the foregoing analysis it is clear that culture has performance-enhancement superiority. The execution approach of an organization is made easy in situations where the organization has a well-defined culture. Alignment of goals is also boosted as the personnel will have a mutual goal to work towards. A higher level of inspiration is also fashioned. 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