Organizational Culture Essay

Organizational Culture has been described as the shared values, principles, traditions, and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational members act. In most organizations, these shared values and practices have evolved over time and determine, toa a large extent, how things are done in the organization. This definition continues to explain organizational values, described as â€Å"beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals. From organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines, or expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another. † The definition of culture implies three things. The culture is ‘perspective’, ‘descriptive’ and finally ‘shared’ within the organization. Research suggests that there are seven dimensions that describe and organization’s culture. Each of the seven dimensions (shown in exhibit 1) ranges from low to high, meaning it is not very typical of the culture (low) or is very typical of the culture (high). The seven dimensions of culture are: Attention to Detail. Outcome Orientation. People Orientation. Team Orientation. Aggressiveness. Stability. Innovation and Risk Taking. The culture of an organization can either be Strong or Weak. It is the culture, that sometimes influence the employees’ behaviors and actions. Strong Culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment to organizational values. In such environments, strong cultures help firms operate like well oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there. Research shows that strong cultures are those in which the key values are deeply held and widely shared and have a greater influence on employees than do weaker cultures. A â€Å"Strong† culture may be especially beneficial to firms operating in the service sector since members of these organizations are responsible for delivering the service and for evaluations important constituents make about firms. Research indicates that organizations may derive the following benefits from developing strong and productive cultures: †¢Better aligning the company towards achieving its vision, mission, and goals †¢High employee motivation and loyalty †¢Increased team cohesiveness among the company’s various departments and divisions. †¢Promoting consistency and encouraging coordination and control within the company †¢Shaping employee behavior at work, enabling the organization to be more efficient. However, in a strong culture, people do things because they believe it is the right thing to do, this often creates a state where people, even if they have different ideas, do not challenge organizational thinking, therefore, resulting in a reduced capacity for innovative thoughts. Most organizations have moderate to strong cultures; that is, there is relatively high agreement on what’s important, what defines â€Å"good† employee behavior, what it takes to get ahead, and so forth. However, it is also important to view what a weaker culture in an organization may yield at: An organization’s culture is often established by its top managers and it starts at the selection process. For instance, during the employee selection process, managers typically judge job candidates not only on the job requirements but also on how well they might fit into the organization. Further to that, the risk-taking appetite and irreverence to its competitors by the top managers paves the growth and action of an organization.