Organizational Culture
Upul Abeyrathne,
Dept. of Economics,
University of Ruhuna
Mataraa
Think of the Following
• Where did you work?
• What make different one organization from
the other
• Are they unique?
• If unique, what are the reasons?
Why is different?
• Every organization has a set of shared beliefs,
expectations and core values of people in the
organization.
• It is the organizational culture ;
• One it is established, they become relatively
stable and insert influence on organizations
and people working in them.
Kind of Influences
• They tend to promote creativity and
innovation
• Promote lethargy and sluggishness.
• To be creative organization means doing
routinely no routine.
Basic Nature
• To understand the culture, we have to
concentrate on three basic aspect
1. Basic Characteristics of Culture
2. Whether there is one general culture or
cultures with organization
3. Role of the culture in organizational
Functioning
Defining Organizational Culture
• “A cognitive framework consisting of attitudes,
values, behavioural norms and expectations
shared by organization members”
• Every Organization has got a set of core
characteristics shared by members of
organization
Core Organizational Values
• Sensitivity to the needs of customers and
employees
• Interest in having employees generate new ideas
• Willingness to take risk
• The value placed on people
• Openness of available communication options
• Friendliness and Congeniality of employees
toward one another.
Organizations may be distinguished by their basic
values.
Subculture
• WE shall not be mislead that there is only one
culture in an organization
• In large organizations, there are many culture
in various subsections and units etc.
• Subculture is the one that exists in one part of
organization rather than entirely throughout
the organization
Dominant Culture
• Note there is a overarching dominant culture
in every organization
• The dominant culture reflects its core values,
the dominant perceptions that are shared
throughout the organization
Role of Culture
• Culture plays important roles in organization
1. It provides a sense of identity: If shared
perspectives and values are defined clearly,
people can strongly associates with mission
of organization and feel a vital part of it.
2. Consequently, people resign infrequently.
Role of Culture
3. Culture generates commitment to organization
mission : Sometimes people find it difficult to go
beyond thinking of their own interests. However,
when there is a overarching culture people begin
to feel part of the whole. Culture reminds people
what their organization is all about.
4. Culture clarifies and reinforces standards of
behaviour: Culture guides emplyees’ words and
deeds, making it clear what they should do or say
in a given situation
Identifying Organizational Cultures
• Goffee R and Jones G. (1998), The Character of
a Corporation, have developed Double S. Cube
system for categorizing varieties of
Organizational Culture
• The name comes because the approach
characterizes organizations along two
dimensions, both of which start letter “S”
• The two dimensions are sociability and
solidarity.
Double S cube
• It is a system of categorizing four types of
organizational culture by combining two
dimensions- Sociability and Solidarity.
• Sociability : A dimension of the double s cube
characterized by the degree of friendliness
typically found among members of an
organization
Double S cube
• Solidarity : A dimension of the double s cube
characterized by the degree to which people
in an organization share a common
understanding of the task and goals about
which they are working.
• Four basic types of organizational culture are
being identified by combination of high and
low amount of these two dimensions
Double S Cube:Four types of Culture
• Network Culture
• Mercenary Culture
• Fragmented Culture
• Communal Culture
• Some people in certain organizations are very
friendly. Some people socialize others
• Some others refrain from socializing others
• Sociability has both positive as well as negative
side.
• Sociability promotes creativity, encourages
people to share information and work in team.
• Sociability also may lead to informal cliques etc.
• The solidarity dimension concerned with to what
extend coworkers share a common
understanding of their organization’s task and
goals.
• Some people has to stick together to accomplish
a given objective. E.g. Police officers and
Surgeons.
• High solidarity is important in things getting
done.
• High solidarity also may make people alienated
from the team. E.g. New comers.
Four Organizational Cultures
1. Networked culture: It is characterized by high
level of sociability and low level of solidarity.
This type of culture is extremely friendly and
lighthearted in style.
People keep their doors open. Its members
spend a great time in socializing while less in
achieving goals.
They know each other and feel part of the group
Four Organizational Cultures
2. Mercenary Culture: characterized by a low
degree of sociability and high degree of solidarity
It is characterized by people who concern much on
pulling together to get the job done.
Communication is swift, direct and handled in a nononsense way.
Businesslike manner predominate and idle chatter
is not tolerated.
Winning is considered everything.
Four Organizational Cultures
3. Fragmented Culture: It is characterized by low
solidarity and low sociability
People who work in fragmented culture have
little contact with their associates. Even they
may not know each other.
People leave each other alone.
People do not identify with the organization in
which they work instead they tend to identify
with their profession of which they are a part.
Four Organizational Cultures
4. Communal Culture: It is characterized by high
sociability and high solidarity
Members are very friendly to each other and get
alone well both personally and professionally.
Individuals share many things.
Communication flows very easily.
Strongly support the organization when talking
about it to outsiders.
Creation and Sustenance of
Organization Culture
• Members of Organization share certain basic
values, attitudes and expectation.
• Several factors contribute to this development
1. Company Founders e.g. Ray Kroc founded the
McDonald Restaurant Chain on the value of
“Good Food at good value served in clean,
family oriented surroundings”
Creation and Sustenance of
Organization Culture
2. Experience with environment: In most of the
cases organizational culture develops with the
experience of individuals outside environment
3. Contact with others: It develops with the
contact an individual maintain with others
within organization.
Transmitting Culture: Tools
• There are certain ways through which individuals
learn about organization.
1. Symbols: Material objects that connote
meanings that extend beyond intrinsic content.
It is said that the way an organization is
furnished provide useful insights into its culture.
2. Slogans: They communicate important aspects
of organization culture both to the public and
employees
Transmitting Culture: Tools
3. Stories: Stories illustrate key aspects of
organizational culture and telling them is a
means of introducing or reaffirming those values
to employees.
4. Jargons: The special language that define the
culture
5. Ceremonies: Special events that commemorate
corporate values.
6. Statements of Principle: It is defining culture in
writing
7. Codes of ethics:
Organizational Culture: Consequences
and Capacity
• Discussion so far made it clear that it plays an
important role in the functioning of
organization.
• Organizational culture exerts many influences
on individual and organizational process.
• It generates strong pressures on people to go
alone, to think and act in consistence with the
existing culture.
Organizational Culture: Consequences
and Capacity
• Researchers have established link between
culture and performance.
• Sometimes it needs changes
Changing Organizational Culture
• Composition of the workforce: Generation Gap. It
may impinge on the existing practices in
organization.
• Mergers and acquisition: Sometimes organization
purchase others and mergers with others: e.g.
merging of urban development authority with the
defense ministry.
• Planned Organizational Change
• Responding to the internet
Creativity
• We have no difficulty in defining creativity.
• However, defining it is difficult.
• Scientists have define it as the process by
which individuals or teams produce novel
ideas (Amabile, T.M. (1998), A Model of
Creativity in Organizations in B.M. Straw & L.L.
Commings (eds.), Research in Organization
Behaviour, Vol. 10, pp. 123-167, CT:, JAI Press.
Components of Individual and Team
Creativity
1. Domain Relevant Skills
2. Creativity Relevant Skills
3. Intrinsic Task Motivation
Domain relevant skills
• Every activity requires specific talents,
knowledge or skills.
• These are the raw material needed for
creativity to occur.
Without basic skills one cannot think of
becoming creative. (E.g. A driver needs eyehand coordination to drive a car).
Creativity Relevant Skills
• Being Creative requires additional skills,
special abilities to do things in novel ways.
• Doing following is useful to foster creativity.
1. Break Mental Set and take new perspectives.
Creativity enhances when people do not limit
themselves to old ways of doing things. It is
divergent thinking. It is the process of
reframing familiar problems unique ways.
Creativity Relevant Skills
2. Understand complexities: Do not things overly
simplistic, don’t be afraid to consider complex
ways in which ideas may be interrelated.
3. Keep options open and avoid premature
judgments
4. Follow creative heuristics: People sometimes
follow certain strategies known as creative
heuristics to help them come up with creative
new ideas
Creativity Relevant Skills
• Use productive forgetting: Our creativity is
inhibited by becoming fixated on certain ideas
that we just cannot seems to get out of our
heads. So, one need to abandon unproductive
ideas.
Intrinsic Task Motivation
• First two components focus on what people are
capable of doing.
• The third component refers to what people are
willing to do
• Intrinsic task motivation implies the making of
work to be done more interesting, engaging or
challenging in positive way.
Scientists say that people will be at their most
creative when they exhibit high levels of three
factors together.
Promoting Creativity
• Highly creative people are an asset to
organizations.
1. Training people to be creative
i) Encourage openness to new ideas (people
need to push out of their ‘stupid zone’. It is
an accelerated unlearning process.
ii) Take the time to understand the problem
iii) Develop divergent thinking
Promoting Creativity
2. Develop creative environment
It is useful for organization to change work
environment in ways that brings out people
creativity
i). Provide autonomy: Give freedom for
employees to control their own behaviour.
ii). Allow ideas to cross pollinate: Allow people
to play different roles and jobs
Promoting Creativity
3. Make jobs intrinsically interesting:
i). Set your own goals.
ii). Support Creativity at high organizational Level.
Creativity is something that have to be welcome
by the superior command of the organization.
Think failure is not fatal.
iii) Have fun: Incentive be creative is essential. Fun
is one of such things.
iv. Promote diversity: When workforce is composed
of diverse people, it promote to think differently.
Thank You