Culture

Organizational culture is oftentimes overlooked and not fully understood, but it is vital for success. In order for employees to get along and work together they must share a common culture. Organizational culture can become confusing because of the wide variety of definitions it encompasses. "There are some general themes within these different definitions, including values, beliefs, basic assumptions, and shared assumptions..." (Slack and Parent 275). Because there are numerous definitions it is important that everyone within the company recognize the corporate culture and is tolerant of other's beliefs. Within any organization there are two different types of culture, thick culture and thin culture. An organization that exhibits a thick culture shares and agrees on values that are seen through day to day operations. An organization with a thin culture does not always share values and these values can often clash between departments (Slack and Parent 280). An organization's effectiveness should not be sacrificed based upon its type of culture. Whether it has a thick or thin culture employees need to respect each other and work together to achieve their goals. Many organization's structures today result in different divisions having different cultures, making many organizations multicultural. Some values may overlap, but often times different goals within a subunit result in a different culture. An example the book uses is a research and development branch having a different culture than a sales department. Both branches within the organization have goals that clash and result in cultural diversity. An organization must effectively create, manage and change within a sporting atmosphere. Peters and Waterman describe two ways to create culture within an organization. The first way involves having a high sense of vision. The founder within that organization generates excitement and the employees values are shaped through this. The second method is exhibited by leader's attention to detail. By setting strict values others are motivated. Like anything within an organization culture must be managed to optimize its effectiveness. "Schein suggest five primary mechanisms: 1. What leaders pay attention to, measure, and control 2. Leader reaction to critical incidents and organizational crises 3. Deliberate role modeling, teaching and coaching by leaders 4. Criteria for allocation of rewards and status 5. Criteria for recruitment, selection, promotion, retirement and excommunication Successfully managing organizational culture is vital to an organization's success. Lastly an organization must be able to change its culture if it is a detriment to operations. Changes in employee turnover and attitudes can have a major impact on organizational culture. Organizational culture is important and vital for organizational effectiveness. If values, beliefs and basic assumptions are different among employees in an organization must work out differences so that everyone is working towards the same goal. 1. How have you experienced differences in organizational culture? 2. To what extent can organizational culture be detrimental to day to day operations?