The Impact Culture Has on the Organisation Performance - Essay Example

Organization Culture Name Class Unit Introduction During 1990s and the 21st century, organisation culture has gained a lot of prominence (Du, 2006). Organisation culture in an organisation looks at the informal aspects instead of the official aspects that exist in an organisation. Culture uses symbols, values, rituals and beliefs that exist in an organisation (Stanford, 2010). In an organisation, culture is manifested through the available symbols and rituals. The norms in an organisation are shared among the members and they are strengthened with symbols and rituals available. In an organisation, culture is critical as the strategy (Barker & Coy, 2004). Organisation, strategy and culture are supposed to be in sync for better results to be obtained. In an organisation, culture gives direction. It’s through culture that the organisation is able to create a common ground. Researchers have spent a lot of time trying to explain the organisation culture. Every organisation has a distinct culture which is not uniform. There are subcultures within a culture (Du, 2006). This essay will define culture using peer reviewed journals and other academic sources and give an overview of organisation culture at Apple Inc. The paper will then explain the impact culture has on the organisation performance. Organisation culture According to Du (2006), organisation culture is defined as the agreed set of beliefs which are learned by a group during the process of adapting to the internal and external adaptation in an organisation. The shared beliefs must work well for them to be considered valid (Everson, 2003). Culture is the collective programming of the organisation members’ mind. Organisational culture is a set of shared meanings among the organisation members which distinguishes one organisation from the other. From these definitions, organisation culture is the norms, beliefs, principles and the way organisation members behave (Barker & Coy, 2004). Using organisational culture, it becomes easy to distinguish one organisation from another. The organisation has a personality which is its culture. In every organisation, there is a pattern of assumptions which members come up with. The organisation culture is taught to the members as a way in which they are supposed to think and act. It is through organisation culture that an organisation is able to come up with way of doing their things. When new employees join an organisation, they are expected to learn its culture and adapt to it. The new behaviour is instilled into employees through the organisational values and beliefs, myths and symbols (Alvesson, 2002). The experiences that have developed in the course of the organisation history are adapted to through the organisation culture. This means that a successful organisation culture have to be articulated within the organisation to instil the manner in which the members behave. In some cases, the norms, beliefs and values may be nonverbal and gives the organisation its unique character. Every organisation has a particular climate or feel that is a product of organisation culture. The qualities of an organisation are expressed in four main ways. The ways are power, role, achievement and support. Organisation culture is diagnosed used different models. Harrison model looks at culture in four dimensions. The dimensions are power, role, achievement and support oriented. Power culture dimension looks at the role of power in an organisation as a means of exerting control and influence. A culture that has its base on the inequality of resources is known as power oriented culture. The culture has high level of centralisation but lags in formalisation (Du, 2006). The power source in such organisation is single and is expected to flow throughout the organisation. The members are members in such organisations are connected through the centralised power by use of specialist strings. This is a culture that is rule oriented and mostly relies on the authority and set procedures. The activities in the organisation are controlled by the formal authority which yields the influence. In this type of organisation culture, a dominant leader is surrounded by the subordinates who depend on his decisions and directions (Barker & Coy, 2004). The style of leadership and management style is based on personal attributes of the leader. In such an organisation, leadership is hierarchy based. This implies that power flows from the top management to the bottom. Power based culture is common in both small and large organisation. The leaders strains to make sure that they yield control over the juniors. The main problem with this type of organisation is the fact that it becomes complex as the size increases. This is due to fact that it is forced to connect too many activities that may cause breakdown. There are also instances where power oriented organisations tends to rule by fear or abuse of power. Another aspect of power oriented culture is the top down approach in communication. There also tendencies of these organisations making decisions based on the influence instead of using procedural measures. The main advantage of this type of culture is the fact that it makes the employees to unify their efforts behind their leader and make quick decisions easily. Despite this, the employees may fear giving their opinions especially when they are negative. Leaders are also rarely questioned (Du, 2006). According to Everson (2003), the support culture dimension puts its main focus on the job description. The work in this culture is defined by the rules and procedures and its description is given more importance than the person doing it. The main strength in this type of culture is on the functions associated with it. The culture makes an organisation bureaucratic as it uses mechanistic procedures. The jobs and roles are coordinated by small group of senior management. The organisation members in this culture are motivated through use of rewards and punishments. The main advantage of this culture is the fact that there are well designed structures and systems and a clear line of authority (Everson, 2003). The main disadvantage is the fact that members are forced to follow rules even when they affect their work. The members prefer doing the wrong thing as opposed to deviating from a norm. These are organisation whose culture assumes that people cannot be trusted and utilises a hierarchical chain of command. There is need of role clarification based on the technical expertise (Alvesson, 2002). This type of culture is successful in any predictable environment where it is possible to exert some control on the product life span. According to Everson (2003), achievement culture dimension makes the members to be aligned behind a common purpose. The organisation main focus is on realising set goals. The power in such organisations is diverse as it is based on the expertise rather than the position. There is high level of formalisation and low centralisation (Barker & Coy, 2004). The balance between the formality and centrality is natural. Such culture allocates power depending on the type of the project. Teamwork is also empathised on this type of culture as opposed to individual work. In this culture, authority is associated with the knowledge one has. Achievement culture aims at bringing the right people together and targeting a common goal. The culture has high rates of success due to teamwork which contributes towards a common goal (Parker, 2000). Teams are able to create synergy that enables them to use coordinated efforts. The main disadvantage of this culture is the fact that individual contribution is overshadowed. Another disadvantage is the fact that there is intolerance to personal needs (Meyer, 2000). The main advantages of this culture are the high internal motivation and increased utilisation of the members’ talents (Higgs & Rowland, 2005). Support oriented culture empathises on the individual achievement as opposed to teams. This is an organisation culture that is based on the mutual trust between both the organisation members and the organisation itself (Higgs & Rowland, 2005). This is a culture that is low in both formalisation and centralisation. There is minimal hierarchy and power control among the employees and the authority is based on then ability. The influence between the individuals is based on their influence and ability to help. The culture empathises on the well being of the employees in the organisation. The relationship in these types of organisation is based on mutuality and trust among the members. The main disadvantage is the fact that people may increase their focus on building relationship and perform poorly on work. There is also possibility of change taking a long time to occur as everyone has to be on board. The main advantage is the fact that there is high trust and a good sensing environment. A good balance on the achievement exists in this culture (Forman, Joyce & McMahon, 2013). Overview of organisation culture at Apple Inc Apple Inc is one of the most successful organisations (Lashinsky & Burke, 2009). The company deals with electronics which ranges from mobile phones, iPad to laptops and desktop computers. The company have a strong organisation culture that was instilled by the previous manager Steve Jobs. The company have been able to use organisation culture to differentiate themselves from the competitors. The manager made sure that organisation culture was maintained in the organisation through storytelling, imagery and rhetoric. The company culture included use of heroes and the management aligned the company values with them. Using storytelling, the company management was able to set the strategy (Lashinsky & Burke, 2009). Innovative culture is also present at Apple. The company have been able to come up with unique products that have enabled them to be ahead of their competitors. The company gives the employees time to innovate. At apple, the culture is very keen on details. The products that are produced at Apple Inc. are of high quality as compared to the competitors. This has made the company to be associated with state of art products by the consumers. Apple Inc. embraces organisation culture as the glue that binds them together with their strategy. The most dominant value at Apple Inc. culture is innovation. The organisation has been rewarding employees for taking risks and creativity. The company employees’ looks at their work as a calling and always do what is best for apple (Lashinsky & Burke, 2009). Impact of the culture on organisation effectiveness Organisation culture at Apple has worked to determine the employees’ behaviour (Lashinsky & Burke, 2009). This has been achieved through the organisation being able to identify their goals and ways in which they govern their relationships. The company is also able to establish personal relationship more easily. Through organisation culture, there are few conflicts. Culture helps in consistency in identifying problems and opinions and coming up with course of action. Culture at Apple has helped the company to coordinate and control their activities at ease. This is due to fact that culture leads to the organisation being more consistent with coordination and control. Culture helps in fostering motivation among the employees. Through culture, the employees gain a sense of focus and loyalty. The beliefs and values that are fostered by Apple culture have made the employees to perform more (Lashinsky & Burke, 2009). Apple culture is embedded in innovation and creativity. This have made the employees to work in innovation and coming up with new products. Employees are also rewarded for their hard work. The culture at Apple has ensured that the company have a unique personality from the competitors. The employees at the company are also able to enjoy a sense of identity which makes them gain a commitment that is stronger than their individual interests. For Apple, organisation culture can be credited to their great performance in technology industry. In any organisation, culture matters. This is due to fact that culture can make or break a company. Organisation culture collates with the performance of an organisation. The organisation culture can be steered to enhance the performance and lead to behavioural change (Stanford, 2010). When an organisation instils their organisation culture in a good way as Apple did, the chances of succeeding are high. The main disadvantage of organisation culture is the fact that employees take time to learn it. For a new employee at Apple, they have to learn the company culture which might take a long time. Culture may also promote rigidity. The employee may be forced to work in a certain way discouraging creativity. At Apple Inc, they encourage creativity hence the employees are not much affected by rigidity (Lashinsky & Burke, 2009). Conclusion Organisation culture is the personality that defines an organisation and differentiates it from the competitors. Organisation culture guides the employees on the way they think. In an organisation, culture is a key determinant in achieving the goals and maintaining the employees. The organisation culture looks at the informal areas of the organisation rather than other elements. Organisation culture focuses on the beliefs, values and norms and manifested through symbols and rituals. Apple organisation culture is well aligned with its strategy. The company culture believes in innovation and creativity. The company rewards the employees who are creative and innovative. Apple’s culture makes the employees to look at their tasks as a calling making them committed. The culture at Apple have enabled the company differentiate itself from the competitors. The company products have gained reputation to be of high quality making them maintain a market share. The main disadvantage of organisation culture is the time taken to learn. For a new employee at Apple, they have to take time to be conversant with the company culture. When coming from a different culture, it may take time to adapt. Organisation culture may also lead to an organisation being rigid in coming up with new innovation unless the culture supports innovation. References Alvesson, M. (2002). Understanding organizational culture. London: Sage. Barker, C., & Coy, R. (2004). The power of culture: Driving today's organisation. Sydney: McGraw-Hill. Du, P. M. (2006). The impact of organisational culture on knowledge management. Oxford: Chandos. Everson, C. (2003). Organisational Culture and Context. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology. Forman, D., Joyce, M., & McMahon, G. (2013). Creating a coaching culture for managers in your organisation. London: Routledge. Higgs, M., & Rowland, D. (2005). Change and culture: An examination of the relationship between organisation culture and approaches to change. Henley-on-Thames: Henley Management College. Lashinsky, A. & Burke, D. (2009). The Decade of Steve. Fortune International. 160(9): 7-10 Meyer, M. (2000). Organisation culture. Randburg: Knowledge Resources. Parker, M. (2000). Organizational Culture and Identity. London: Sage. Stanford, N. (2010). Organisation culture: Getting it right. London: Profile. Read More