The Concept of Culture - Coursework Example

Critically discuss how culture is expressed in your organisation and how this expression helps or hinders your organisation’s effectiveness. Name Institution Date The concept of culture was first developed from a symbol of the organization as ‘something cultivated’. It is an environment and practices that organizations build around the way in which to deal with individuals. Leaders play an important role of creating and managing organizational culture and their unique talent revolves around the ability to understand as well as work with culture (O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008). Organizational culture is constitute a pattern of shared values, assumptions, and norms that shape the rites, language, symbols, ceremonies, and the socialization activities of a group of people (Hellriegel et al., 2004: 357). According to Bush & Anderson (2003) culture concerns the informal features of organizations and not the official elements. It focuses on beliefs, norms and values of people in the organization and the extent to which these people’s perceptions come together into shared meanings. This implies that culture is highly manifested by rituals and symbols and not through organization’s formal structure. In addition, the manner in which culture is expressed in the organization influence the effectiveness of the organization. This essay critically discusses how culture is expressed in my place or work and its impact on the general performance of the organization. It is essential to understand that there no single organizational culture. Like my own organization, different organizations possess divergent cultures. However, this does not mean the organization should have only one culture (Watson, 2006). Ideally, there may be more single culture within organizations. The most important aspect of organizational culture is how it is expressed in the organization. My organization has a number of types of culture that bring us together as employees. They include the role orientation, the support orientation, the achievement orientation, and clan culture (O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008). These cultures co-exist in the organization. Also, the cultural typologies are expressed differently and are based on different human values, as well as affect the organization’s effectiveness in different ways. The first culture evidence in my organization is role culture. This culture operates on the basis of existing rules, procedures, as well as job descriptions. Although this is contrary to the power culture, they sometimes co- exist. Most of the activities and programs of the organization are controlled by the rules (van Stuyvesant, 2008). These rules lead to the inspiration that the organizing principles guiding employees are rationality, order and dependability. Management in the organization ensures that authority, responsibility and bureaucratic working environment is delegated downwards (Mozaffari, 2008). In this regard, every level in the organization is allowed to exercise some level of authority to allow continuous performance of work without necessary getting orders from the top management (Watson, 2006). Therefore, individuals in the organization have been given some freedom to work independently because management has trust in them. This type of cultural expression plays an important role in promoting the effectiveness of the organization. Since, there exist rules and structures of working, employees often allocate more energy to performing their work rather than wasting time doing unnecessary activities that does not contribute to the goals of the organization (Zalami, 2005). This way, employees’ performance is usually high and they are able to meet their targets, which in turn increase organization’s effectiveness (van Stuyvesant, 2008). However, this does not mean that all employees in the organization are given individual autonomy and discretion due to the feeling that all employees can not be trusted in the organization, especially those at the lower level. Usually, such employees are not allowed to work under absolute autonomy because of mistrust and this is one of the major weaknesses of this cultural expression (Schein, 2004). Also, although employees appreciate the individual autonomy, some do not realize that they are so much controlled by the existing rules to the extent that they can not make the right choices as well as being innovate just incase it does not lie within the rules (Brand, 2006). In addition, over-emphasis on rules is likely to make it difficult for the organization to keep up with rapid environmental changes. This is because, in the interests of order and rationality, it is quite not easy to adjust existing rules implying that it may take more time to make any appropriate adjustments so to adapt (Hellriegel et al., 2004). Therefore, although the way in which the role culture in the organization allows for freedom at work which results to effective employee performance, it has also created an environment characterized by rigidity which may ultimately hinder organizational effectiveness. Also, the organization upholds the support orientation as part of its culture. One of the reasons why the organization is able to be effective in its course is due to the fact that it has developed mutual trust between the employees and the organization itself (O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008). This support culture has created the feeling among employees that they are valuable resources to the organization, not just contributors to a mission of the organization. In practicing the support culture, the organization has created not only a warm, but also a caring atmosphere for employees to work (Chen, 2004). This is meant to build a sense of belonging among employees, which would in turn make employee commit themselves to the organization thereby contributing to organizational effectiveness. This has really worked out well for the organization as far as organizational effectiveness concern. As a result of there being a supportive and caring environment in the organization, employees have often made sacrifices for one another and demonstrated team loyalty which has added to the organization’s morale and high performance (Silverthone, 2004). In addition, support organizational culture has helped increase employee motivation, enthusiasm, and solidarity which have positive effect of productivity and quality of work (Doina, Mirela, & Constantin, 2008). This implies that for employees to be committed to their work and the organization at large, they must be supported by the organization through such a culture. However, the support culture practiced in the organization is not perfect as such. In the process of trying to appear so much supportive to employees, the organization can easily ignore conflict and difficult issues likely to arise (van Stuyvesant, 2008). This is a serious act and may have adverse effects of the performance of the organization. Conflicts are inevitable organizations and they should be dealt with as they occur to avoid future conflict (Ogbonna & Harris, 2000). Thus, as much as the organization has developed a support culture, it is important not to become a victim to this weakness. Still, due to concern of equal treatment among employees, it is possible to ignore differences in their skills and abilities and make decisions subjectively. This has the danger of negatively affecting the organization’s effectiveness. The organization also has adopted the achievement orientation culture, which it expresses differently from the previous culture orientations. However, as indicated before, they all exist in combination and in one way or another contribute to the organization’s effectiveness. To achieve the goals of the organization, employees are aligned with a common vision (Mozaffari, 2008). This cultural orientation acknowledges the common vision of the organization and through the organization’s mission, management is able to attract and utilize employees’ individual energy to achieve common goals. In particular, the organization has established a clear mission that focuses on the individual energy of the employees (Zheng, Yang, & McLean, 2010). A part from the mission, the organization has put in place systems and structures which serve the organization’s mission. Compared to the rules of the role orientation, systems and structures are more flexible such that they can easily be changed when changes in the mission take place (van Stuyvesant, 2008). Thus, through existing systems and structures the organization brings employees on board and ensures they work toward achieving organizational goals more effectively. The acceptance of the achievement-oriented culture and the way in which it is expressed allows employees to offer what they have in terms of competencies more willingly to the organization (van Stuyvesant, 2008). This is because, employees have always and continue to make their contributions without any form of coercion in response to the commitment they have toward their shared purpose (O'Donnell & Boyle, 2008). In deed, this has resulted to the prosperity of the organization. In addition, the expression of this cultural orientation leads to increase personal energy, enthusiasm, and involvement of the employees in the organization (Naranjo-Valencia, Jiménez-Jiménez, & Sanz-Valle, 2011). This is a positive indication and leads to organization’s effectiveness. However, as much as the expression of achievement-oriented culture is praised for promoting high energy and involvement, the organization may find it difficult to sustain such employees (van Stuyvesant, 2008). This is due to the fact that employees are can easily be subject to disillusionment and burnout, especially when they do not achieve the results. Also, in the situation where the organization is under-organized, employees will not have the required time to plan for objectives. This implies that they will only rely on the common mission of the organization to manage their work (Gregory et al., 2008). The risk of the organization’s mission taking on various forms for different sections of the organization is that the organization is likely to lose unity of effort and this can compromise the achievement of organization’s effectiveness (Yiing, & Ahmad, 2009). All in all, the organization should always ensure that it aligns employees with its common vision or purpose to realize the benefits of the achievement-oriented culture in regard to organization’s effectiveness. To some extent, the organization displays clan culture which is communicated differently among employees. It is characterized by employee loyalty, personal commitment, teamwork and self-management. The center of attention for the organization is internal, but it maintains a flexible formal control so to achieve the best results (Hellriegel et al., 2004). This culture has led employees to acknowledge an obligation that exceeds their job description. In stead, employees have recognized that they have to contribute to the organization beyond their contractual agreements (van Stuyvesant, 2008). Most employees in the organization express their long-term commitment to the organization by being loyal and they expect the organization to show long-term commitment to them in the form of job security. Through such commitment from both ends, the organization is able to retain staff which helps achieve organizational goals and objectives (Yukl, 2008). The organization has also been able to create unity among employees through a long and effective socialization process. In this case older employees serve as role models and mentors for newer employees in the organization. Therefore, younger employees are usually directed on what to do to improve their performance and this can have a positive impact on the organization’s effectiveness (Hellriegel et al., 2004). Sometimes there is strong peer pressure, especially from older employees to hold on essential norms within the organization. This creates a situation in which some departments are within the organization are left free from normative pressure leading to innovation and risk-taking behaviour by employees (van Stuyvesant, 2008). In fact, the success of the organization, in particular organization’s effectiveness is thought to occur as a result of teamwork, consensus decision making, concern for people, and employee participation and sensitivity to customers. Despite all the appealing aspects to this form of cultural expression, it is possible that older employees in the organization may not direct new entrants the right way, in line with the norm of the organization (Mozaffari, 2008). This implies that they will not be of value to the organization and may actually lead it the wrong direction. Generally, culture in the organization is based on unique model of shared assumptions, norms, values, symbols, attitudes, rituals, socialization, beliefs, and employee expectations (Naranjo-Valencia et al., 2011). Employees have always taken for granted and believed to be correct the shared assumptions of the organization. In addition, they guide employees’ views, emotions and feelings about various aspects in the organization and how these aspects function. The organization uses these assumptions to teach new employees since they define how employees are supposed to think, perceive and feel about problems (Yiing & Ahmad, 2009). Through shared values, the organization ensures that employees value both ethical and socially acceptable conduct. The values of the organization are strongly associated with ethical and moral codes, and determine how employees behave (O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008). The organization also has shared norms and they define appropriate attitudes and behaviors within the organization. Normally, when new employees enter the organization, they are introduced to existing norms and are expected to uphold those norms (O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008). Also, the organization ahs shared symbols, language and practices to enhance organization’s effectiveness. The organization uses symbols because they are basic observable expression of culture, such as logo and office layout. On the other hand, shared practices are also used to define organization’s culture. Shared practices comprise of rights, taboos and ceremonies and they are considered important in the organization (Watson, 2006). In conclusion, the organization displays various cultural types which are expressed differently. Some of these cultures are predominant and the organization balances them ensure that the existing culture support new practices and values. The culture orientations the organization practices include role orientation, the support orientation, the achievement orientation, and clan culture. These cultures are expressed through the manner in which work is performed. The systems, procedures, and practices have been put in place that defines the expected behaviour from employees and management at large. Thus, all members of the organization conduct themselves in a way that promotes and maintains organizational culture. Through different cultural expressions, the organization has achieved organizational effectiveness. However, there are some situations where the way in which organizational culture is expressed hinders the achievement of organization’s effectiveness. All in all, management should ensure that organizational culture provides a more instant framework for leadership action to remain maintain organizational effectiveness. References Brand, G. (2006). 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