The Organizational Culture and How It Can Be Influenced by Leaders - Essay Example

Running header: The Organizational Culture and How It Can Be Influenced by Leaders Student’s name: Name of institution: Instructor’s name: Course code: Date of submission: Introduction A strategic leader creates and maintains those organizational characteristics that encourage and reward collective efforts. This goal thrives on a relative psychological uniformity throughout the organizational, and is aimed at exhibiting and exercising the same commitment to common goals. This characteristic is known as Organizational Culture. Organizational Culture does not have a single definition. It has been defined from various perspectives, including sociology, anthropology, management science and organizational behavior. Schein’s definition (2004) generally captures the basic concept of Organizational Culture. He sees it as a set of basic assumptions and beliefs shared by members of an organization, and by which the organization responds to its problems of survival in the external environment and its internal problems of survival integration. He notes that organizational culture operates unconsciously, normally taken for granted in the organization’s perception of itself as well as immediate environment. Organizational culture, therefore, comprises of clearly observable forms: language, customs, use of symbols, problem-solving methods, work-setting (Hill, 1995). This paper aims to define in clearer detail the organizational culture and the significance of leaders in understanding and establishing it. Understanding the Organizational Culture Schein (2004) proposes three general levels of culture that can also be found in organizations. Behavior and Artifact level refers to observable patterns of behavior and outward manifestations of culture, including dress codes, perquisites to executives, physical design of work settings, technology utilization, etc. This level is difficult to interpret. This level only shows ‘what’ the group is doing, not ‘why’ (Schein, 2004). Values, not explicitly observable, form the second level. They underlie or influence behavior and artifacts. The next level is Assumptions and Beliefs. This is the deepest level in the sense that people are mostly unaware of or simply cannot articulate their assumptions and beliefs. Schein (2004) argues that assumptions and beliefs are a result of values. One must understand all these levels, including an organization’s cultural units; the discernible organizational culture and subcultures, in order to fully understand the concept of culture. There are two schools of thought in the perception of organizational culture: one, culture as an implicit aspect of social life (Hill, 1995), asserting that organizational culture emerges ‘naturally’ as individuals transform themselves to fit into social groups; and two, as an explicit product of social life resulting from social interaction. In other words, organizational culture is either an intentional or an unintentional consequence of behavior. In line with the second school of thought, this paper argues that organizational culture can and is partly created, maintained and transformed by its leadership. Leaders sit at a strategic position, but also have the benefit of executive power. Thus leaders are principally the ones who “generate and re-infuse an organization’s ideology, articulate its core values and specify norms” (National Defense University). The Role of Leaders in Influencing Organizational Culture The most perplexing issue that leaders face today is change. Not only are there changes in technology, but also in the needs of leadership today. Organizations must therefore re-invent their response behaviors. In this light, leaders are constantly being challenged to act and think differently. They must reconceptualize not only the roles, but also the goals of their organizations, and how people in these organizations must work together in order to achieve the set goals. These goals cannot be actualized without the participation of all people in the organization (Kouzes & Posner 1987). Reconceptualization here refers to interpreting the world in different ways (National Defense University). Strategic leaders have to create not only the means, but also the opportunities for employees to look at themselves and their capabilities in new ways. In agreement Clawson (2006) argues that leadership must also influence level two, that is, conscious thought. Leaders, to succeed in this, must clearly and effectively communicate the new ideologies and values, create ways to help the employees internalize them and translate them into productive thinking and working methods. Akin to Schein’s (2004) levels of organizational behavior, Clawson (2006) proposes three leadership levels, referring to the different types of behavior that leaders should seek to influence in the organization. These are basically the types of characteristics that a leader can exhibit: first, visible behavior; second, conscious thought; and finally, basic semiconscious or preconscious assumptions and values (Clawson 2006, p.51). Leaders as Unifiers of Organization’s Overall Culture and Its Subcultures Apparently, organizations do not really have homogenous cultures. Rather than one overarching culture, they are mosaics of interacting subcultures that share specific characteristics and have a sense of identification based on their professional or occupational skills, work group, age group, or union membership. Still, these subgroups remain linked with the ideologies, values and norms defined by the organization’s leadership (National Defense University). The question here should be on how the subcultures can and do compliment the overall organizational culture as advocated by its leadership. To explain this relationship, one must understand that cultures provide reliable means by which to interpret ambiguous environments. Leaders, therefore, must define and specify those characteristics of the working environment relevant to the organization, as well as provide the assumptions and rationale that supports the organization’s operating strategies (Schein, 2004). In their cultural messages, the leaders should consider and address ambiguities that go beyond the boundaries or scope of the subcultures and limit any attempts to eliminate subcultural distinctions (Yukl, 2010). Leaders can foster productive relationship between the organizational subcultures. They must consistently communicate how the employees, in spite of the sub-cultural differences, must perform for the ultimate achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives. Thus, a healthy interrelationship between subcultures relies on the ability of the leaders to communicate by techniques that transcend sub-cultural boundaries. There are a number of techniques of cultural communication by which leaders can link subcultures to the overall organization’s cultural objectives. Example linking mechanisms include cultural forms (Yukl, 1998). These provide a means by which networks of understanding among employees are established and developed. Cultural forms enhance the transmission of messages on positive culture to influence thought and behavior. These have been employed in federal agencies. Cultural forms are, amongst others: rites. These are activities meant to consolidate different cultural expression forms into as a single event, thereby helping social interaction; ceremonial. These are the rites associated with a single organizational event or occasion; and ritual, standard organizational techniques and behaviors by which anxieties are managed (National Defense University). Formulating Culture-Transforming Strategies Strategic leadership has to be transformational in order to be successful at serving the organization. In this effort, the leader must have a basic understanding of the complex factors that facilitate, support and enhance the organization’s collective effort. They must personally act in line with high morals and work ethics, exhibit productive beliefs, values and norms, and show others to follow in the footsteps. This is generally known as “symbolical teaching” (National Defense University), and involves an artful crafting of new organizational elements: stories, symbols, traditions and humor. This facilitates the productive management of the ambiguities surrounding overall organizational life in a way that all members can manage. “Without this collective understanding…it is impossible for the memers to internalize the new ways of thinking and acting” (National Defense University). Scheins (2004) proposes certain specific steps that leaders can employ to influence organizational culture: Deliberate teaching, coaching and role-modeling Leaders were once seen as merely those who controlled, planned and inspected the organization operations. Today, the scope of leaders’ roles has broadened to include “motivating and inspiring other staff members, as well as fostering positive work attitudes and creating a sense of importance and contribution among and with the employees” (Palmer et al. 2000, p.5). Unless a leader does what he preaches, he cannot effect action in the members of the organization. A leader must therefore teach y example. Not only does he concur that leadership does affect human activity, but Clawson (2006) also provides, in this light, the three leadership levels. Reinforcing this through teaching and coaching, or training, helps the ‘led’ to internalize these desirable values and norms. Leaders must pay attention, measure and control. Paying attention to, emphasizing and measuring certain things can, over time, influence the organizational culture. For instance, if leaders pay much attention to and emphasize on form, the members start to believe that presentation of a substance is more important than the substance itself (Yukl & Van Fleet, 1992). How leaders should react to organizational crises critical incidents Mishra (1996) generally defines crisis as a threat to the survival of a system involving a poorly structured situation, and with inadequate time and other resources to respond to the situation. The very nature of crisis always brings out the underlying value of an organization. Mishra (1996) contends, arguing that the developmental result(s) of a crisis: positive or negative, depends on the “organizational behavior” during the crisis (Mishra 1996, p.262). Response to crises is always conspicuous since all attention is drawn to the crises. As such, crises always expose any disparities between actions and words. More than attention, crises generate great emotional involvement from those associated with it, especially those that threaten its survival. In the end, crises either reinforce the existing organizational culture or lead to cultural change. This provides a leader with the opportunity to influence the organization’s culture. “Leaders who manage their personal emotions well and display a great degree of self-control become role models to the other staff members” (Barling et al. 2000, p.157). Criteria for reward and statues allocation The organizations dictation of what behavior is rewarded and punished can greatly influence culture. An organization that ridicules new ideas and fights those who propose them makes it clear that new ideas are unwelcome. This can be reflected in the organization statement. Equally, a leader can influence an organization’s culture by influencing the way in which recruitment is carried out, including the people brought into the organization, retained or promoted in the organization (National Defense University, n.d.). An organization can assert its culture by injecting in people who share its fundamental values, while eliminating those who with unsuitable value bases. This is what organizations do when they decide to tighten standard for admission. This strategy stems from the belief that ‘ad apples’ bear bad results. Ultimately, the success of leadership to influence thought and behavior, and the organizational culture in general depends on its charisma (Yukl, 2010). Charisma here, according to organizational behaviorists, generally refers to the ability of a leader to win the trust, commitment and personal sacrifice of the staff based on ideological values, rather than material gain (House, 1999). Conclusion Leaders seeking to attain strategic outcomes must understand culture and the ways: the tools and techniques, to transform it. Strategic leaders must have the right perspective from which to witness cultural dynamics, and decide the transformational requirements: what should done away with or e retained (Yukl, 2010). Transformational leadership is the key essence of strategic success. References Barling, J., Slater, F. & Kelloway, E 2000, Transformational Leadership and Emotional Intelligence: an Exploratory Study, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp.157-161 Hill, L 1995, Power Dynamics in Organizations, Harvard Business School, Vol. 9, p. 494-583. House, R.J., 1999, Weber and the Neo-Charismatic Leadership Paradigm: a Response to Beyer, Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 10, No.4, pp. 563-574 Kouzes, J. & Posner, B 1987, When Leaders are at their best, In: The Leadership Challenge: How to Get Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass. Ch. 1. Mishra, A.K., 1996, Organizational Response to Crisis: the Centrality of Trust. In: R. Kramer & T.Tyler, Trust in Organizations: frontiers of theory and research. Ch.13. Palmer, B., Walls, M., Burgess, Z. & Stough, C 2000, Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 22, No.1, pp.5-10 Schein, E.H. 2004, Organizational Culture and Leadership, John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey. National Defense University n.d., Strategic Leadership and Decision Making, Viewed 28 March 2012 from, http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr- dm/pt4ch16.html Yukl, G. 2010, Leadership in Organizations, Global Edition (7th Edition), Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Pearson Prentice-Hall Inc Yukl, G. & Van Fleet, D. 1992, Theory and Research on Leadership in Organizations. In: M.D. Dunnette and L.M. Hough, eds. 1992, Handbook of Industrial & Organizational Psychology, 2nd ed. CA, Consulting Psychologists Press. Yukl, Gary 1998, Influences Processes and Managerial Effectiveness. In: S. Johnson, N. Anderson and L. Brassini, eds. 1998. Leadership in Organizations. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Read More