Organizational culture

Culture means that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by man in a society. Organisation culture can be said to contain a whole complex pattern of beliefs, expectations, ideas, values, attitudes and behaviours displayed by one and all the employees. According to Schein, organisational culture may specifically include: a) The routine behaviours and norms which are practiced and shared throughout the organisation such as organisational rituals, ceremonies, common language used and the concept of what should be a fair days work for a fair days pay b) The dominant values and philosophy followed by the organisation. c) The rules of the game for a new comer to learn in order to be accepted as a member of the organisation. d) The organisational climate of an organization conveyed by the physical layout and the manner in which managers and employees interact with customers and outsiders.

Elements of organisational culture

Individual Autonomy: the degree of responsibility, freedom and opportunities of exercising initiative that individuals have in the organisation. Structure: The degree to which the organisation creates clear objectives, performance expectations and authority relationship. Management Support: The degree to which managers provide clear communication, assistance, warmth and support to their subordinates. Identity: The degree to which members identify with the organisation as a whole rather than with their particular work group or field of professional expertise. Performance Reward System: The degree to which reward system in the organisation like increase in salary, promotion etc. is based on employee performance rather than on seniority, favoritism and so on. Aggressiveness: The extent to which people in the organisation are aggressive and competitive rather than easy going .

 Risk Tolerance: The degree to which employee are to be innovative, aggressive, and risk taking. Communication Patterns: The degree to which organisational communications are restricted to the formal hierarchy of authority. Outcome Orientation: The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and procedures used to achieve these outcomes. People Orientation: The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the impact of outcomes on people within the organisation. Conflict Tolerance: The degree of conflict present in relationships between colleagues and workgroups as well as the degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflict and criticisms openly. Based on these characteristics, an organisational culture can be identified. This culture becomes unique for every organisation and distinguishes it form other organisations.

Role and significance of organisational culture

1) Each organisation is recognised by its culture. Whenever people name an organisation, the culture attached to the organisation is immediately recalled. An organisation is distinctively different from other organisation by virtue of its cultural beliefs, values and norms. 2) Organisational culture creates the boundary beyond which no employees are permitted to go. They automatically observe the organisational standards and norms of behavior. 3) The social recognition of the organisational culture makes the organisation grow and develop in all dimensions. 4) Culture enhances organisational commitment and increases the consistency of employee behavior. 5) Culture reduces ambiguity. It tells implicitly what to do and how to do.

Types of culture
1) Authoritarian and Participative Culture: In an authoritarian culture, there is centralization of power with the leader. Obedience to orders and discipline are stressed. Any disobedience is punished severely to set an example to others, The basic assumption is that the leader knows what is good for the organisation and he always act in its interests. Participative Culture tends to emerge where most organisational members see themselves as equals and take part in decision making. 2) Dominant Culture: A Dominant culture is a set of core values shared by majority of the organization's members. When we talk of organisational culture, we generally mean dominant culture only. At The dominant culture is a macro view, beliefs, values and attitudes that helps guide the day to day behavior of employees.

Entrepreneurial Culture: High Level of risk taking, dynamism, and creativity characterize an entrepreneurial culture. There is a commitment to experimentation, innovation, and being on leading edge. This culture doesnt just quickly react to changes in the environment, rather it create change.

Creating a culture
Organisation culture provides the members with a sense of organisational identity and generates a commitment to beliefs and values that are larger than themselves. Though ideas that become part of culture can come from any where within the organisation, n organization's culture generally begins with the founder or early leader who articulates and implements particular ideas and values as a vision, philosophy, or business strategy when these ideas and values lead to success, they become institutionalized and give shape to an organisational culture. Organisational norms and values transmitted in employees in a number of ways, the more important being: a) stories: Learning organisational norms and values through stories includes circulation of informal and oral narration of events about the organisation, its founder, rules in practice, and other organisational practices. These stories reflects the cultural values of the organisation and specially expressed in orienting new employees. These stories remind employees as to why do things in a certain way

Rituals : rituals are repetitive sequence of activities that express and reinforce the key values of the organisation. These activities are enacted on important occasions. For Example: Many organisations have rituals, such as organizing functions to honor top performers which convey that high performance is held as extreme important. Material Symbols: Various material symbols used by the organisation convey specific meanings. For example: certain dress code or companys Logo can reflect its values and orientations.