In the blog last week, we concluded our series on presentation skills by reviewing how to respond effectively to comments and questions from the audience. In the blog this week, we begin a new series on organisational culture with an attempt to define what it is. Being able to define and adapt to contrasting organisational cultures is of particular importance to people aiming to work or study overseas as it helps to limit the prospect of culture shock.
Defining the organisational culture
Perhaps the simplest and most immediately meaningful definition of organisational culture is that it is just the way we do things around here. This can be either explicit in terms of clearly defined rules, expectations, and behaviour, or implicit in the way that members lead their daily life within the organisation. Either way, the culture directly affects employee engagement and the overall organisational performance. Then, culture also helps organisations to navigate challenges and adapt to changes that inevitably arise in the external environment.
Next, there are four levels to any organisational culture of, first, the surface symbols, then what are called heroes, followed by rituals, and concluding with the deeper underlying values. Hofstede depicts these levels in the form of an onion where layers can be peeled away to progressively reveal ever deeper characteristics that underpin the culture of any organisation or nation.
Symbols
On the surface of symbols, we encounter the immediately visible aspects such as the building design, the logo, the use of colours, and issues such as dress codes. These surface level representations are relatively easy to adapt or change.
Heroes
Then, at the deeper level of heroes there are individuals who have had a profound influence on the development of the organisation such the founder, significant leaders or innovative characters that have shaped the progress of the organisation.
Rituals
After this, there are the rituals that include the way people are internally and externally greeted, the way meetings are organised, and the methods used to present information to internal and external audiences.
Values
At the deepest level, we arrive at the core values such as the mission statement, prescriptions about relationships with clients or customers, and rules that govern quality control standards. Finally, all these come together to produce the day-to-day practises of the organisation such as the management style, specific procedures, and the control systems.
This is obviously just a basic introduction to topic of organisational culture that we will be exploring in a lot more detail over the next few weeks.
Question 1
Do customers or clients play a role in defining the organisational culture?
Question 2
To what extent might the sector in which an organisation operates influence the cultural values?
Question 3
Why is culture important to the successful functioning of an organisation?
We shall explore Question 3 in the next blog.
References
Hofstede, G. (1996). Cultures and organizations, software of the mind: intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. McGraw-Hill.
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