(Part A)

What is Organizational Culture?

Just like humans, organization have their culture too. When we talk about human culture it
varies according to their personal traits, as an organization it has personality too which we
call its culture. Organizational culture has been defined as the shared values, principles,
traditions and ways of doing things that influence the way organizational member acts. In
most organizations, these shared values and practices have been evolved over time and
determine, to a larger extent and how things are done around here. Organizational culture
indicates three things. First, organizational culture is a perception. It’s not something that can
be physically touched or seen but employees perceive it on the basis of what they experience
within the organization. Second, organizational culture is descriptive. It’s concerned with
how members perceive the culture and describe it, not with whether they like it. Finally,
organizational culture is shared aspects. Even though, individuals may have different
backgrounds or work at different organizational levels, they tend to describe the
organization’s culture in similar terms. Organization culture affects the organization's
productivity and performance, and provides guidelines on customer care and service, product
quality and safety, attendance and punctuality, and concern for the environment. It also
extends to production-methods, marketing and advertising practices, and to new product
creation. Organizational culture is unique for every organization and one of the hardest things
to change. According to job hunting site Glassdoor.com through its enormous database,
Edelman (Public Relation Firm), Riverbed (Computer Network Equipment) and Southwest
(Airlines) are some of organization where employees say they have the best organizational
cultures. All organizations have cultures but not all cultures equally influence employees’
behaviours and actions. Culture can be divided into Strong Culture and Weak Culture. Strong
Culture is defined as those in which the key values are intensely held and widely shared to
everyone in the organization starting from bottom to top level management people. Weak
Culture is defined as only certain people will know or get to know about the organizational
culture probably the Top Managers and Middle Managers. Figure 1 below, contrast between
strong and weak cultures.

STRONG CULTURES WEAK CULTURES

-Values widely shared -Values limited to few people
-Culture conveys consistent messages about - Culture sends contradictory messages about

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 what’s important
-Most employees can tell stories about
company history or heroes
-Employees strongly identify with culture
-Strong connection between shared values
and behaviours
what’s important
-Employees have little knowledge of company
history or heroes
-Employees have little identification with culture
-Little connection between shared values and
behaviours

Strong cultures will have a greater influence on employees than do weaker cultures. The
more employees accept the organization’s key values and the greater their commitment to
those values, the stronger the culture is. Most organizations have moderate to strong cultures;
that is, there relatively is relatively high agreement on what’s important, what defines good
employee behaviour, what it takes to get ahead and so forth. The stronger a culture becomes,
the more if affects the way managers plan, organize, lead and control. Why is having a strong
culture important? For one thing, in organizations with strong cultures, employees are most
loyal than are employees in organizations with weak cultures. Research also suggests that
strong cultures are associated with high organizational performance. If values are clear and
widely accepted, employees know what they’re supposed to do and what’s expected of them,
so they can act quickly to take care of problems. However, the drawback is that strong culture
also might prevent employees from trying new approaches especially when conditions are
changing rapidly.

What are the dimension of Organizational Culture?

Research suggests seven elements or dimensions of organizational culture that can be used
for better understanding about organizational culture.

Figure 1:-

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These dimensions range from low to high organizational culture. In many organization, one
cultural dimension often is emphasized more than the others and essentially shapes the
organization’s personality and way organizational members work. For example, at Sony
Corporation the focus is product innovation (innovation risk taking).

Where does Culture Come From?

An organization’s culture is shaped as the organization faces external and internal challenges
and learns how to deal with them. When the organization’s way of doing business provides a
successful adaptation to environmental challenges and ensures success, those values are
retained. These values and ways of doing business are taught to new employees as the way to
do business. Just like humans, organization culture comes from their parents. Parents in this
line meaning the Organization Founder. The original source of the culture usually reflects the

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vision and mission, past practise and the top management behaviour of an organization.
Figure 1 shows how organizations culture is established and maintained.

Figure 1:-

Philosophy of
Organization’s
Founders Top
Management

Organization’s
Culture

Selection
Criteria Socialization

When organization founder establish their own businesses, the way they want to do business
determines the organization’s vision and mission. The vision of an organization will be what
the organization wants to do in the following year or in a specific period and mission of an
organization will be the reason for the organization to exist. As an example, the Vision and
Mission of Fresh n Freeze a Pakistan Company is Vision (Fresh n Freeze will be the No.1
Food processing company of Pakistan with a globally recognized and trusted brand name
synonymous with taste and quality) and Mission (Is to develop, produce, process and market
food products of the highest quality from Pakistan by utilizing the country’s extensive farmer
network and tradition of business excellence acquired over 30 years). Next, past practises of
the organization founder also influence the organizations cultures. Organization founder will
try to interconnect his previous good experiences or values that he or she learnt in other
businesses to his current organizations culture for the organization to be successful.
However, this past practises probably would not be surviving in the upcoming decades later
for the organization just like they had helped the organization in its initial stages. As an
example, an organization founder cannot be using the same organization culture for a
company built in early 90’s and a newly built company. Once the culture is in place, certain
organizational practises help to maintain it. For an example, during the employee selection
process managers typically judge job candidates not only on the job requirements but also on

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how well they might fit into the organization. At the same time, job candidates find out
information about the organization and determine whether they are comfortable with what
they see. The action of top managers also have a major impact on the organization’s culture.
Part of the top managers’ influence over culture is through role modelling. Many studies have
suggested that top manager’s behaviour, the consistency between organizational policy and
top manager’s actions and top managers role modelling determine the degree to which the
organization’s culture emphasizes ethics. The top managers’ own behaviours will signal to
individuals what is acceptable behaviour and what is unacceptable. In an organization in
which high-level managers make the effort to involve others in decision making and seek
opinions of others, a team-oriented culture is more likely to evolve. By acting as role models,
top managers send signals to the organization about the norms and values that are expected to
guide the actions of its members. For example, IBM’s CEO Sam Palmisano wanted
employees to value teamwork, so he chose to take several million dollars from his yearly
bonus and give it to his top executives based on their teamwork. Finally, organizations help
employees to adapt to the organization culture through socialization or onboarding.
Socialization is a process that help new employees to learn the organization’s way of doing
things. If an organization can successfully socialize new employees into becoming
organizational insiders, new employees will feel accepted by their peers and confident
regarding their ability to perform; they will also understand and share the assumptions,
norms, and values that are part of the organization’s culture. This understanding and
confidence in turn translate into more effective new employees who perform better and have
higher job satisfaction, stronger organizational commitment, and longer tenure within the
company. For an example, new employees at Starbucks stores go through 24 hours of
intensive training that helps turn them into brewing consultants (baristas).

How Employees Learn Culture?

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 STORIES

How
Employees
RITUALS Learn LANGUAGE
Culture

MATERAL
S
ARTIFACT
S AND
SYMBOLS

1) Stories: - The most colourful and effective way in which organizations communicate
their culture to new employees and organizational members is through the skilled use
of stories. A story can highlight a critical event an organization faced and the
organization’s response to it, or a heroic effort of a single employee illustrating the
company’s values. The stories usually engage employee emotions and generate
employee identification with the company or the heroes of the tale. A compelling
story may be a key mechanism through which managers motivate employees by
giving their behaviour direction and by energizing them toward a certain goal. For an
example, there is the story about the 3M scientist who spilled chemicals on her tennis
shoe and came with Scotchgard. These stories reflect what made 3M great and what it
will take to continue that success.
2) Language: - Language is another way to identify an organization’s culture.
Companies often have their own acronyms and buzzwords that are clear to them and
help set apart organizational insiders from outsiders. In business, this code is known
as jargon. Jargon is the language of specialized terms used by a group or profession.
Every profession, trade, and organization has its own specialized terms. FIR (First
Information Report) is an example of jargon by Police Department.

3) Material Artifacts and Symbols: - Reactions that people experience when walk into an
organization demonstrate the power of material artifacts and symbols in
organization’s personality. Material artifacts and symbols convey the employees who

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 is important and the kinds of behaviour that are expected like risk taking, participation
and authority. For an example, visitors walking into the Nike campus in Beaverton,
Oregon, can witness first-hand some of the distinguishing characteristics of the
company’s culture. The campus is set on 74 acres and boasts an artificial lake,
walking trails, soccer fields, and cutting-edge fitness centres. The campus functions as
a symbol of Nike’s values such as energy, physical fitness, an emphasis on quality,
and a competitive orientation. In addition, at fitness centres on the Nike headquarters,
only those using Nike shoes and apparel are allowed in. This sends a strong signal that
loyalty is expected. The company’s devotion to athletes and their winning spirit are
manifested in campus buildings named after famous athletes, photos of athletes
hanging on the walls and their statues dotting the campus. 
4) Rituals: - Rituals refer to repetitive activities within an organization that have
representational meaning. Usually rituals have their roots in the history of a
company’s culture. They create friendship and a sense of belonging among
employees. They also serve to teach employees corporate values and create
identification with the organization. For example, at the cosmetics firm Mary Kay
Inc., employees attend ceremonies recognizing their top salespeople with an award of
a new car traditionally a pink Cadillac. These ceremonies are conducted in large
auditoriums where participants wear elaborate evening gowns and sing company
songs that create emotional excitement. During this ritual, employees feel a
connection to the company culture and its values such as self-determination,
willpower, and enthusiasm.