Lesson 5 between different departments, and in board
Power and Politics rooms in businesses across the world.
Power And Politics Within a Business
Organizational
Every environment has their own internal
system that is dictated by aspects such as
power and politics. These things have as
much control over the functionality of an
organizational as the individual features of
organizational behavior. Often, they can
shift how those components develop and
affect those in the environment as well.
Their impact-and that of those who control
them-can shape the entire dynamics of an
organization more so than any other force.
Power and politics within a business or
organization are rather similar to the
traditional political structures of government:
authority is divided throughout the different
parts of the system that power is exerted
in.1 There are often different sources of
power competing for control, which isn't
necessarily a bad thing until someone
decides to fight dirty. The internal politics of
an organization, too, can be polarized as
everyone will most likely relate to one side
of an issue over another no matter how
neutral they attempt to remain. All in all, the
organizational power and politics in a
business can be a fascinating and unique
thing that can have a serious impact on
organizational behavior.
Power Struggles In Business
Power struggles are a common occurrence
in society, not just business. One person
wants something from someone else, yet
that person isn't willing to budge on the
issue and just hand it over. In response, that
first person may try to exert their own power
and authority (perceived or actual) to try and
persuade the other person to concede.2 It's
a tactic that can work on occasion, but it can
make a situation turn combative and toxic
when it isn't successful. It occurs between
co-workers, employees and their
supervisors, amongst management,
As normal as they are, power struggles are
not an effective way to get things done in a
working environment. They can damage the
climate of the workplace, turning it toxic and
stressful even for those who are not
involved. It wastes time that can be better
used towards productivity and often causes
the situation to unnecessarily
escalate.3 When a power struggle escalates,
it often drags office politics into the mix and
forces people to take a side. Attempts to
avoid taking sides or getting roped in don't
always work, and you may still be
bombarded with the conflict even if you are
successful in staying out of the situation.
The ability to stay out of a power struggle is
a skill that can give you a lot of power in
business, one that is best used to protect
yourself. Surviving a power struggle is often
the goal regardless of what industry you
work in. There's still the aftermath to deal
with when the dust settles, and the effects
can hit anyone who happens to be standing
too close. Experts say that if you want to not
get involved with a power struggle, then
your best bet is to not acknowledge a
person's position in an argument, but their
feelings.4 Make neutral observations, which
can be used supportively should either party
confront you about the situation and your
stance in it; i.e. 'This has got to be so
frustrating. I hope you two are able to work
things out' or something similar that
validates the emotional component of the
situation.
Power Types and What They Do
Power in a business environment typically
translates into authority and influence, and
can manifest differently. People develop
professional power differently, based on
factors like their job, their position within the
company, and the industry that the business
is in. Typically, there are five types of power
present in business:
Legitimate-Based on a person's position in
the structural hierarchy of a business.
Legitimate power can only be given and
wielded through, well, legitimate means,
e.g. the person earned their position.5 Those
with legitimate power often can only exert
their power on those below them in the
hierarchy, not above. A CEO, for example,
has legitimate power over a general
manager in the same company, but the
general manager doesn't have legitimate
power over the CEO.
Coercive-Coercive power can be rather
harsh and easily prone to abuse due to the
abilities associated with it. Those with
coercive power influence others through
punishments, sanctions, and threats. It
works well to ensure that employee
behavior follows policy and can be used to
deal with violations. Most disciplinary
actions are carried out via coercive power,
including firing or terminating someone from
the business.
Reward-The opposite of coercive power,
this type influences other with rewards like
promotions and bonuses.6 It generates an
incentive to motivate someone to do
something and acts as a positive
reinforcement for behavior. Performance
reviews and their administrators tend to how
some level of reward power in a business.
Referent-Those who are revered or
admired in a business have referent power.
Typically, leaders gain this power when their
actions prompt a positive rapport and trust
between them and the employees under
them. Most of the time, it will be evident if a
person has referent power by talking to their
employees; positive praise, loyalty, and
other responses are good indicators.
Expert-Those who have expert status tend
to have power over those who do not. It is
gained through experience, skill, and
knowledge in regards to certain topics or
areas of interest.7 A person doesn't
necessarily have to have expert status to
have expert power; those with more
knowledge of a subject can have expert
power over those who know less. Those
with expert power tend to have it reflected in
their reputation and their credibility on
things.
The Politics of Business
As mentioned before, there is a political side
to business. In a sense, it follows the same
science behind the politics found in
government.8 There is leadership that
guides the group as a whole and a company
philosophy and ethical code that everyone
is expected to adhere to. The set up and
style of the business' leadership determines
how power is divided and what role, if any,
the employees have in how the business is
run. The people in that business tend to
have their own agenda in all of this, shaped
by their behavior and viewpoints, that
surpasses the agenda of the organization
as a whole-which is the entire premise
behind organizational or business poltics.
Politics tend to come up in a business when
someone begins to act on their own interest
without regard to others in the company. It
commonly comes into play during times of
conflict and power struggles, as people with
conflicting agendas will typically be the ones
at odds. Most experts and leaders state that
business politics are more harmful than
good; they're inherently selfish. Business
politics bring down productivity amongst
employees through distraction, hurts
motivation and morale, increases stress
levels, and warps the environment of the
business.
Business politics do the worst damage
when business leaders act according to
their personal agendas. Those in positions
of power will exert their authority based on
their politics, which can lead to abuse. This
may also encourage conflict between
opposing political sides. Leaders higher up
in the business' hierarchy, like CEOs, can
stir-up politics in their company regardless
of if they are political themselves.11 Changes
to policies and leadership, as well as
changes to the components of
organizational behavior, can help reduce
2
the power of office politics-or bolster them, if
not done correctly.
Warning Signs Of Abuse In Positions Of
Power
When politics and power come into play in a
business, there is the chance that someone
will abuse the authority that they have. This
can be anyone who has some degree of
power, no matter where they sit in the
business' hierarchy or how long they've held
that position. When a person abuses their
power or goes on a power trip, it can have
damaging consequences for everyone.
Depending on how it starts and the person's
position, it may not be immediately evident
that they are abusing their power. Here are
some of the warning signs common to
abuse of power in the workplace:
Unfair Disciplinary Measures-In some
cases, a person will abuse their power
in order to but those they have seniority
over. As a result, they may inflict unfair
disciplinary measures on others for
mistakes. These tend to be punishments
that do not fit the error that was made-if
one was actually made, that is. A person
could intentionally be picking on a
specific employee or unleashing their
power on everyone during a power trip.
Superiority-Superiority develops when
someone is put into a higher position and
their ego takes over. It's usually done to rub
the fact that they now have power into the
face of someone who doesn't and boost
their ego. They may humiliate those who
are positioned below them and make people
do things simply because they can make
them do that.12 One of the worst parts of this
is that they will most likely try to convince
you that you have no power over them and
you can't do nothing. (Spoiler alert: You
can.)
"My Way or the Highway" Behavior-If a
person has an authoritarian streak in their
personality, it's quite likely that it will come
out in full force once they get an inkling of
power over someone else. They will try to
get their way through ultimatums and
bullying, and will most likely micromanage
everyone to make sure no one
strays. There's no leeway for anyone
(except for them) and even
the tiniest deviation is enough to warrant
their wrath. Sometimes this is a tactic that is
used to prevent anyone else from looking
professionally better than them and to block
any kind of advancement or growth.
Disrespecting Boundaries and Abilities-
Usually tied in as a kind of discrimination or
harassment (depending on how it's being
carried out), disrespecting employees
personal boundaries and abilities tends to
generate a very hostile work environment.
It's usually done to get something else from
a person-such as in sexual harassment-or
to demean or humiliate them. This can be
especially problematic because instances
can extend outside of the business and drag
down morale within it.
Aggression-Everyone has lost their
temper with another person before but it's
not supposed to be a normal occurrence.
Abuse in the workplace isn't always going to
manifest solely as a byproduct of authority.
Verbal and physical abuse has occurred in
the professional world in varying degrees.
Violence can be an intense way to
intimidate people and it's one of the most
common causes of injury and death in the
workplace.
How To Deal with Workplace Abuse
No one wants abuses of power to happen in
their business. It's harmful to employees,
the customers, productivity, and the
business' overall environment. Preventing it
doesn't always work, as people cannot be
fully controlled. If there are abuses of power
occurring in your business, here are a few
things that can be done:
Confront The Person-Best done carefully
and in private, confronting the person who is
on a power trip or abusing their power is
one way of getting them to stop.16 Someone
who has only recently started to become
3
abusive due to their power may not realize
that what they are doing is hurtful and
unprofessional; power can be an
intoxicating force. It should be noted that
this can backfire and should definitely not
be done without assistance in severe cases.
Document It-Keep track of instances of
abuse by documenting it. Write down notes
on what happened, when, and where, and
take it home with you; never leave it at work
where an abusive person may find it and
use it as a motive to attack.17 Check what
laws and policies there are regarding
recording someone without their permission.
If there is physical evidence, take photos
and keep them with your notes. All of this
can be presented to the business' human
resources department and used against an
abuser.
Human Resources-Here's that spoiler alert
from earlier. A business' human resources
department is designed to handle any
instance of misbehavior amongst the staff at
work. They will have the resources to deal
with the situation and will know what can or
cannot be done. Submitting a complaint-
with copies of what you've documented-can
at least bring abusive behavior to the
company's attention. In severe cases where
outside intervention like police or legal
action is needed, the HR department will
usually need to get involved in the situation
on behalf of the business.
Lesson 6
Organizational Conflict
Organizational Conflict or otherwise
known as workplace conflict, is described
as the state of disagreement or
misunderstanding, resulting from the actual
or perceived dissent of needs, beliefs,
resources and relationship between the
members of the organization. At the
workplace, whenever, two or more persons
interact, conflict occurs when opinions with
respect to any task or decision are in
contradiction.
In simple terms, organizational conflict
alludes to the result of human interaction,
that starts when one member of the
organization discerns that his/her goals,
values or attitude are incompatible, with
those of other members of the organization.
The incompatibility in opinions can come
into being, within a member, between two
members, or between groups of the
organization.
Factors Influencing Organizational
Conflict
1. Unclear Responsibility: If there is lack of
clarity, regarding who is responsible for
which section of a task or project, conflict
takes place. And, to avoid this situation, the
roles and responsibility of the team
members should be stated clearly and also
agreed upon by all.
2. Interpersonal Relationship: Every
member of an organization, possesses
different personality, which plays a crucial
role in resolving conflict in an organization.
Conflicts at the workplace, are often caused
by interpersonal issues between the
members of the organization.
3. Scarcity of Resources: One of the main
reason for occurence of conflict in an
organization is the inadequacy of resources
like time, money, materials etc. due to which
members of the organization compete with
each other, leading to conflict between
them.
4
4. Conflict of Interest: When there is a
disorientation between the personal goals of
the individual and the goals of the
organization, conflict of interest arises, as
the individual may fight for his personal
goals, which hinders the overall success of
the project.
Conflicts alleviate at the workplace due to
individual and inter-individual factors.
Individual related causes entails attitudes,
beliefs, personality orientation and human-
frailties. Inter-individual conflicts arises
when a manager breaches norms of the
organization.
Types of Organizational Conflict
▪ Relationship Conflict: The conflict
arising out of interpersonal tension
among employees, which is concerned
with the relationship intrinsically, not the
project at hand.
▪ Task Conflict: When there is a discord,
among members regarding nature of
work to be performed is task conflict
▪ Process Conflict: Clashes among the
team members due to the difference in
opinions, on how work should be
completed, is called process conflict.
Organizational conflict can also be
personal conflict (one that exist between
two people because of mutual dislike),
intragroup conflict (one arising out of lack of
liberty, resource, etc. in a group) and
intergroup conflict (one that exist between
two groups).
Causes of Organizational Conflict
▪ Managerial Expectations: Every
employee is expected to meet the
targets, imposed by his/her superior and
when these expectations are
misunderstood or not fulfilled within the
stipulated time, conflicts arises.
▪ Communication Disruption: One of the
major cause of conflict at the workplace
is disruption in the communication, i.e. if
one employee requires certain
information from another, who does not
respond properly, conflict sparks in the
organization.
▪ Misunderstanding: Misunderstanding of
information, can also alleviate dispute in
organization, in the sense that if one
person misinterpret some information, it
can lead to series of conflicts.
▪ Lack of accounhtability: If in a project,
responsibilities are not clear and some
mistake has arisen, of which no member
of the team wants to take responsibility
can also become a cause of conflict in
the organization.
The causes of organizational conflict are to
be known, to resolve them as early as
possible, because it hinders the efficiency,
effectiveness and productivity of the
employees and the organization as well,
which ultimately hampers its success.
Ways to Manage Conflicts in
Organization
1. Handle the conflict positively.
2. Formation of official grievance procedure for
all members.
3. Concentrate on the causes rather than their
effect, to assess conflicts.
4. Parties to conflicts should be given an equal
voice, irrespective of their position, term or
political influence.
5. Active participation of all the parties to
conflict can also help to counter it.
In an organization, conflict is inevitable and
so various means are to be discovered to
resolve them or use them in a way that can
help the organization to increase its
productivity.
Lesson 7
Organizational Communication
Organizational communication as the
sending and receiving of messages among
interrelated individuals within a particular
environment or setting to achieve individual
and common goals.
Organizational communication is highly
contextual and culturally dependent.
5
Individuals in organizations transmit
messages through face-to face, written, and
mediated channels.
Organizational communication helps us
to
1) accomplish tasks relating to specific roles
and responsibilities of sales, services, and
production;
2) acclimate to changes through individual
and organizational creativity and adaptation;
3) complete tasks through the maintenance
of policy, procedures, or regulations that
support daily and continuous operations;
4) develop relationships where “human
messages are directed at people within the
organization-their attitudes, morale,
satisfaction, and fulfillment” (Goldhaber 20);
and
5) coordinate, plan, and control the
operations of the organization through
management (Katz & Kahn; Redding;
Thayer). Organizational communication is
how organizations represent, present, and
constitute their organizational climate and
culture—the attitudes, values and goals that
characterize the organization and its
members.
Organizational communication largely
focuses on building relationships and
interacting with with internal organizational
members and interested external publics.
As Mark Koschmann explains in his
animated YouTube video, we have two
ways of looking at organizational
communication. The conventional approach
focuses on communication within
organizations.
The second approach is communication
as organization — meaning organizations
are a result of the communication of those
within them. Communication is not just
about transmitting messages between
senders and receivers. Communication
literally constitutes, or makes up, our social
world. Much of our communication involves
sending and receiving relatively
unproblematic messages and acting on that
information. Other times things are a bit
more complex, such as when you need to
resolve conflict with a close friend or family
member. There is much more going on in
these situations then merely exchanging
information. You are actually engaging in a
complex process of meaning and
negotiating rules created by the people
involved.
For organizations to be successful, they
must have competent communicators.
Organizational communication study shows
that organizations rely on effective
communication and efficient communication
skills from their members. A number of
surveys (Davis & Miller; Holter & Kopka;
Perrigo & Gaut) identify effective oral and
written communication as the most sought
after skills by those who run organizations.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported
communication competency as the most
vital skill necessary for the 21st century
workforce to achieve organizational success
(Secretary’s Commission on Achieving
Necessary Skills). The Public Forum
Institute maintained that employees need to
be skilled in public presentation, listening,
and interpersonal communication to flourish
in an organization.
Organizations seek people who can follow
and give instructions, accurately listen,
provide useful feedback, get along with
coworkers and customers, network, provide
serviceable information, work well in teams,
and creatively and critically solve problems
and present ideas in an understandable
manner. Developing organizational
communication awareness and
effectiveness is more than just having know-
how or knowledge. Efficient organizational
communication involves knowing how to
create and exchange information, work with
diverse groups or individuals, communicate
in complicated and changing circumstances,
as well as having the aptitude or motivation
to communicate in appropriate manners.
6
How the Field of Organizational
Communication Began
As you now know, communication study is
deeply entrenched in the oral rhetorical
traditions of ancient Rome and Greece.
Similar to the many of the early concepts
that shaped the discipline, some of the
founding principles of organizational
communication originated in the East. As
early as the fourth century, Chinese
scholars concentrated on the “problems of
communicating within the vast government
bureaucracy as well as between the
government and the people” (Murphy,
Hildebrandt & Thomas 4). Ancient eastern
scholars focused on information flow,
message fidelity, and quality of information
within their governmental bureaucracy
(Krone, Garrett & Chen; Paraboteeah).
These still remain areas of focus for
organizational communication that you will
learn in your classes today.
Like most of our field’s specializations,
organizational communication began in the
mid 20th century with the work of P. E. Lull
and W. Charles Redding at the University of
Purdue (Putnam & Cheney). During the
industrial age, the focus of organizational
communication was on worker productivity,
organizational structure, and overall
organizational effectiveness. Through this
work people were interested in higher profits
and managerial efficiency. Follett is often
referred to as the first management
consultant in the United States (Stohl). She
focused specifically on message complexity,
appropriate channel choice, and worker
participation in organizations. Bernard
placed communication at the heart of every
organizational process, arguing that people
must be able to interact with each other for
an organization to succeed.
As a specialization in our field,
organizational communication can arguably
be traced back to Alexander R. Heron’s
1942 book, Sharing Information With
Employees that looked at manager-
employee communication (Redding &
Tompkins; Meyers & Sadaghiani). Putnam
and Cheney stated that the specialization of
“organizational communication grew out of
three main speech communication
traditions: public address, persuasion, and
social science research on interpersonal,
small group, and mass communication”
(131). Along with public-speaking training
for corporate executives as early as the
1920’s (Putnam & Cheney), early works like
Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and
Influence People in 1936 focused on
necessary oral presentation and written
communication skills for managers to
succeed in organizations.
Redding and Thompkins identify three
periods in the development of organizational
communication. During the Era of
Preparation (1900 to 1940) much of the
groundwork was laid for the discipline that
we know today. Scholars emphasized the
importance of communication in
organizations. The primary focus during this
time was on public address, business
writing, managerial communication, and
persuasion. The Era of Identification and
Consolidation (1940-1970) saw the
beginnings of business and industrial
communication, with certain group and
organizational relationships being
recognized as important. During the Era of
Maturity and Innovation (1970-
present), empirical research increased,
“accompanied by innovative efforts to
develop concepts, theoretical premises, and
philosophical critiques” (Redding &
Thompkins 7).
As with other specializations over the last
century, organizational communication has
evolved dramatically as dialogue between
business and academic contexts. Redding
and Thompkins conclude that “by 1967 or
1968, organizational communication had
finally achieved at least a moderate degree
of success in two respects: breaking from its
‘business and industrial’ shackles, and
gaining a reasonable measure of
recognition as an entity worthy of serious
academic study” (18).
Organizational Communication Today
7
As communication evolves, research
continues to develop, and organizational
communication continues to redefine itself.
In the early stages, this area focused on
leaders giving public presentations. More
recently emphasis has focused on all levels
of interaction in organizations. Because
interpersonal relationships are a large part
of organizational communication, a great
deal of research focuses on how
interpersonal relationships are conducted
within the framework of organizational
hierarchies.
Modern organizational communication
research has been summarized into
eight major traditions: 1) Communication
channels, 2) Communication climate, 3)
Network analysis, 4) Superior-subordinate
communication, 5) the information-
processing perspective, 6) the rhetorical
perspective, 7) the cultural perspective, and
8) the political perspective (Putnam and
Cheney; Kim) Since the 1980s, this
specialization has expanded to include work
on organizational culture, power and conflict
management, and organizational rhetoric. If
you were to take an organizational
communication course at your campus,
much of the time would be spent focusing
on developing your skills in organizational
socialization, interviewing, giving individual
and group presentations, creating positive
work relationships, performance evaluation,
conflict resolution, stress management,
decision making, and communicating with
external publics.
Studying Organizational Communication
Looking back to Chapter Six, we looked at
three primary ways Communication
scholars conduct research. When we study
organizational communication we can look
to quantitative methods to predict behaviors,
or qualitative methods to understand
behaviors. We can use qualitative methods
to study communication in the natural
environment of organizations in order to
understand organizational cultures and how
they function (Putnam & Cheney;
Pacanowsky & O’Donnell-Trujillo; Kim).
Critical approaches view organizations as
“sites of domination” (Miller 116) where
certain individuals are marginalized or
disadvantaged by oppressive groups or
structures. Most often the focus of this line
of research involves gender or ethnic
identity as they manifest themselves in
organizations. The critical researcher uses
interpretative research techniques similar to
cultural studies. When looking at something
such as a company pamphlet or the
organization’s employee handbook, a
critical researcher will expose political
messages that may disadvantage particular
groups of people.
Lesson 8
Organizational Culture
The key to a successful organization is to
have a culture based on a strongly held and
widely shared set of beliefs that are
supported by strategy and structure. When
an organization has a strong culture, three
things happen: Employees know how top
management wants them to respond to any
situation, employees believe that the
expected response is the proper one, and
employees know that they will be rewarded
for demonstrating the organization's values.
HR has a vital role in perpetuating a strong
culture, starting with recruiting and selecting
applicants who will share the organization's
beliefs and thrive in that culture. HR also
develops orientation, training and
performance management programs that
outline and reinforce the organization's core
values and ensures that appropriate
rewards and recognition go to employees
who truly embody the values.
This article covers the following topics:
• The importance of having a strong
organizational culture.
• HR's role in fostering a high-
performance culture.
• Definitions of organizational culture.
8
 • Factors that shape an organization's
culture.
• Considerations in creating and
managing organizational culture.
• HR practices to ensure the continuity
and success of an organization's
culture.
• Communications, metrics, legal,
technology and global issues
pertaining to organizational culture.
Background
An organization's culture defines the proper
way to behave within the organization. This
culture consists of shared beliefs and values
established by leaders and then
communicated and reinforced through
various methods, ultimately shaping
employee perceptions, behaviors and
understanding. Organizational culture sets
the context for everything an enterprise
does. Because industries and situations
vary significantly, there is not a one-size-
fits-all culture template that meets the needs
of all organizations.
A strong culture is a common denominator
among the most successful companies. All
have consensus at the top regarding
cultural priorities, and those values focus
not on individuals but on the organization
and its goals. Leaders in successful
companies live their cultures every day and
go out of their way to communicate their
cultural identities to employees as well as
prospective new hires. They are clear about
their values and how those values define
their organizations and determine how the
organizations run. See What does it mean
to be a values-based organization?
Conversely, an ineffective culture can bring
down the organization and its leadership.
Disengaged employees, high turnover, poor
customer relations and lower profits are
examples of how the wrong culture can
negatively impact the bottom line.
Mergers and acquisitions are fraught with
culture issues. Even organizational cultures
that have worked well may develop into a
dysfunctional culture after a merger.
Research has shown that two out of three
mergers fail because of cultural problems.
Blending and redefining the cultures, and
reconciling the differences between them,
build a common platform for the future. In
recent years, the fast pace of mergers and
acquisitions has changed the way
businesses now meld. The focus in mergers
has shifted away from blending cultures and
has moved toward meeting specific
business objectives. Some experts believe
that if the right business plan and agenda
are in place during a merger, a strong
corporate culture will develop
naturally. See Managing Organizational
Change and Managing Human Resources
in Mergers and Acquisitions.
Business Case
If an organization's culture is going to
improve the organization's overall
performance, the culture must provide a
strategic competitive advantage, and beliefs
and values must be widely shared and
firmly upheld. A strong culture can bring
benefits such as enhanced trust and
cooperation, fewer disagreements and
more-efficient decision-making. Culture also
provides an informal control mechanism, a
strong sense of identification with the
organization and shared understanding
among employees about what is important.
Employees whose organizations have
strongly defined cultures can also justify
their behaviors at work because those
behaviors fit the culture. See Toxic
Workplace Cultures Hurt Workers and
Company Profits.
Company leaders play an instrumental role
in shaping and sustaining organizational
culture. If the executives themselves do not
fit into an organization's culture, they often
fail in their jobs or quit due to poor fit.
Consequently, when organizations hire C-
suite executives, these individuals should
have both the requisite skills and the ability
9
to fit into the company culture. See HR
Can't Change Company Culture by Itself.
HR's Role
Culture plays a vital role in an organization's
success. Therefore, HR leaders and other
members of the HR team should foster a
high-performance organizational culture.
HR leaders are responsible for ensuring that
culture management is a core focus of their
organization's competitive efforts. For HR
leaders to influence culture, they need to
work with senior management to identify
what the organizational culture should look
like. Strategic thinking and planning must
extend beyond merely meeting business
goals and focus more intently on an
organization's most valuable asset—its
people.
HR has been described as the "caretaker"
of organizational culture. In carrying out this
essential role, all members of the HR team
should help build and manage a strong
culture by:
• Being a role model for the
organization's beliefs.
• Reinforcing organizational values.
• Ensuring that organizational ethics
are defined, understood and
practiced.
• Enabling two-way communications
and feedback channels.
• Defining roles, responsibilities and
accountabilities.
• Providing continuous learning and
training.
• Sustaining reward and recognition
systems.
• Encouraging empowerment and
teams.
• Promoting a customer-supplier work
environment.
• Recognizing and solving individual
and organizational problems and
issues.
What Is Organizational Culture?
For HR professionals to have any impact on
culture, they must first have a thorough
understanding of what culture is in a general
sense and what their organization's specific
culture is. At the deepest level, an
organization's culture is based on values
derived from basic assumptions about the
following:
• Human nature. Are people inherently
good or bad, mutable or immutable,
proactive or reactive? These basic
assumptions lead to beliefs about
how employees, customers and
suppliers should interact and how
they should be managed.
• The organization's relationship to its
environment. How does the
organization define its business and
its constituencies?
• Appropriate emotions. Which
emotions should people be
encouraged to express, and which
ones should be suppressed?
• Effectiveness. What metrics show
whether the organization and its
individual components are doing
well? An organization will be
effective only when the culture is
supported by an appropriate
business strategy and a structure
that is appropriate for both the
business and the desired culture.
Culture is a nebulous concept and is often
an undefined aspect of an organization.
Although extensive academic literature
exists relating to the topic of organizational
culture, there is no generally accepted
definition of culture. Instead, the literature
expresses many different views as to what
organizational culture is.
Organizational culture can manifest itself in
a variety of ways, including leadership
behaviors, communication styles, internally
distributed messages and corporate
celebrations. Given that culture comprises
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so many elements, it is not surprising that
terms for describing specific cultures vary
widely. Some commonly used terms for
describing cultures include aggressive,
customer-focused, innovative, fun, ethical,
research-driven, technology-driven,
process-oriented, hierarchical, family-
friendly and risk-taking.
Because culture is difficult to define,
organizations may have trouble maintaining
consistency in their messages about
culture. Employees may also find it difficult
to identify and communicate about
perceived cultural
inconsistencies. See Defining
Organizational Culture and Culture
Conversation Starters.
Factors That Shape an Organization's
Culture
Organizational leaders often speak about
the unusual natures of their company
cultures, seeing their domains as special
places to work. But organizations such as
Disney and Nordstrom, which are well-
known for their unique cultures, are
rare. See Viewpoint: 3 Steps to Cultivating a
Customized Culture.
Most company cultures are not that different
from one another. Even organizations in
disparate industries such as manufacturing
and health care tend to share a common
core of cultural values. For example, most
private-sector companies want to grow and
increase revenues. Most strive to be team-
oriented and to demonstrate concern for
others. Most are driven, rather than relaxed,
because they are competing for dollars and
market share. Some of the cultural
characteristics that distinguish most
organizations include the following.
VALUES
At the heart of organizations' cultures are
commonly shared values. None is right or
wrong, but organizations need to decide
which values they will emphasize. These
common values include:
• Outcome orientation. Emphasizing
achievements and results.
• People orientation. Insisting on
fairness, tolerance and respect for
the individual.
• Team orientation. Emphasizing and
rewarding collaboration.
• Attention to detail. Valuing precision
and approaching situations and
problems analytically.
• Stability. Providing security and
following a predictable course.
• Innovation. Encouraging
experimentation and risk-taking.
• Aggressiveness. Stimulating a
fiercely competitive spirit.
DEGREE OF HIERARCHY
The degree of hierarchy is the extent to
which the organization values traditional
channels of authority. The three distinct
levels of hierarchy are "high"—having a
well-defined organizational structure and an
expectation that people will work through
official channels; "moderate"—having a
defined structure but an acceptance that
people often work outside formal channels;
and "low" —having loosely defined job
descriptions and accepting that people
challenge authority.
An organization with a high level of
hierarchy tends to be more formal and
moves more slowly than an organization
with a low level of hierarchy.
DEGREE OF URGENCY
The degree of urgency defines how quickly
the organization wants or needs to drive
decision-making and innovation. Some
organizations choose their degree of
urgency, but others have it thrust on them
by the marketplace.
A culture with high levels of urgency has a
need to push projects through quickly and a
high need to respond to a changing
marketplace. A moderate level of urgency
moves projects at a reasonable pace. A low
level of urgency means people work slowly
and consistently, valuing quality over
efficiency. An organization with high
urgency tends to be fast-paced and
supports a decisive management style. An
organization with low urgency tends to be
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more methodical and supports a more
considered management style.
PEOPLE ORIENTATION OR TASK
ORIENTATION
Organizations usually have a dominant way
of valuing people and tasks. An organization
with a strong people orientation tends to put
people first when making decisions and
believes that people drive the organization's
performance and productivity. An
organization with a strong task orientation
tends to put tasks and processes first when
making decisions and believes that
efficiency and quality drive organization
performance and productivity.
Some organizations may get to choose their
people and task orientations. But others
may have to fit their orientation to the nature
of their industry, historical issues or
operational processes.
FUNCTIONAL ORIENTATION
Every organization puts an emphasis on
certain functional areas. Examples of
functional orientations may include
marketing, operations, research and
development, engineering or service. For
example, an innovative organization known
for its research and development may have
at its core a functional orientation toward
R&D. A hospitality company may focus on
operations or service, depending on its
historical choices and its definition in the
marketplace.
Employees from different functions in the
company may think that their functional
areas are the ones that drive the
organization. Organizational leaders must
understand what most employees perceive
to be the company's functional
orientation. See Building a Customer-
Centric Culture: Five Lessons Learned.
ORGANIZATIONAL SUBCULTURES
Any organization can have a mix of
subcultures in addition to the dominant
culture. Subcultures exist among groups or
individuals who may have their own rituals
and traditions that, although not shared by
the rest of the organization, can deepen and
underscore the organization's core values.
Subcultures can also cause serious
problems.
For example, regional cultures often differ
from the overall culture that top leadership
tries to instill. Perhaps aggressiveness that
is common in one area may not mesh with a
culture emphasizing team building. Or an
organization with a culture built around
equality may have trouble if the national
culture emphasizes hierarchy and expects
people to bow to authority. Managers and
HR professionals must recognize those
differences and address them directly.
Creating and Managing Organizational
Culture
An organizational culture tends to emerge
over time, shaped by the organization's
leadership and by actions and values
perceived to have contributed to earlier
successes. A company culture can be
managed through the cultural awareness of
organizational leaders and HR
professionals. Managing a culture takes
focused efforts to sustain elements of the
culture that support organizational
effectiveness. See Addressing the Six
Sources of Workplace Cultural Conflicts.
HOW CULTURE DEVELOPS
An organization's customs, traditions,
rituals, behavioral norms, symbols and
general way of doing things are the visible
manifestation of its culture; they are what
one sees when walking into the
organization. The current organizational
culture is usually due to factors that have
worked well for the organization in the
past. See How to Create a Culture of
Civility.
Founders typically have a significant impact
on an organization's early culture. Over
time, behavioral norms develop that are
consistent with the organization's values.
For example, in some organizations,
resolution of conflicts is hashed out openly
and noisily to create widespread consensus,
whereas in other places disputes are settled
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hierarchically and quietly behind closed
doors.
Though culture emerges naturally in most
organizations, strong cultures often begin
with a process called "values blueprinting,"
which involves a candid conversation with
leaders from across the organization. Once
the culture is framed, an organization may
establish a values committee that has a
direct link to leadership. This group makes
sure the desired culture is alive and well.
For values blueprinting to work,
organizations must first hire people who live
the values and have the competency
needed to perform the job.
SUSTAINING A CULTURE
The management of organizational culture
starts with identifying a company's
organizational culture traits or "artifacts."
Artifacts are the core business activities,
processes and philosophies that
characterize how an organization does
business day-to-day.
Identifying these traits—and assessing their
importance in light of current business
objectives—is a way to start managing
culture. Three broad concepts help identify
the traits specific to a culture:
• Social culture. This refers to group
members' roles and responsibilities.
It is the study of class distinctions
and the distribution of power that
exists in any group.
• Material culture. This involves
examining everything that people in
a group make or achieve and the
ways people work with and support
one another in exchanging required
goods and services.
• Ideological culture. This is tied to a
group's values, beliefs and ideals—
the things people view as
fundamental. It includes the
emotional and intellectual guidelines
that govern people's daily existence
and interactions.
Leaders and HR professionals within an
organization should approach culture
management by initially gaining an
understanding of the common traits found in
all businesses. Then, they should take the
following steps to manage their
organization's culture:
• Identify common artifacts or traits,
including those from the standpoint
of an organization's social, material
and ideological culture.
• Convene groups of employees—
representatives from all levels,
functions and locations of the
organization—to assess the validity,
significance and currency of key
artifacts.
• Subject those traits to a rigorous
assessment of their underlying
shared assumptions, values and
beliefs.
• Summarize findings and share them
with all participants to solicit
additional insights.
• Create a culture management action
plan. The plan should enhance traits
that support corporate growth or
organizational effectiveness and
correct traits that might hinder a
company's advancement.
Typically, shared assumptions and beliefs
originate with an organization's founders
and leaders. Because those beliefs proved
successful (otherwise the company would
not exist and the leaders would not be in
their positions), often they go unchallenged;
however, those assumptions and beliefs
might be outdated and may hinder future
success. .
HR Practices to Develop Culture
HR has a special role in ensuring that an
organization's culture will continue and
thrive. When an organization does a good
job assessing its culture, it can then go on
to establish HR policies, programs and
strategies that support and strengthen its
core purpose and values. In aligned
organizations, the same core characteristics
or beliefs motivate and unite everyone,
cascading down from the C-suite to
individual contributors.
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HR professionals have many tools for
developing and sustaining a high-
performance organizational culture,
including hiring practices, onboarding
efforts, recognition programs and
performance management programs. HR's
biggest challenge is deciding how to use
these tools and how to allocate resources
appropriately.
HIRING PRACTICES
The central role that HR plays in helping an
organization capitalize on its culture is in
hiring. HR has the opportunity to select
people who fit the way the organization
operates. Traditionally, hiring focuses
primarily on an applicant's skills, but when a
hire's personality also fits with the
organization's culture, the employee will be
more likely to deliver superior
performance. See Finance Sector Needs
New Focus on Culture to Attract
Talent and Candidates Choose Jobs
Because of Company Culture.
On the other hand, ill-fitting hires and
subsequent rapid departures cost
approximately 50 percent to 150 percent of
the position's annual salary. Unfortunately,
nearly one in three newly hired employees'
leaves voluntarily or involuntarily within a
year of hiring, and this number has been
increasing steadily in recent years. See 5
Unique Interview Questions Every Recruiter
Should Ask.
Some hiring practices to ensure cultural fit
include these:
• Looking at each piece of the
organization's vision, mission and
values statements. Interview
questions should hone in on
behaviors that complement these
areas. For example, if the
organization works with a lot of
intensity, then job applicants should
display that natural intensity to be
considered for hire.
• Conducting a cultural fit
interview. Ask questions that elicit
comments about organizational
values such as honesty or integrity.
If a candidate's description of the
worst place he or she ever worked
sounds just like the organization
where he or she is interviewing, the
candidate probably will not be
successful.
• Leaving discussion of company
culture for later. Do not tell
candidates about culture up
front. First, listen to what they have
to say about their experiences and
beliefs. This tactic will reveal more
candid responses to help determine
whether they are a fit for the
organization.
• Making sure at least three people
are involved in the hiring
process. Different people will see
and hear different things. These
varied perspectives give a clearer
understanding of the person being
considered for hire.
Searching for employees who will fit in
seamlessly can have drawbacks. The
biggest mistake an organization can make
is to paint an inaccurate picture of itself as it
tries to attract candidates. If new hires
discover they have been sold a bill of
goods, they will not be happy; they will
probably not stick around, and, while they
are around, morale will decline.
Another possible drawback is that people
are more reluctant to take negative actions
against people like themselves. As a result,
mediocre workers are more likely to stay
employed if they share the cultural values.
Similarly, although an organization's comfort
level is palpable when the culture is aligned,
experts say, too much comfort can result in
groupthink and complacency.
ONBOARDING PROGRAMS
HR plays a primary role in socializing new
employees by designing and overseeing the
onboarding process. Onboarding teaches
newcomers the employer's value system,
norms and desired organizational
behaviors. HR professionals must help
newcomers become part of social networks
in the organization and make sure that they
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have early job experiences that reinforce
the culture. See Managing the Employee
Onboarding and Assimilation Process.
REWARD AND RECOGNITION
PROGRAMS
These programs are key mechanisms HR
can use to motivate employees to act in
accordance with the organization's culture
and values. For example, if teamwork is a
core value, bonuses should value teamwork
and not be based on individual
performance. HR should also put the
spotlight on those who personify the
company's values. See Who's at the
CENTRE of your recognition
program? and Employee Recognition Tech
Must Align with Company Culture.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMS
Employees who share values and
aspirations tend to outperform those in
environments that lack cohesiveness and
common purposes. Performance
management programs can greatly affect
corporate culture by clearly outlining what is
expected from employees as well as by
providing a feedback tool that informs
employees about proper
behavior. See Performance Management
That Makes a Difference: An Evidence-
Based Approach.
Communications
Conflicting messages regarding corporate
culture may create distrust and cynicism,
which can prompt, or help employees
justify, actions as deleterious as
embezzlement. Experts say that cultural
inconsistencies may also cause workers to
grow discouraged, to believe management
is disingenuous, to doubt statements from
higher-ups and to be less inclined to give
their best effort.
Organizations may be investing significant
time and money in creating a culture but
may not be reaping the commensurate
rewards—especially if executives,
supervisors and rank-and-file employees
have differing perceptions of the company's
culture. HR professionals must therefore
ensure that the organization clearly and
consistently communicates its culture to all
employees. See HR's Role in Creating a
Culture of High Trust: Q&A with Richard
Fagerlin.
Metrics
Assessing organizational culture is a crucial
step in developing sound HR strategies that
support enterprise objectives and goals. But
how do you measure something as
potentially tough to describe as culture?
After identifying the key dimensions of
culture such as values, degree of hierarchy,
and people and task orientations,
performing these next steps will help
organizations assess culture:
• Develop a cultural assessment
instrument. This instrument should
enable members of the organization
to rate the organization on the key
cultural dimensions, as well as on
aspects of the organization not
covered on the assessment.
• Administer the assessment. Survey
respondents should include
individuals at all levels, functions,
divisions and geographical units of
the organization.
• Analyze and communicate about
assessment results. Leaders and
HR executives should discuss areas
of agreement and disagreement
about the organization's culture.
• Conduct employee focus
groups. Just because top
management leaders agree on
organizational culture does not
mean that all employees see things
that way.
• Discuss culture until consensus
forms around key issues. Focus on
"Who are we?" and "What makes us
who we are?" Organizations that
decide that where they are now is
not where they want to be may need
to look at moving the organization to
embrace a different culture.
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 organizational culture management
Cultural assessments, and other activities initiatives in global businesses.
such as cultural audits and 360-degree
feedback, may also help uncover cultural Managers must be able to respond to
inconsistencies. Then leaders and HR nuances in communication styles, as well as
professionals can eliminate the deal with different expectations that
inconsistencies. For example, if customer employees have of their leaders across
service is a focus of the company's culture, national cultures. Not meeting those
evaluate how much time employees spend expectations may doom the global
visiting customer sites, how much organization's chance for success in
interaction they have with customers, what particular countries.
customer service training they receive and
other indicators of a customer service These issues become even more complex
focus. See The New Analytics of Workplace in global business mergers. Success in
Culture international mergers depends on the
merged organization's willingness to enable
Legal Issues people with different cultural perspectives to
Employers that emphasize cultural fit in their engage in meaningful and valuable
recruitment and selection process can be discussions about the new business.
vulnerable to discrimination claims if they
are not careful. HR professionals should
ensure that hiring practices and selection
decisions based on a cultural fit rationale do
not result in discriminating against any
applicants who may not be "just like" the
selectors.
Employers should also be aware that
certain types of organizational cultures (for
example, cultures that are highly
paternalistic or male-dominated) may tend
to perpetuate disparities in promotions,
compensation and other terms of
employment. Those disparities may violate
anti-discrimination laws. See In Focus:
Latest Lawsuits Shine Light on Racist,
Sexist Workplace Cultures and Address the
Small Infractions to Create an Inclusive
Culture.
Global Issues

Research suggests that national culture has

a greater effect on employees than the
culture of their organization. Organizational
leaders and HR professionals should
understand the national cultural values in
the countries in which the organization
operates to ensure that management and
HR practices are appropriate and will be
effective in operations in those countries.
National cultural differences should be
considered when implementing

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