HND in Business Management

BHNC4205 - People and Organizations

QCF Level: 4
Credit Value: 20

Lecturer: Dulanga Kodituwakku

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 Learning Outcome 04

Explain how organizational climate and

culture affect working relationships within
organizations
(Session 05)

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 Organizational Culture

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 Lecture Outline
What is Organizational Culture
Using Culture
Types of Culture
Culture Formation
Changing Culture

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 What Is Organizational Culture?
A system of shared meaning held by members that
distinguishers the organization from other organizations.

Research suggest that there are seven primary

characteristics that, in aggregate capture the essence of
an organization’s culture.

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 Organizational Culture -
Primary Characteristics
Innovation and risk taking
Attention to detail
Outcome orientation
People orientation
Team orientation
Aggressiveness
Stability

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 Organizational Culture -
Primary Characteristics
Innovation and risk-taking. The degree to which
employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks.
 
Attention to detail. The degree to which employees are
expected to work with precision, analysis, and attention to
detail.

Outcome orientation. The degree to which management

focuses on results, or outcomes, rather than on the
techniques and processes used to achieve these outcomes.
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 Organizational Culture -
Primary Characteristics
People orientation. The degree to which management
decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on
people within the organization.

Team orientation. The degree to which work activities are

organized around teams rather than individuals.

Aggressiveness. The degree to which people are aggressive

and competitive rather than easygoing and supportive.

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 Organizational Culture -
Primary Characteristics
Stability. The degree to which organizational activities
emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth.

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 Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures?

Acknowledgement that organizational culture has

common properties doesn’t mean, however that there
cannot be subcultures within any given culture.

Most large organizations have a dominant culture and

numerous sets of subcultures.

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 Dominant Culture
Expresses the core values that are shared by a majority
of the organization’s members.

Sub-Cultures
Mini-cultures within an organization, typically designed
by department designations and geographical separation.

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 Core Values
• The primary or dominant values that are accepted
throughout the organization.

Strong Culture
• A culture in which the core values are intensely
held and widely shared

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 Aspects Of Culture
Visible artifacts
Aspects of an organization’s culture that you see, hear, and
feel.
Symbols
Norms, rules, ethical codes and values
Rituals, ceremonies and celebrations

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 How Employees Learn Culture
 Stories
Anchor the present into the past and provide explanations and
legitimacy for current practices
 Rituals
Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the
key values of the organization
 Material Symbols
Acceptable attire, office size, opulence of the office furnishings,
and executive perks that convey to employees who is important in
the organization
 Language
Jargon and special ways of expressing one’s self to indicate
membership in the organization
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 Types of Culture
Power Culture

Role Culture

Task Culture

Person culture

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 Power Culture
Within a power culture, control is the key element.

Power cultures are usually found within a small or

medium size organization.

Decisions in an organization that display a power culture

are centralized around one key individual.

That person likes control and the power behind it.

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 Power Culture
As group work is not evident in a power culture, the
organization can react quickly to dangers around it as no
consultation is involved.

However this culture has its problems, lack of

consultation can lead to staff feeling undervalued and de-
motivated, which can also lead to high staff turnover.

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 Role Culture
Common in most organizations today is a role culture.

 In a role culture, organizations are split into various

functions and each individual within the function is
assigned a particular role.

The role culture has the benefit of specialization.

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 Role Culture
Employees focus on their particular role as assigned to
them by their job description and this should increase
productivity for the company.

This culture is quite logical to organize in a large

organization.

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 Task Culture
A task culture refers to a team based approach to complete
a particular task.

They are popular in today's modern business society

where the organization will establish particular 'project
teams' to complete a task to date.

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 Task Culture

Staff feel motivated because they are empowered to make

decisions within their team.

They will also feel valued because they may have been
selected within that team and given the responsibility to
bring the task to a successful end.

NASA organize part of their culture around this concept

i.e. putting together teams to oversee a mission.

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 Person Culture
Person cultures are commonly found in charities or non
profit organizations. The focus of the organization is the
individual or a particular aim.

Organizations of this culture depends on the talent of the

individuals – a set of starts that operate independently.

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 Person Culture
As this type of organization is run by the individuals, it
has no real power to get rid of someone in the
organization.

Power is shared between the people who set up the

business, a partnership.

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 How Organization Cultures Form

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 Changing Culture
Research suggest that it takes three to eight years to ‘turn
around’ the culture of a large well-established
organization.
It is, however, possible to ‘turn around’ a negative culture,
or to change the culture into a new direction.

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 Changing Culture
Promote a new sense of corporate mission.
Strong leadership.
Reward systems.
The recruitment and selection process.
Training.
Visible emblems of the culture.

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 Review Questions
1. How can an outsider assess an organization’s culture?
2. Can an employee survive in an organization if he or she
rejects its core values? Explain.
3. What benefits can socialization provide for the organization?
For the new employee?
4. How can culture be a liability to an organization?

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 Thank you
Session 06 - Individual differences and their
relevance to work

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