ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

1 What is culture?
There are many factors that influence the expectations that people are likely to have
of an organisation, as shown in the diagram below:

Figure 1.2: Influences on organisational culture

 The aims of the organisation will have an ideology based on

 beliefs (1);
 values (2);
 attitudes (3).
 This ideology (ý thức hệ) is a means of control through shared beliefs and
determines the culture of the organisation, providing a set of principles that
govern the overall conduct of the organisation's operations, code of behaviour,
the management of people and its dealings with other organisations.
For example, A firm's moral principles might mean refusing an assignment
if it believes the client will not benefit, even though this refusal means lost

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 revenue. A sense of mission, or emotional bond, is where employees'
personal values coincide with organisational values.

 Culture may be identified as ways of behaving and ways of understanding

that are shared by a group of people. Handy referred to it as ‘the way we do
things round here’.

Definition
Culture is the commonly held and relatively that exist within the
organisation. stable beliefs, attitudes and values
Văn hoá là tổ chức phổ biến và tương đối mà tồn tại trong tổ chức. niềm tin, thái độ và giá trị ổn
định

 Culture in an organisation is the sum total of the beliefs, knowledge,

attitudes of mind and customs to which people are exposed.

 Mintzberg refers to organisations as having an ideology. Ideology is a stronger

word than culture: it means a set of beliefs, which are used to justify the
position and activities of a ruling group.

 Culture is both internal to an organisation and external to it. There are

certain patterns of behaviour, assumptions and beliefs which members of the
organisation have in common, because of their:
(a) citizenship of the same society or country;

(b) status or class position within that society;

(c) profession (eg as accountants, marketers);

(d) membership of the organisation.

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  All organisations will generate their own cultures, whether spontaneously
(naturally) or under the guidance of positive managerial strategy. Here are
some aspects of culture.

SOME ASPECTS OF CULTURE

1. Customs and rituals (tập quán và nghi lễ): there may be ceremonies,

whether formal or informal, such as a Christmas party and awards to

high achievers.

2. Relationship between superiors and subordinates are bosses

approachable?

3. Symbols: status may be reflected in things like size of office, or a

democratic approach may be symbolised by an open plan office.

4. Physical artefacts: office layout and decor can encourage or inhibit

communication.

5. Common language: the slang of the Royal Navy has grown up over

centuries.

6. Values may be clearly stated or left unspoken and rather vague.

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Trompenaars suggested that in fact there are different levels at which culture can be

understood.

 The observable, expressed or 'explicit' elements of culture include: (layer 1)

 Behaviour: norms of personal and interpersonal behaviour; customs and

rules about behaviours that are 'acceptable' or unacceptable.
 Artefacts: concrete expressions such as art and literature, architecture and
interior design (eg of office premises), dress codes, symbols and 'heroes' or
role models.
 Rituals: patterns of collective behaviour which have traditional or
symbolic value, such as greeting styles, business formalities, social
courtesies and ceremonies.
 Beneath values (những giá trị bên dưới) and beliefs lie assumptions (layer 2) :

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 Foundational ideas that are no longer consciously recognised or questioned by the
culture, but which 'programme' its ways of thinking and behaving. Examples
include the importance of the individual in many Western cultures: this is taken
for granted in designing HR (human resources) policies, for example.in d
esiuman
Layers of culture, following Trompenaars' elements, include the following.

Item Example
1.Beliefs and The customer is always right
values, which
are often
unquestioned
2.Behaviour In the City of London, standard business dress is still generally taken for
granted and even 'dress down Fridays' have their rules.
3Artefacts Microsoft encourages communication between employees by setting aside
spaces for the purpose.
4.Rituals In some firms, sales people compete with each other, and there is a reward,
given at a ceremony, for the salesperson who does best in any period.
5.Symbols Corporate logos are an example of symbols, but they are directed outwards.
Within the organisation, symbols can represent power: dress, make and model
of car, office size and equipment and access to facilities can all be important
symbols.

Activity:
What do you think would differentiate the culture of
a) A regiment in the army
b) An advertising agency?
Answer to the questions: Here are some hints.

The army is very disciplined.

 Officers make decisions;
 behaviour between ranks is sometimes very formal.
 The organisation values loyalty, courage and discipline and teamwork.
 Symbols and artefacts include uniforms, medals, regimental badges and so on.
 Rituals include parades and ceremonies.

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An advertising agency, with a different mission, is more fluid.
 Individual flair and creativity, within the commercial needs of the
organisation, are expected.
 Artefacts may include the style of creative offices, awards or prizes and the
agency logo.
 Rituals may include various award ceremonies, team meetings and social
gatherings.

2 Categorising cultures

Deal and Kennedy (Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life)
went beyond outlining the cultural elements within an organisation.
They believe that the culture of a company affects its
1. policies,
2. decisions,
3. activities and
4. hence its success.
Successful companies have strong and cohesive cultures where employees identify
with the company goals and band together to achieve them. Alternatively, less well-
performing companies have weak and disconnected cultures with minimal employee
loyalty. Money is the prime motivator at work.

They suggest that an organisation is capable of being managed from a weak one to a
strong one by the process of creating and implementing supporting rites, rituals and
ceremonials. These act to communicate and reinforce the beliefs and values that
senior management wants all employees to share
Deal and Kennedy argue that two crucial factors shape an organisation's culture.
1. The first is the degree of risk associated with the organisation's activities
and

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 2. The second is the speed of feedback provided to employees concerning the
success of their decision strategy.
They placed these factors on different axis to produce four distinctive types of
organisational culture as shown below:

Figure 1.3: Deal & Kennedy's cultural grid

TOUGH Guy Bet – your –

High
Culture company Culture
Risk
Work hard , Play
Low hard Culture Process Culture

Fast Slow

Feed back
Figure 1.3: Deal & Kennedy's cultural grid

Tough guy culture

 With individualists who thrive on high risks and fast feedback on their
performance.
 Drawback:
 Short-term need for feedback  divert attention from long-term effort.
Bet-your-company culture
 Decisions that risk the company’s future are made by technically competent
people.
 E.g. oil, aircraft.
Work hard, play hard culture
 High activity is the key to survival.
 E.g. high volume sales of mass produced goods.
Process culture

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  Little risk, little feedback.
E.g. government agencies, banks, heavily regulated industries.

 Tough guy culture — is made up of individualists who thrive (fast develop)

on high risks and fast feedback on their performance. Unfortunately, the
short-term need for feedback may divert attention from longer-term efforts.
This type of culture is often found in construction, advertising and
entertainment organisations.
 Bet-your-company culture — is characterised by high stake decisions with a
delayed feedback. It is prevalent (popular) in oil and aircraft companies where
the decisions that risk the company's future are made by technically competent
people and necessitate attention to detail.
Văn hóa Cá cược của bạn và văn hóa - được đặc trưng bởi các quyết định có
nguyên tắc rất kỹ với một cách thức phản hồi chậm. Nó là phổ biến trong các
công ty khai thác dầu hỏa và Hàng không là những nơi mà quyết định mà có
sự rủi ro đến tương lai của công ty được thực hiện bởi những người giỏi kỹ
thuật và đòi hỏi phải chú ý đến từng chi tiết.

 Work hard, play hard culture — is characterised by low risk taking

combined with quick feedback. High activity is the key to survival. This type
of culture suits organisations with high volume sales of mass produced goods.
Làm việc chăm chỉ, văn hóa cứng - được đặc trưng bởi rủi ro thấp kết hợp với
phản hồi nhanh. Cường độ làm việc cao là chìa khóa đưa đến sự thành công và
tồn tại. Loại hình văn hóa này phù hợp với các tổ chức có doanh số bán hàng
cao, sản xuất khối lớn

 Process culture — has little risk and little feedback. Typical process
cultures include government agencies, banks and heavily regulated
industries.
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 Văn hóa Quy trình - có ít rủi ro và ít phản hồi. Nền văn hóa quá trình điển
hình trong các quan chính phủ, các ngân hàng và các ngành công nghiệp nặng.

3 Analysing and comparing cultures

Developing the ideas of Roger Harrison (Understanding your Organisation's
character), Charles Handy created a typology which provides a useful basis for
discussing and investigating variations in organisational culture.
According to Harrison, the four basic classifications of the types of culture one
might expect to find in an organisation are:
1. power;
2. role;
3. task; and
4. people cultures.
Handy gave each of these types a Greek God's nam chue:
 Zeus - THE POWER or CLUB CULTURE is the god representing the
power culture or club culture. Zeus is a dynamic entrepreneur who rules with
snap decisions. Power and influence stem from a central source, perhaps the
owner-directors or the founder of the business. The degree of formalisation is
limited and there are few rules and procedures. Such a firm is likely to be
organised on a functional basis.
 The organisation is capable of adapting quickly to meet change.
 Personal influence decreases as the size of an organisation gets bigger.
The power culture is therefore best suited to smaller entrepreneurial
organisations, where the leaders have direct communication with all
employees.
 Personnel have to get on well with each other for this culture to work.
These organisations are clubs of 'like-minded (same idea) people
introduced by the like-minded people, working on empathetic initiative
with personal contact rather than formal liaison (army connection).'

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  Apollo – THE ROLE OR BUREAUCRACY is the god of the role culture
or bureaucracy. There is a presumption (suy đoán, định đoạt) of logic and
rationality.
 These organisations have a formal structure, and operate by wellestablished
rules and procedures. Individuals are required to perform their job to the full,
but not to overstep the boundaries of their authority. Individuals who work for
such organisations tend to learn an expertise without experiencing risk; many
do their job adequately, but are not over-ambitious
 The bureaucratic style can be very efficient in a stable environment. when the
organisation is large and when the work is predictable.
 Athena - THE TASK is the goddess of the task culture. Management is seen
as completing a succession of projects or solving problems.
 The task culture is reflected in project teams and task forces. In such
organisations, there is no dominant or clear leader. The principal concern in a
task culture is to get the job done. Therefore the individuals who are important
are the experts with the ability to accomplish a particular aspect of the task.
 Performance is judged by results.
 Task cultures are expensive, as experts demand a market price
 Task cultures also depend on variety, and to tap creativity requires a tolerance
of perhaps costly mistakes.

 Dionysus – THE EXISTENTIAL or PERSON is the god of the existential

or person culture. In the three other cultures, the individual is subordinate to
the organisation or task. An existential culture is found in an organisation
whose purpose is to serve the interests of the individuals within it. These
organisations are rare, although an example might be a partnership of a few
individuals who do all the work of the organisation themselves (with perhaps a
little secretarial or clerical assistance).
 Barristers (LAWERS) (in the UK) work through chambers. The clerk
coordinates their work and hands out briefs, but does not control them.

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  Management in these organisations are often lower in status than the
professionals and are labelled secretaries, administrators, bursars, registrars
and chief clerk.
 The organisation depends on the talent of the individuals; management is
derived from the consent of the managed, rather than the delegated authority of
the owners

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