Organizational culture

is an idea in the field of organizational studies and management which describes the
psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values (personal and cultural values) of an
organization. It has been defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are
shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with
each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.

This definition continues to explain organizational values, also called as "beliefs and ideas
about what kinds of goals members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the
appropriate kinds or standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve
these goals. From organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines, or
expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular
situations and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another.

Elements
G. Johnson described a cultural web, identifying a number of elements that can be used to
describe or influence Organizational Culture:

 The Paradigm: What the organization is about; what it does; its mission; its values.
 Control Systems: The processes in place to monitor what is going on. Role cultures
would have vast rulebooks. There would be more reliance on individualism in a
power culture.
 Organizational Structures: Reporting lines, hierarchies, and the way that work flows
through the business.
 Power Structures: Who makes the decisions, how widely spread is power, and on
what is power based?
 Symbols: These include organizational logos and designs, but also extend to symbols
of power such as parking spaces and executive washrooms.
 Rituals and Routines: Management meetings, board reports and so on may become
more habitual than necessary.
 Stories and Myths: build up about people and events, and convey a message about
what is valued within the organization.

These elements may overlap. Power structures may depend on control systems, which may
exploit the very rituals that generate stories which may not be true.

Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument

Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron researched what makes organizations effective and
successful. Based on the Competing Values Framework, they developed the Organizational
Culture Assessment Instrument that distinguishes four culture types. See their book:
Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture.
Competing values produce polarities like: flexibility versus stability and internal versus
external focus. These two polarities were found to be most important in defining
organizational success.

The polarities construct a quadrant with four types of culture: Clan Culture - internal focus
and flexible A friendly workplace where leaders act like father figures. Adhocracy Culture -
external focus and flexible A dynamic workplace with leaders that stimulate innovation.
Market Culture - external focus and controlled A competitive workplace with leaders like
hard drivers Hierarchy Culture - internal focus and controlled A structured and formalized
workplace where leaders act like coordinators.

Cameron & Quinn found six key aspects that will make up a culture. These can be assessed in
the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) thus producing a mix of these four
archetypes of culture. Each organization or team will have its unique mix of culture types. By
assessing the current organizational culture as well as the preferred situation, the gap and
direction to change can be made visible. This can be the first step to changing organizational
culture.

Organizational culture and change

There are a number of methodologies specifically dedicated to organizational culture change
such as Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline. These are also a variety of psychological approaches
that have been developed into a system for specific outcomes such as the Fifth Discipline’s
“learning organization” or Directive Communication’s “corporate culture evolution.” Ideas
and strategies, on the other hand, seem to vary according to particular influences that affect
culture.

Burman and Evans (2008) argue that it is 'leadership' that affects culture rather than
'management', and describe the difference . When one wants to change an aspect of the
culture of an organization one has to keep in consideration that this is a long term project.
Corporate culture is something that is very hard to change and employees need time to get
used to the new way of organizing. For companies with a very strong and specific culture it
will be even harder to change.

Cummings & Worley (2005, p. 491 – 492) give the following six guidelines for cultural
change, these changes are in line with the eight distinct stages mentioned by Kotter (1995,
p. 2)3:

1. Formulate a clear strategic vision (stage 1,2 & 3 of Kotter, 1995, p. 2)

In order to make a cultural change effective a clear vision of the firm’s new strategy, shared
values and behaviors is needed. This vision provides the intention and direction for the
culture change (Cummings & Worley, 2005, p. 490).

2. Display Top-management commitment (stage 4 of Kotter, 1995, p. 2)

It is very important to keep in mind that culture change must be managed from the top of the
organization, as willingness to change of the senior management is an important indicator
(Cummings & Worley, 2005, page 490). The top of the organization should be very much in
favor of the change in order to actually implement the change in the rest of the organization.
De Caluwé & Vermaak (2004, p 9) provide a framework with five different ways of thinking
about change.

3. Model culture change at the highest level (stage 5 of Kotter, 1995, p. 2)

In order to show that the management team is in favor of the change, the change has to be
notable at first at this level. The behavior of the management needs to symbolize the kinds of
values and behaviors that should be realized in the rest of the company. It is important that
the management shows the strengths of the current culture as well, it must be made clear that
the current organizational does not need radical changes, but just a few adjustments. (See for
more: (Deal & Kennedy, 1982; Sathe, 1983; Schall; 1983; Weick, 1985; DiTomaso, 1987)

4. Modify the organization to support organizational change

The fourth step is to modify the organization to support organizational change.

5. Select and socialize newcomers and terminate deviants (stage 7 & 8 of Kotter,
1995, p. 2)

A way to implement a culture is to connect it to organizational membership, people can be

selected and terminate in terms of their fit with the new culture (Cummings & Worley, 2005,
p. 491).

6. Develop ethical and legal sensitivity

Changes in culture can lead to tensions between organizational and individual interests,
which can result in ethical and legal problems for practitioners. This is particularly relevant
for changes in employee integrity, control, equitable treatment and job security (Cummings &
Worley, 2005, p. 491).

Change of culture in the organizations is very important and inevitable. Culture innovations is
bound to be because it entails introducing something new and substantially different from
what prevails in existing cultures. Cultural innovation is bound to be more difficult than
cultural maintenance. People often resist changes hence it is the duty of the management to
convince people that likely gain will outweigh the losses. Besides institutionalization,
deification is another process that tends to occur in strongly developed organizational
cultures. The organization itself may come to be regarded as precious in itself, as a source of
pride, and in some sense unique. Organizational members begin to feel a strong bond with it
that transcends material returns given by the organization, and they begin to identify with in.
The organization turns into a sort of clan.

Entrepreneurial culture
Stephen McGuire defined and validated a model of organizational culture that predicts
revenue from new sources. An Entrepreneurial Organizational Culture (EOC) is a system of
shared values, beliefs and norms of members of an organization, including valuing creativity
and tolerance of creative people, believing that innovating and seizing market opportunities
are appropriate behaviors to deal with problems of survival and prosperity, environmental
uncertainty, and competitors’ threats, and expecting organizational members to behave
accordingly.

Elements of Entrepreneurial Culture

 People and empowerment focused

 Value creation through innovation and change
 Attention to the basics
 Hands-on management
 Doing the right thing
 Freedom to grow and to fail
 Commitment and personal responsibility
 Emphasis on the future