Managing Organisational Culture Flashcards
What determines the culture of an organisation?
Values
Attitudes
Beliefs
How is the culture demonstrated?
The stories - about past and present employees, shows what the organisation values
Rituals - ways of doing things, events
The reward system
The physical environment - the facilities, decorations, layout
What could different business focus on that would create a culture?
Profit
Safety
Task vs People
What are Handy’s models of culture?
Power
Task
Person
Role
What is the power culture?
Few key people at the centre of the organisation
They make all the major decisions
Employees refer back to the centre for decisions to be made
Common in small businesses - autocratic style
Quick decision making and consistent approach
Changing scale can lead to overworking and slower decision making - possible stress - may only be effective in smaller organisations
What is the role culture
Individuals have a clear role - know who to report to and who they are responsible for
Identify with a particular function or department
Adopted as businesses become more formalised - processes and procedures
Creates order structure and certainty
What is the person culture?
Individuals have their own space and given own parts of the business to make decisions on and control
Respects individual expertise
Not consistent approach
Senior managers placing trust in others within the organisation
What is the task culture?
Individuals have a specific task they are working on
The importance of the individual depends on their ability to contribute to the task - not age, seniority etc
Common where there are many projects
Name some cultural differences.
Individualism vs Collectivism- Team or individual
Power distance- Rank and status
Short termism vs Long termism
Masculine vs Feminine- Competition and self worth or caring and work/life balance
Uncertainty avoidance- Comfort with uncertainty
What influences the culture of an organisation?
History of the business - what the founders thought was important
Current leadership - vision lead from their beliefs
Society in general - what different stakeholders want- employees, customers, owners etc
Experience and performance of the business - if doing well culture will continue if not changes will be made
Ownership - family run, government, PLC etc will all have different objectives
Why are cultures changed?
New leadership
Society’s values change
Performance of the business suffers
New ownership
What are the issues with changing culture?
Challenging how things are currently done and what matters
People’s beliefs
May involve training and education - investment
Large numbers of people in different locations
Values questioned are ingrained in the business
