Strategic managers in all organizations should have a clear understanding of organizational culture. Organizational culture is essential in strategic management because it influences the decisions made in any organization and how new strategies will be implemented in the organization. The alignment of every strategy in an organization with the organizational culture will help ensure full implementation of the strategies without any hitches. Managers must be fully aware of the organizational structure and its operations before making any significant decisions on how to formulate strategies that suit the organization.
Strategic managers must be familiar with an organization’s culture because it is part of the strategic management basics. Strategic managers develop strategies that would help the company achieve its objectives and mission. The steps involved in strategic management can only be fulfilled if the managers have a clear understanding of the organization’s culture. Managers must conduct environmental scanning, formulate the strategy, implement then evaluate the strategy. Scanning the organizational environment requires one to know the organization’s culture and structure. The formulation, implementation and evaluation of the strategy require organizational structure knowledge because the managers must have standards with which to set the strategy, evaluate and implement.
The impact of organizational culture is always massive. More than often, it determines the failure or success of the organization. Strategic managers must understand organizational culture to determine whether the culture influences the organization positively or negatively. Good organizational culture promotes competitive advantage hence; strategic managers use the culture to determine which kind of strategies to formulate. The efficiency in implementation, evaluation or formulation of the strategy is dependent on the organizational culture.
Strategic managers must understand organizational culture for the sake of aligning strategies to the organization’s culture. Organizations differ from one another in terms of their operations and structures hence; their organizational cultures are unique to each organization. Managers must understand the culture of the organization so that all strategies are customized to meet the organizational structure, operations and environment. If managers cannot align strategies to the organizational culture, they may make unpractical strategies.
Managers must also have sufficient knowledge on organizational culture to help them balance between internal and external strategies. Strategies are developed to help the management achieve corporate vision and mission. The mission and vision represent the company’s values and purpose. They are the blueprint on how the company operates outside and inside. The strategies formulated by the management must be in line with the blueprint. Organizational culture helps strategic managers choose strategies for internal operations and external relations of the company. For example, an organization would encourage environmental responsibility at its internal level as part of its organizational culture if it intends to portray itself to the outside market as a green friendly organization. Therefore, organizational culture also offers a link between the internal and external strategies. The managers must create a link between the company’s internal and external images.
In conclusion, organizational culture is a vital aspect that all strategic managers must master. Organizational culture influences organizational strategies because of the cultural influence in organizations. Knowing organizational culture helps managers align strategies to the culture, link the external to the internal organizational strategies and adhere to the basic rules of strategic management.
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