Organizational Culture in the Workplace
The subject of organisational culture has been widely discussed. Despite culture being an abstraction, the forces created in organisational settings and which are derived from culture are very powerful (Schein, 2010). Schein pointed out that there is a need to understand the operation of these forces fewer people become victims to them. To him, cultural forces are very powerful because they operate beyond people’s awareness. He further argued that cultural forces need to be understood not only because of their power but also because its importance in explaining many controversial and frustrating experiences in organisational situations. Also, a good understanding of cultural forces helps people to know themselves better. Although there is a general agreement that organisational culture not only exists but also plays a key role in shaping organisations, there is little consensus on its definition (Watkins, 2013). A study of Watson’s and Schein’s views regarding culture suggest they are in agreement that there is a need to understand organisational culture. Besides the lack of consensus in its definition, found out that there is also no agreement on how it should be measured or observed or how different methodologies can be employed to inform organisational change or routine administration (Scott, Mannion, Davies, & Marshall, 2003).
The questions on organisational culture designed by McGinty and Moss (McGinty & Moss, 2001) helped me to understand the culture in my organisation as I see it. An assessment of the scores suggests they are consistent with my general expectations about the organisation. The scores show that the nature of organisational culture in my previous workplace is traditional/deliberative. While working in the organisation, I found out that the people are not only thoughtful but also exhibit a high level of intellectualism. Before making any changes, people in the organisation used to consider some issues with a lot of caution. The senior level management also used to generate a lot of communication frequently to the junior employees. Despite the fact that there were a lot of communication flowing from the top level management to the lower level management, there was hardly any information flowing from the lower level to the upper level. It appears the senior level management was not interested in obtaining feedback from the lower level management. This explains why there was occasional poor performance as evidenced by an inability to meet organisational goals. Previous investigations suggest regular feedback of employees have a key impact on the overall organisational performance (Kuvaas, 2011).
McNamara came up with four categories of organisational cultures: the club culture, baseball team culture, fortress culture, and academy culture (Fiofori, 2007). Of the four types of organisational culture, the prevailing organisational culture in my organisation could be best described as academy culture. The organisation saw its employees as highly skilled, and they had to work their way up the organisation’s ranks. The organisation offered its employees a stable environment where they could develop their skills. McNamara’s categories played a key role in my understanding of management issues. Results of the assessment show that the organisation’s culture is not in line with my expectations. Molinsky (2014) pointed out that the first step to adapting to culture is to understand the cultural code of the organisation. However, he argued that one need to be careful not to go too far. To make my interaction more effective, I would learn to adapt to the organisation’s culture instead of trying to change. I would seek opportunities which work instead of focusing much on what it does not work. The assessment helped me in understanding the organisation as well as how I can cope with it. By explaining the advantages and the pitfalls, it helped me identify ways in which I can adapt. However, I believe the assessment did not provide an exhaustive means of analysing an organisational culture. The questions are few and shallow and can be relevant only for quick analysis.
References
Fiofori, F.O. (2007). Organisational Cultures: Use Nanotechnology Communication Format to Achieve Goals. Journal of Business and Public Affairs, 1(1). Retrieved from: http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1044.htm
Kuvaas, B. (2011). The interactive role of performance appraisal reactions and regular feedback. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 26(2), 123-137.
McGinty, D.W. & Moss, N.C. (2001). What Is Your Corporate Culture? Retrieved from: http://www.inc.com/articles/2001/08/23312.html
Molinsky, A. (2014). Adapt to a New Culture – but Don’t Go Too Far. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2014/07/adapt-to-a-new-culture-but-dont-go-too-far/
Schein, E.H. (2010). Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Scott, T., Mannion, R., Davies, H., & Marshall, M. (2003). The quantitative measurement of organisational culture in health care: a review of the available instruments. Health Services Research, 38(3), 923-945.
Watkins, M.D. (2013). What Is Organizational Culture? And Why Should We Care? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational-culture
Appendix
Table showing assessment scores
