Organizational Culture
A nation is defined by their culture because it is a way of life for every member of that nation. Culture defines the people, their values and their vision. However, the concept of culture has be isolated to nations, countries and ethnic groups. This is not realizing that culture can be applied to the organization. It is not only nations that have people, values and vision that is distinct from the others, but corporations as well. Should one care to take a closer glimpse at the structure of the organization, one could be able to single out the different elements that make it similar to the nation is identified by its culture. If nations are made of people, organizations are made of workers. If nations have leaders, organizations have managers, directors and administrators. If values govern nations, organizations have matrices.
For the purpose of analysis, allow this paper to distinguish culture from organizational culture. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defined culture as the totality of customs, attitudes, and beliefs that distinguish one group of people from another (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2014). On the other hand, organizational culture is defined as a collective behavior and assumptions that distinctly identify an organization from the others (Parker, 2000). It can, therefore, be resolved that the culture that defines a nation, or a group of people is the same culture that organizations apply to distinguish or set them apart from the other organizations.
Given all the similarities that were identified, it is easy to assert that like any nation an organization is governed by culture. The theory on organizational culture, therefore, defines and identify an organization distinctly against its competitors. This paper aims to address how the financial manager respond to organizational culture of attention to details, systematic compliance to one’s job description and sufficient autonomy to perform one’s responsibilities and how the latter defines the manager. Simply put, this paper would like to establish the role of the theory on organizational culture towards the manager and vice versa.
The Nature of Organizational Culture
In an article published in 1982, the author made a very important analysis of how organizations behave and conduct itself through the theory of organizational culture. In addition, the author also asserts that so much can be said about an organization by simply reviewing the culture that it embrace. There are two ways to review an organization base on its culture (Kotler & Heskette, 2011). One is analyzing it from what is seen by everyone else. This means that evaluating the superficial aspects of the organization. This includes the physical structure, the way they present their annual reports and the conscious behavior of the people working within the organization. The conscious behavior includes how they greet the guest and visitors, how employees dress and how they carry themselves around other people. The second way to analyze it is by focusing on the technical details of the company. This refers to the practices and protocols that are unconsciously manifested by everyone within the organization. It also includes the way the employees respond to questions and by the unconscious behavior of the people working within the organization when nobody is looking. This could also refer to company policies, organizational norms and their value system.
Organizations make it a conscious effort to present a good image to the public. It is the belief of many corporations that a company’s image says a lot about the kind of service that it is capable of providing its customers. Hence, one of the highly invested assets of an organization is its physical structure. From observing the corporate headquarters of renowned and reputable multinational companies, one will surely be amazed at how the architecture of this infrastructure are uniquely conceptualized. In fact, aside from the design majority of corporations also invest on the materials, facilities and amenities that is incorporated into the building. However, in the book written by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn the authors warn the people not to be deceived by the elaborate headquarters . This is because while it says a lot about the organization and the management, this is just the tip of the iceberg. A corporation with an extravagant corporate headquarters is only but natural. The thing that should be reviewed after is how their plants and their sub-units looks. Reviewing corporation based on the physical structures that stand as a representation of the organization is like seeing a mother and her child. If the mother is dress finely and groomed well, it should follow that her child will be equal to how she presents herself if not better. However, if you see a mother being finely dressed and well-groomed, but you see that her child is exactly the opposite of how she looks then that would create a poor impression to the mother. The same rationale applies to an organization who sports an elaborate corporate headquarters but keeps a poorly-maintained sub-units, factories or plant.
Organizational culture is not dictated by a single individual. It is in fact, enough to shape an individual into the person that it wants to be. Hence, it is necessary for people to closely examine the culture that exist within an organization before it decides to affiliate itself with the organization. Organizations would natural select people who they believe can best represent the embodiment of everything that the company believes in by becoming discerning of the behavior, values and norms of an organization an individual is able to save time . Managers should be able to communicate to potential employees the nature of the business and the culture within the organization. It is the duty of the manager to make the employees realize head on whether the vision and the values of the organization is something they can adhere to in order to save time, money and energy that can be wasted from merely testing the waters.
Usually, when an applicant is assimilated into the organization it is only then that they start to research about the company. It is only the time when employees try to check the company’s history, its milestones, accomplishments and even setbacks. Often, some might encounter information that would conflict or contradict their personal belief and ideologies. Thus, it is necessary to investigate first. Should relevant information proves to be unavailable, the employee can rely on observing the superficial and conscious efforts exerted by the organization and the people working within the organization to learn the details that would be helpful in their decision. Going back to the details presented earlier into the introduction there are other factors that can be observed aside from the physical structure of the corporate headquarters and the organization’s sub-units, plants and offices. One of these would be how employees treats guests.
Many organizations have a reception area where guest log in and document their intention for visiting the organization. For someone who have been to different organizations one could easily say that each organization has their unique practices of guests are received within the organization. An organization with a relaxed security protocol might show signs of being neglectful of their obligations. It should be noted that in the organization, security is very important. It ensures the safety of the employees. In addition, it also shows how the company values its people. By acting careless in minor details such as this, that reflects that the organization can also be careless and neglectful of other more important aspects of business operations. On the other hand, an organization that is too intricate and strict in the implementation of these protocols would give an impression of how detail-oriented and how meticulous an organization is regarding the implementation and execution of the company laws and protocols.
Given the indicated example, the role of the manager in that regard is to enumerate for the employee how things are to be done. The employees should always be conscious regardless of whether someone is observing them or not. Also, it is necessary that managers call the attention of employees should they seem to be running away from the standards, norms and culture of the organization. As mentioned earlier, employees often do things as a result of an unconscious response to a situation.
Theory on Organizational Culture
Based on the theory on organizational culture it assumes that blending in necessarily requires one has to be able to adapt to the existing culture of the organization. Organizational culture sets corporate expectations (Egan, 2008). This will be utilized as a matrix that would evaluate whether employees are hitting the goals and meeting the standards. As mentioned earlier organizational culture sets the mood and the standards within the organization (Gleitman et al., 2010). It determines how people behaves, interacts and what they hold valuable to them.
There are assumption that culture is a product of civilizing the organization. This is in essence similar to the implication of culture to the social community. Organizational culture is believed to have civilized the organization because it serves as a guideline and a premise of how duties are performed, and behaviors are conducted (Gleitman et al., 2010). Hence, it can create an individual according to the standard that is set by the organization. In addition, organizational culture also serves as the organizations’ guiding principles over the things that they show great value for.
Managers Response to Organizational Culture
For this activity, a financial manager’s experience has been taken into account and consideration. The duties and responsibilities of a financial manager have been considered relative to the corporations’ organization culture. It is important to establish that he financial manager’s stand to organizational culture is very crucial. As a manager who handles the financial affairs and activities of the organization, it holds one of the most sensitive responsibility within the organization. In addition, it is also one of the positions that adhere to many standards, protocols and norms. As a response to organizational culture, the financial manager naturally has to follow the prescribed standards of documenting the revenue of the organizations. A financial manager is not only subjected to the norms and standards of the organization, but also the governing agencies that dictates the standards of the profession they practice. Thus, making reports, inventories and other documentation relative to the corporate spending are not only within the standard and the culture of the organization but it also has to be within the merit of the governing agency.
Nevertheless, the financial manager necessarily has to embrace the insights learned from school and the insights that were drawn from experience. While the formulas are standard, it was observed that the financial manager has effectively created a system that was also manifested in the corporation of employment. In this case, the financial manager shows organization in handling the responsibilities presented in his midst. Procrastination was not something the financial manager was ever seen practicing. In the same manner, the financial manager was seen carefully lay outing all the necessary information prior to the commencement of the work. This has largely been seen throughout the organization. For which, everyone has his or her system of how he or she do things. This reflects that within the AEC Construction Consultant Joint Stock Company the culture of organization, efficiency and productivity is encouraged. In addition, the organization allows it employees a certain amount of freedom on how they will perform their jobs provided that it is meeting company expectation. This system of management although might seem relax ensures employees are given room for growth and improvement.
In the case of the financial manager, the culture embraced by AEC Construction Consultant Joint Stock Company has been very helpful. It allowed the financial manager to find the simplest and most effective approach for doing things because he was given enough opportunity to explore and makes his own decisions in reference to the role that was assigned to him within the organization. Given this condition, the financial manager has been able to combine the insights and best practices he has learned from school along with the insights he learned from his experience working in the field. This sufficiently grounds the financial manager into the role that he has to perform in the organization while being able to comply with the national standards of his profession. In this case, the organizational culture supports for the financial manager’s growth and development while performing his task.
In addition, the financial manager also has to communicate the organizational culture that is involved in the process of documenting and reporting the financial report of the organization. This would ensure that only the proper protocol are followed and accomplished because it would narrate the values significantly that the managers also embraces as well as influence of organizational culture upon the financial manager.
In Deal and Kennedy’s article, the authors mentioned about the troubles and common concern documented regarding organizational culture such as internal conflicting beliefs, destructive leaders and disorganization within the daily practical affairs of business operations (Deal & Kennedy, 1982, pp. 136-137). In the case of the financial manager’s experience none of these problems had been experiences in the organization. In fact, the financial manager noticed that AEC Construction Consultant Joint Stock Company was in fact, a little too organized. However, it is not the type that is disturbing. The organization still allows the employees to find their own system. Something that the employees would not feel too boxed up or too manipulated and controlled.
However, the finance manager’s goal as far as the goals set for his position in the company are concerned are rather purely on the short-term objective side. The organization was too focused on immediate feedback and prompt results. Thus, they would rather formulate goals and objectives that are short-term because then the feedback would be almost immediate. This is done to ensure that if problem arise it can also be addressed. In this light the finance manager felt that it was such a pressure and that he was not looking ahead to any future with the company. The organization culture created a sense of urgency in everything. Everyone was pressured to comply with their task. The employees are allowed to use their own system but they are required to make the jobs as quick as possible. This was what authors Deal and Kennedy identified as emotional outburst (1982, p. 137). The “sense of urgency” that the organization creates pressures employees and not make them feel threatened. Meanwhile, to avert the situation and pacify the employees, the finance manager tried to create a different environment under his department, like a subculture within the bigger culture that governs himself and the rest of the people under his wing. The finance manager’s earnest desire to perform and not allow the general organizational culture to affect performance was the objective of the subculture within the department he manages. His has become ideal even at least for his team and allows them to perform their duties well.
Strengths and Weakness of the Organizational Theory
Significantly, organizational culture allows for the creation of a unique identity of a corporation. It facilitates for the organization’s distinct characteristic and personality as determined by the factors that are considered not only imperative but all defining qualifications that distinguish one organization from the other. However, while it sets organizations apart from one another, organizational culture also allows from some difficult and weak characteristic. Organizational culture tends to become too influential among employees that they begin to be diverted by the true essence and meaning of individual characteristics. Also, it allows for hegemonic feeling that one organization is, in fact, better than the others.
Conclusion
The organizational theory on organizational culture fosters for growth and development. In essence, it should be able to provide opportunities for the organization as well as the employees and stakeholders of the organization. The theory on organization culture supports that every organization has a unique practice and sets of behavior of how they conduct business. Single-handedly, organizational culture influences employees’ behavior in more ways than just conducting business. In fact, the relationship of employees among themselves and the customers are also embedded within the culture of the organization. Organizational culture includes sets of beliefs and values that organizations take seriously. This emanates from the company's motto and their mission statement. Usually, by the construct of an organization’s mission statement an outsider might be able to know what the company believes in, values and priorities.
Overall, the theory on organizational culture adheres to the values, norms and beliefs that are commonly shared by the people working within the organization. This are considered non-negotiable. An employee cannot specify that it will be selective of the culture that it wants to embrace.
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