Introduction
Organizational culture is the shared values, assumptions, and beliefs that define a firm’s identity and shape behavior. Effectively managing and understanding organizational behavior is crucial for sustainable growth and success. This paper explores Chapter 5 of Schermerhorn et al. (2011), which relates to organizational culture, focusing on its creation, significance, global variation, and change. The paper comprehensively evaluates how organizational culture affects multiple organizational aspects. It also examines the role of visual elements, leadership, and reward systems. Understanding the link between organizational culture and national culture makes it possible to determine how cultural contexts influence organizational dynamics in various global settings.
Summary of the Article
The organizational culture at the workplace is a complex yet powerful phenomenon within all businesses. It includes a system of shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that drive each player’s behavior. Understanding the role it plays is of crucial importance because it has a direct influence on performance, competitive advantage, and a firm’s organizational culture. Chapter 5 describes the multifaceted nature of organizational culture, addressing its creation, preservation, alteration, and global variations. At its core, organizational culture comprises three levels: symbols, beliefs, and customs. However, powerful cultures hold a critical sphere of influence that influences the performance of their employees and, consequently, organizational outcomes.
Nevertheless, these subcultures come out of different reasons or causes, like the kind of personality or the needs of an industry. The organizational culture is influenced not only by the entrepreneurs’ values and standards but also by the businesses’ features. Culture maintenance involves recruiting, selecting, keeping, and broader onboarding methods. The onboarding process of new employees is vital as it helps new employees fit in properly and become committed. During the onboarding process, the employees and the companies profoundly affect the integration and assimilation of cultures. Leadership and reward systems are critical components of organizational culture and help promulgate and sustain it. Leaders are like ambassadors, arousing individuals and promoting the cultural tradition by example. However, iconography, symbols, mission statements, and physical layout, among other elements, contribute to cultural reinforcement.
Organizational cultural change will generate urgency, change the critical staff, model the behavior, train, and reengineer the reward systems. Ethical issues are also a serious concern, and improper behavior is likely to normalize after becoming a part of the common culture. Also, organizational culture can be different worldwide and is shaped by the influences of national cultures and owner values. Learning about this connection is essential for giving appropriate inputs in cultural complexity. Some crucial terms explain basic concepts, such as innovative culture, aggressive culture, and subcultures. Workplace induction, mentors, and formal orientation in the workplace greatly aid in employees’ absorption of a new culture. Fundamentally speaking, organizational culture is a multifaceted force that forms the identity and behavior of organizations. This paper provides tips and techniques for comprehending, organizing, and optimizing culture to compete in the current multicultural and dynamic business world resourcefully. The article presents an integrated view of organizational culture, emphasizing how it can influence workforce behavior/performance and the organization’s competitive edge. Generally, I agree with the author’s main point, which addresses the delicate matter of culture within organizational settings. The facts and examples are just what one would expect to see.
Personal opinions and arguments regarding the points raised in the article
This article, in particular, adequately highlights the role of organizational culture as one of the critical elements in prosperous business growth. Shared values and culture unite the team and promote a closer connection with employees and their engagement, involvement, and productivity. Besides, culture is a powerful controller that provides coincidences and forms employee behavior and decision-making. Therefore, I affirmed that much research exists to prove the connection between powerful cultures and positive organizational results. Many studies have shown that organizations with a strong culture usually outperform companies with a comparatively weaker culture, which suggests the significance of culture in attaining the strategic purpose.
The separation of assumptions, values, and artifacts is significant because it provides an authentic grasp of what holds cultures together. Assumptions and values, instead of artifacts, craft culture through core beliefs, while the latter express culture through visible symbols and practices. This holistic view of culture, which considers the material aspect and the immaterial representation, is in harmony with my views. Through this perception, organizations can identify their level of culture and manage it to meet the strategic goals.
The article explores several factors in culture creation and sustainment building: founders’ values, industry-specific requirements, and career-personnel selection- -disposition. Establishing initial culture, shaping organizational norms, and setting the voice through the founder’s role is necessary to make the process work. Besides this, the accent on employee attraction, selection, and onboarding further points out the role of cultural fit in developing organizational identity. A sustainable maintenance approach leads to building organizational strengths that help to enhance the responsiveness and flexibility of the organizational structure.
The part that leadership plays in both sustaining and shaping culture is highly addressed in the article. Employees look up to leaders as cultural models, leading to the imitation of behavior and establishing workplace norms. I fully agree that leadership holds a champion status in cultural transformation because its actions and behaviors determine how change can be achieved. By executing cultural change, leaders can ignite employee participation and help bring about a successful transformation.
Conclusion
The Chapter provides important views about organizational culture and its effect on organizational effectiveness. Organizations that effectively understand and leverage their culture can cultivate an environment that optimizes sustainable success, collaboration, and innovation. Thus, Organizational culture is critical for business as it influences performance, employee behavior, and an organization’s competitive advantage. It is clear that organizational culture is much more than just some shared values and attitudes; instead, it manifests the organization’s very identity through its members’ norms, practices, and mindset. Three aspects of culture – cultural assumptions, cultural values, and artifacts – are a comprehensive way to understand culture’s essential components and expressions. Leaders are the driving force behind the culture change, and they set the pace, for they profess the values and facilitate the transformation. As organizations start to modify with the newly developing market patterns and social trends, the capacity to look into, oversee, and involve culture becomes more and more significant. By creating a robust culture based on shared values, faith, and teamwork, organizations can produce environments that may encourage the company’s progress, flexibility, and longevity.
Reference
Schermerhorn Jr, J. R., Osborn, R. N., Uhl-Bien, M., & Hunt, J. G. (2011). Organizational behavior; Chapter 5–Organizational Culture. John Wiley & sons.
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