Defining Organizational Culture
Relationships are critical in defining organizational change. The organizations have focused on building strong relationships with its workforce from diverse culture (Schein 2004). In the modern business environment, building diverse communities can help an organization to achieve significant goals. Indisputably, the connections between stakeholders are depended on the culture. However, the definition of culture has divided the research elites because it is based on knowledge and characteristics of each group or organization (Zimmermann 2015).
Organizational or corporate culture has been associated with business performance. Although all studies indicate that it exists, it has attracted debate thus showing diverse opinions (Watkins 2013). Dizik (2016) maintains that organizational culture shapes behaviours in a company. However, there is no consensus on its definition (Obasan 2012). The organizational culture is a concept that defines organization’s success thus laying the best strategy for organizational success (Ekwutosi & Moses 2013). To Obasan (2012), organizational culture is an imperative environmental condition relating to its system and subsystems. Many organizational studies have described organizational culture based on the experiences, attitudes, values, beliefs, and cultural values. Being the normative glue, it has managed to hold an organization together. Since culture is a set of attributes or characteristics, everyone has a unique characteristic thus makes definition different. Abu-Jarad, Yusof, and Nikbin (2010) viewed culture as a behaviour or value that can lead to organizational success.
Some scholars have defined organizational culture to encompass the language, the leadership style, the definitions of success, and the routines and procedures (Spencer-Oatey 2012). Undoubtedly, culture is a shared and learned idea that begins with the cognitive process. Since organizational culture focuses on the internal phenomenon, the definition would be different thus influencing the organizational performance. The organizational culture remains a shared phenomenon with common key elements. This makes it a learned product related to group experience (O’Toole & Bennis 2009). The differences in the definition could be attributed to the levels of culture based on the visibility aspects. For example, Sun (2008) defines culture based on less visible level without visible evidence that can help in describing it. Conversely, the visible level focuses on the social and physical environment, behaviour patterns, and spoken languages as used by any one group (Ehtesham, Muhammad, & Muhammad 2011).
Shahzad et al. (2012) defined culture based on different attributes that are critical in expressing differentiation and organization. It is a collective thinking in minds by creating different groups. It further confirms that culture encompasses different behaviours and values to guide success. Spencer-Oatey (2012) identifies the difficulties regarding the definition of the concept of culture as it may focus on the artistic or intellectual products or endeavours. This leads to the classification of cultures into a popular or high culture. Since there are many cultures in the world, it has become difficult to reach consensus to define it. For instance, culture could be defined based on the corporate, professional, national, educational, sexual orientation, religious/spiritual, gender, and generational aspects (O’Toole & Bennis 2009). All these factors influence people and organization through cultural lenses.
Relationship between Organizational Culture and Business Performance
Based on these definitions, I believe that culture differentiates one company, group, or society from others thus justifies that every group has a unique cultural orientation. For instance, the material culture would focus on the belongings or objects of a group including stores, automobiles, physical structures, while the nonmaterial culture consists of the beliefs, attitudes, and ideas of a society (Schein 2004). Therefore, culture is beyond the biological human elements such as values, norms, acquired or learned behaviours, fashion and art, and religious beliefs. It completely differentiates groups or organizations. To this effect, culture represents the practice, beliefs, or behaviour of a particular group.
The corporate culture is critical in defining organizational success. Many companies that have succeeded by pulling all stops at the corporate culture are the IBM that nearly collapsed in 1990s. According to Demers (2011), companies such as Google have made a name by offering unique and luxurious benefits to the workforce. The small start-ups have also continued to change the rules relating to their cultures to meet the expectations of their stakeholders. Without a doubly, every cultural component including mission statement and common values ensures employees work under identifiable banner. Besner (2015) holds that culture ensures a long-term business success. The culture must align to the market needs so that the company can attract new talents, establish clear priorities, and retain employees. Besides, organizational culture encourages passion and differentiates brand identity.
With the millennial population growing in the workplace, companies and employees are putting emphasis on the organizational culture. These stakeholders require flexible job opportunities thus compelling managers to be flexible in scheduling their tasks (Tsai 2011). Professional development is also important like flexibility, in particularly the millennial because this population look beyond the financial rewards. McGregor and Doshi (2015) believe that the current employees value companies that care about them. The reputation entails employer brand and social responsibility including sustainability, volunteerism, and corporate giving. Therefore, cultural clash would make it difficult for the organization to achieve its objectives. Indeed, the company culture defines the how the organization interacts with its stakeholders including suppliers and partners. The formula guides the organizational teams, motivates and inspires employees (Shahzad, Luqman, Khan, & Shabbir 2012).
With respect to IBM, in the 1990s, the culture and strategy clashed. However, with the new management, the organization created a culture and corporate strategy that were in tandem. According to ASU (2011), the culture change transformed IBM by allowing it to achieve results. The manager had to use competing values framework thus differentiating flexibility and self-discretion with stability and control (Tsai 2011). With clan cultures, the company managed to establish positive relationships with workers attitudes including organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Apart from the clan culture, IBM leadership embraced adhocracy cultures because the business has invested significantly in innovation. Finally, the market culture that values quality and value of products and services must be considered because this culture guarantee returns. Nevertheless, these cultures are important to an organization. The management of IBM blended these cultures thus avoiding conflicts (ASU 2011).
Differences in Defining Culture and Cultural Clash with Corporate Strategy
Conclusion
Organizational culture has acted as a bridge between group-level and individual-level phenomena. It facilitates the individuals in making sensible decisions. Despite the lack of consensus on the definition of culture, organizational culture recognizes the aspects of shared perceptions of work practices and values within an organizational unit. Based on this paper, it is evident that organizational culture defines an organizational success and performance. To this effect, the management must create corporate cultures and strategies that are never conflicting.
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