Defining Organizational Culture

Defining Organizational Culture

Organizational culture works a lot like this. Every company has its own unique personality, just like people do. The unique personality of an organization is referred to as its culture. In groups of people who work together, organizational culture is an invisible but powerful force that influences the behavior of the members of that group. So, how do we define organizational culture?

Organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations. These shared values have a strong influence on the people in the organization and dictate how they dress, act, and perform their jobs. Every organization develops and maintains a unique culture, which provides

Innovation (Risk Orientation) - Companies with cultures that place a high value on innovation encourage their employees to take risks and innovate in the performance of their jobs. Companies with cultures that place a low value on innovation expect their employees to do their jobs the same way that they have been trained to do them, without looking for ways to improve their performance.

2. Attention to Detail (Precision Orientation) - This characteristic of organizational culture dictates the degree to which employees are expected to be accurate in their work. A culture that places a high value on attention to detail expects their employees to perform their work with precision. A culture that places a low value on this characteristic does not.

3. Emphases on Outcome (Achievement Orientation) - Companies that focus on results, but not on how the results are achieved, place a high emphasis on this value of organizational culture. A company that instructs its sales force to do whatever it takes to get sales orders has a culture that places a high value on the emphasis on outcome

Organizational Structure and Culture are directly linked to Organizational Performance. To explain further here are my findings

1. Organizational Culture: One theory that is common in the literature is the strong culture theory. This theory assumes that if managers and employees within an organization are fully committed to collective principles, customs and morals this will result in positive outcomes in the organization. The theory also proves that there is a relationship between strong corporate culture and organization performance or profits. The observation is that if the organization and its employees share a common culture the environment makes it easier to share common goals and to follow suitable procedures in achieving them. A collective culture also has positive impact on motivation in an