Organizational culture aims to achieve business objectives
Syed Masroor Hussain Shah | Saturday, 12 July 2008
"Organizational Culture is defined as a system of learned, shared values, beliefs and norms that are used to interpret elements in the environment and to guide all kinds of behaviour" (Human Resource Development by Randy L. Desimone, Jon M. Werner & David M. Harris, p.594-595). "Corporate Culture is the way of managing a corporation, by increasing the importance of the corporation itself, and therefore the loyalty of the workforce to the corporation" (Dictionary of Human Resources and Personnel Management by A. Ivanovic & P.H.Collin, p.64).
Randy, Werner & Harris further comment that organizational culture is not something that is found in a mission statement or a corporate policy manual, rather it is communicated and reinforced through organizational mechanisms like what managers pay attention to, the ways managers react to critical incidents, role modeling, coaching, organizational training programmes, criteria for allocating rewards and status, criteria for recruitment, selection, promotion and removal from the organization.
The above definitions and comments identify one thing explicitly that culture is something that is not produced or created by one individual but it is the offshoot of shared values, beliefs and norms. This image of the culture is thus jointly owned by those working in the organizations and practiced in day to day business life and activities. Organizational Culture is the beacon light and guiding spirit for the managers and other team members working across the organizations, that is actually the creation of the Board of Directors. In today's era of fast changing and growing organizations, culture plays a very vital role. It acts as a nucleus around which the rest of business activities revolve and make the organizational citizens follow it religiously. Any culture that is based and developed on the tenets like friendliness, discipline, amity, trust, confidence, mutual care, respect of rules, regulations and procedures, respect of reporting liens, organizational loyalty, respect for and recognition of talent and merit, etc. greatly contribute towards the individual as well as organizational growth.
At this point when principles and pillars of organizational culture are being dwelt on, this scribe would like to refer to Bob Garratt who writes in his book titled "The Fish Rots from the Head" (p.64) that "creating an appropriate organizational culture is a fundamental building block of a healthy organization, and it is measurable - by parametric and non-parametric statistics, and other quantitative and qualitative methods". This comment illustrates a critical point of measuring the culture through quantitative and qualitative methods. A sane mind understands clearly that results of the business in terms of revenue generation, profitability and developing stature of the corporation signifies quantitative side of the culture. While, the qualitative aspect appears when the quality of human resource, level of team building, horizontal and vertical growth of the employees, image of the organization, use and consumption of the product being produced by the concerned organization/corporation, register gradual and consistent increase.
Garratt further writes in the same book (p.65) that "organizational culture is defined broadly by how power is used and what will be rewarded and punished. This may apparently seem to be a crude definition of culture but it is a powerful one: you have been selected for your job because you are seen as technically competent in your previous job, have potential to develop, and look as though you will fit into the culture of the new organization." This comment indicates a relationship between the individual and organization. A strong bond between both leads to create a culture that is well-knit and productive. An individual is important because he is selected for a job in an organization based upon his past capabilities and professional achievements. S/he comes, joins and starts working in an organization in line with the culture that is already prevailing there. S/he practices and supports the culture in totality. Anything seemed un-supportive, S/he points out to the management to either re-engineer or replace it with a new value, dimension or norm to further strengthen the existing culture. Culture is not something that is revealed nor does it come out of the blue. Its foundation is rather laid by the Board of Directors. This fact has been strongly supported by Garratt in the introduction of his book "The Fish Rots from the Head" (p.3) - "The key to organizational health is a thoughtful and committed Board of Directors, not Managers, at the heart of enterprise. It is the Board's job to keep striking balances between the external and internal pressures on the organization to ensure its survival. The Board must give a clear direction to the business and create emotional climate in which its people can align and attune to that direction. It is the Board's job to ensure that sufficient numbers of members are pointing in the same direction, committed to a common purpose, with similar values and behaviours, so that the organization can function effectively and efficiently".
Culture flows from the top to the corridors of an organization to achieve the business objectives. It is created, guided, modified and implemented with the blessing of the Board of Directors. It is then the professional obligations of the managers and other team members in the organization to follow the said culture religiously.
Any new employee will be bound to abide by the culture that is already in place. S/he can suggest changes yet s/he will require going in line with the existing culture. It is a collective proposition, though constituted by the Board, which comes into place after joint efforts and initiatives of the top, middle and lower rungs of an organization. The culture has to be followed first by the leads in different departments and then it trickles down to the other employees.
Change of mindset is required to accept the reality that Organizational Culture is created by the top body or Board of Directors and implemented/followed by the managers and associates in the organizations. Shakespeare writes, "Nothing of him that doth fade. But doth suffer for a sea-change into something rich and strange." He pointed towards the change nothing and but the whole change. A particular will carry a different posture in one organization that will be altogether different in another. We must have the adaptability to fit into any culture that will not be changed certainly for individual assimilation. Rather, the individual will have to change his/her individual posture to himself/herself into the mould of new culture and start behaving accordingly. Organizational culture is like the heart of an organization that needs to remain active, alive and be pursued earnestly for keeping the organization focused, disciplined and united to achieve the business objectives of growth, sustainability and profitability.
The writer is PhD in HRD and currently working as Head of HR in Warid Telecom International Limited, Dhaka (Bangladesh)
Randy, Werner & Harris further comment that organizational culture is not something that is found in a mission statement or a corporate policy manual, rather it is communicated and reinforced through organizational mechanisms like what managers pay attention to, the ways managers react to critical incidents, role modeling, coaching, organizational training programmes, criteria for allocating rewards and status, criteria for recruitment, selection, promotion and removal from the organization.
The above definitions and comments identify one thing explicitly that culture is something that is not produced or created by one individual but it is the offshoot of shared values, beliefs and norms. This image of the culture is thus jointly owned by those working in the organizations and practiced in day to day business life and activities. Organizational Culture is the beacon light and guiding spirit for the managers and other team members working across the organizations, that is actually the creation of the Board of Directors. In today's era of fast changing and growing organizations, culture plays a very vital role. It acts as a nucleus around which the rest of business activities revolve and make the organizational citizens follow it religiously. Any culture that is based and developed on the tenets like friendliness, discipline, amity, trust, confidence, mutual care, respect of rules, regulations and procedures, respect of reporting liens, organizational loyalty, respect for and recognition of talent and merit, etc. greatly contribute towards the individual as well as organizational growth.
At this point when principles and pillars of organizational culture are being dwelt on, this scribe would like to refer to Bob Garratt who writes in his book titled "The Fish Rots from the Head" (p.64) that "creating an appropriate organizational culture is a fundamental building block of a healthy organization, and it is measurable - by parametric and non-parametric statistics, and other quantitative and qualitative methods". This comment illustrates a critical point of measuring the culture through quantitative and qualitative methods. A sane mind understands clearly that results of the business in terms of revenue generation, profitability and developing stature of the corporation signifies quantitative side of the culture. While, the qualitative aspect appears when the quality of human resource, level of team building, horizontal and vertical growth of the employees, image of the organization, use and consumption of the product being produced by the concerned organization/corporation, register gradual and consistent increase.
Garratt further writes in the same book (p.65) that "organizational culture is defined broadly by how power is used and what will be rewarded and punished. This may apparently seem to be a crude definition of culture but it is a powerful one: you have been selected for your job because you are seen as technically competent in your previous job, have potential to develop, and look as though you will fit into the culture of the new organization." This comment indicates a relationship between the individual and organization. A strong bond between both leads to create a culture that is well-knit and productive. An individual is important because he is selected for a job in an organization based upon his past capabilities and professional achievements. S/he comes, joins and starts working in an organization in line with the culture that is already prevailing there. S/he practices and supports the culture in totality. Anything seemed un-supportive, S/he points out to the management to either re-engineer or replace it with a new value, dimension or norm to further strengthen the existing culture. Culture is not something that is revealed nor does it come out of the blue. Its foundation is rather laid by the Board of Directors. This fact has been strongly supported by Garratt in the introduction of his book "The Fish Rots from the Head" (p.3) - "The key to organizational health is a thoughtful and committed Board of Directors, not Managers, at the heart of enterprise. It is the Board's job to keep striking balances between the external and internal pressures on the organization to ensure its survival. The Board must give a clear direction to the business and create emotional climate in which its people can align and attune to that direction. It is the Board's job to ensure that sufficient numbers of members are pointing in the same direction, committed to a common purpose, with similar values and behaviours, so that the organization can function effectively and efficiently".
Culture flows from the top to the corridors of an organization to achieve the business objectives. It is created, guided, modified and implemented with the blessing of the Board of Directors. It is then the professional obligations of the managers and other team members in the organization to follow the said culture religiously.
Any new employee will be bound to abide by the culture that is already in place. S/he can suggest changes yet s/he will require going in line with the existing culture. It is a collective proposition, though constituted by the Board, which comes into place after joint efforts and initiatives of the top, middle and lower rungs of an organization. The culture has to be followed first by the leads in different departments and then it trickles down to the other employees.
Change of mindset is required to accept the reality that Organizational Culture is created by the top body or Board of Directors and implemented/followed by the managers and associates in the organizations. Shakespeare writes, "Nothing of him that doth fade. But doth suffer for a sea-change into something rich and strange." He pointed towards the change nothing and but the whole change. A particular will carry a different posture in one organization that will be altogether different in another. We must have the adaptability to fit into any culture that will not be changed certainly for individual assimilation. Rather, the individual will have to change his/her individual posture to himself/herself into the mould of new culture and start behaving accordingly. Organizational culture is like the heart of an organization that needs to remain active, alive and be pursued earnestly for keeping the organization focused, disciplined and united to achieve the business objectives of growth, sustainability and profitability.
The writer is PhD in HRD and currently working as Head of HR in Warid Telecom International Limited, Dhaka (Bangladesh)