Creating and Maintaining a Healthy Organizational Culture
There are many different definitions of rganizational culture. Most of them suggest basically the same principle, that the oganization 's culture is the shared values, beliefs and assumptions of how the members should behave. The purpose and function of the culture is to understand how organizations function and gives meaning to the organizations way of doing things. It helps to foster internal integration, bring staff members from all levels of the organization much closer together, and enhances their performance. Much as personality shapes an individual, organizational culture shapes its members responses and defines what the organization can and is willing to do. The goal of the organization should not only emphasize on being profitable but also to ensure that its members are working in a healthy organizational culture.
Roles and responsibilities Management is responsible for setting the expectations of how members should behave in a given situation. They should be followers as well as leaders. "Effective followers are distinguished from ineffective ones by their enthusiasm and commitment to the organization and to a person or purposean idea, a product other than themselves or their own interests. They master skills that are useful to their organizations, and they hold to performance standards that are higher than required. Effective followers may not get the glory, but they know their contributions to the organization are valuable. And as they make those contributions, they study leaders in preparation for their own leadership roles." (Bateman & Snell, 2004, Ch. 12 Pg. 22) The most important asset in any organization is its members, and nothing affects the day to day lives of the members more than the culture in which they work. Per Eric Fraterman there are 8 traits of a healthy organizational culture:
1. Openness and humility from top to bottom of the organization
2. An environment of accountability and personal responsibility
3.
Roles and responsibilities Management is responsible for setting the expectations of how members should behave in a given situation. They should be followers as well as leaders. "Effective followers are distinguished from ineffective ones by their enthusiasm and commitment to the organization and to a person or purposean idea, a product other than themselves or their own interests. They master skills that are useful to their organizations, and they hold to performance standards that are higher than required. Effective followers may not get the glory, but they know their contributions to the organization are valuable. And as they make those contributions, they study leaders in preparation for their own leadership roles." (Bateman & Snell, 2004, Ch. 12 Pg. 22) The most important asset in any organization is its members, and nothing affects the day to day lives of the members more than the culture in which they work. Per Eric Fraterman there are 8 traits of a healthy organizational culture:
1. Openness and humility from top to bottom of the organization
2. An environment of accountability and personal responsibility
3.
References: Bateman, Thomas S. and Snell, Scott. (2004) Management: The New Competitive Lanscape. McGraw-Hill. Fraterman, Eric. 2003. Fostering a Sharp Customer Focus. Retrieved online February 19, 2006 from http://www.customerfocusconsult.com/articles/articles_template.asp?ID=36 Hawkins, John. May 2003. The Path to Ethical Internalization: Moving the Code from the Wall to Daily Life. Leadership Lifestyle. Learning Team Toolkit.(2004). Retrieved online February 19, 2006 from http://www.apollolibrary.com/LTT/toolkit2.aspx?ltt=why Porter, Shelia. (2003). Learning Team Toolkit. Retrieved online February 18, 2006 from http://www.apollolibrary.com/LTT/dowload/TeamDecisionMaking.pdf