How does organizational Culture impact on working practices and processes
“How does organizational Culture impact on working practices and processes?”
Word count: 2076
Q. How does organization culture impact on working practices and processes? “The basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation, and timing. All these things weigh heavily in success. But they are, I think, transcended by how strongly the people in the organization believe in its basic precepts and how faithfully they carry them out.” -Tom Watson Jr., A Business and Its Beliefs, 1963
When Tom Watson Jr., the second CEO of IBM, gave a lecture at Columbia University about the prospects of strong organizational culture, he addressed his thoughts on what 50 years of corporate life taught his company. He zeroed in on IBM’s 3 basic beliefs–respect for the individual, excellence in all tasks, providing better customer services–that are still the Company’s guiding principles. His father, the founder of IBM, was one of the first business leaders to recognize and create a culture for his company. This illustrates how organization culture has a lasting impact that determines the survival of an organization over time.
Organization culture being a social construct, the product of mental programming, has been learned and historically determined (Hofstede, 1991; Schein, 1985). According to Kilmann, Saxton and Serpa (1985) “culture is the invisible force behind the tangibles and observables in any organization, a social energy that moves people to act”. There are numerous definitions of culture and organizational culture. Corporate culture can be seen as something an organization has or something organization is (Smircich, 1983) which has different implications for the usefulness of the notion. Combining the viewpoints of different authors, an organization’s culture can be
Word count: 2076
Q. How does organization culture impact on working practices and processes? “The basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation, and timing. All these things weigh heavily in success. But they are, I think, transcended by how strongly the people in the organization believe in its basic precepts and how faithfully they carry them out.” -Tom Watson Jr., A Business and Its Beliefs, 1963
When Tom Watson Jr., the second CEO of IBM, gave a lecture at Columbia University about the prospects of strong organizational culture, he addressed his thoughts on what 50 years of corporate life taught his company. He zeroed in on IBM’s 3 basic beliefs–respect for the individual, excellence in all tasks, providing better customer services–that are still the Company’s guiding principles. His father, the founder of IBM, was one of the first business leaders to recognize and create a culture for his company. This illustrates how organization culture has a lasting impact that determines the survival of an organization over time.
Organization culture being a social construct, the product of mental programming, has been learned and historically determined (Hofstede, 1991; Schein, 1985). According to Kilmann, Saxton and Serpa (1985) “culture is the invisible force behind the tangibles and observables in any organization, a social energy that moves people to act”. There are numerous definitions of culture and organizational culture. Corporate culture can be seen as something an organization has or something organization is (Smircich, 1983) which has different implications for the usefulness of the notion. Combining the viewpoints of different authors, an organization’s culture can be
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