Organizational Culture Can Be One of the Most Important Means of Improving Organizational Performance.
Organizational Culture can be one of the most important means of improving organizational performance.
Organizational Culture has become very important in the last 25 years. Even though it is intangible in nature, it plays a role that is significant and affects employees and organizational operations. It may not guarantee success but companies with strong cultures have almost always, done better than their competition.
What is organizational culture?
Edgar Schein, a very well known scholar on the subject of organizational culture, defines organizational culture as:
“The culture of a group can now be defined as: A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.” (Schein 1985, pg 373-374)
To put it in slightly simpler language - As and when an organization evolves it is faced with 2 major problems:
1. Making the individuals who are part of this organization come together and work in friendly and productive environment i.e. integrating individuals.
2. And ensuring survival by coping with the external environment.
As these challenges are dealt with, a shared learning takes place within the organization; collective beliefs and values surface and start controlling the way the organization works. These collective beliefs and values are termed as “culture”.
Why it is so important to have a strong Organizational Culture?
Given the demands of the corporate world today, employees often end up spending more time at work than they do with their own families. Now when such a situation occurs the organization needs to understand that in order to maximize productivity and keep employees engaged in their work they need to offer more than just a great salary as the only incentive. This is where a strong
Organizational Culture has become very important in the last 25 years. Even though it is intangible in nature, it plays a role that is significant and affects employees and organizational operations. It may not guarantee success but companies with strong cultures have almost always, done better than their competition.
What is organizational culture?
Edgar Schein, a very well known scholar on the subject of organizational culture, defines organizational culture as:
“The culture of a group can now be defined as: A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.” (Schein 1985, pg 373-374)
To put it in slightly simpler language - As and when an organization evolves it is faced with 2 major problems:
1. Making the individuals who are part of this organization come together and work in friendly and productive environment i.e. integrating individuals.
2. And ensuring survival by coping with the external environment.
As these challenges are dealt with, a shared learning takes place within the organization; collective beliefs and values surface and start controlling the way the organization works. These collective beliefs and values are termed as “culture”.
Why it is so important to have a strong Organizational Culture?
Given the demands of the corporate world today, employees often end up spending more time at work than they do with their own families. Now when such a situation occurs the organization needs to understand that in order to maximize productivity and keep employees engaged in their work they need to offer more than just a great salary as the only incentive. This is where a strong