Organizational Culture Impact

Introduction Organizational culture is a set of key values, assumptions, and beliefs that are shared by an organization's members. The combined key values create a custom attitude or culture that is followed by the organization's members. The culture represents the "personality of the organization" (McNamara, 1999). Through the observation of employee behavior one can help predict an organization's culture that influences its business attitude. Organizational culture can also help distinguish two companies from each other. One company may have an aggressive culture while the other a more conservative culture. Most importantly, organizational culture is a key element that helps define, support and reinforces the standard for appropriate behavior within the organization (Gray-Larson, 2005).
The influence of organizational culture
Project managers are thrust into daily situations with various other organizations such as suppliers, vendors, subcontractors, government and regulatory agencies and in some cases community groups. As one may expect, different organizations may have different cultures. It is important for a project manager to understand these differences in order to form successful partnerships.
Can culture influence sponsorship? The answer is yes. The dictionary defines sponsor "as an individual or organization who assumes responsibility for some other person or thing --- a person or an organization that pays for or plans and carries out a project or activity" (Dictionary). The literature suggests that an organization culture is successful only when top management; team members and middle managers actively support the defined cultural direction; therefore, if an organization expects to grow and prosper, a culture that supports growth and prosperity must be implemented and adhered to throughout the organization. Culture can influence project prioritization if the strategic goals of the organization differ from the project goals. If the culture is