types of culture
1. Organizational culture
Organizational culture is beliefs and assumptions, which are shared by all members of an organization (Seymour, 2013).
Charles Handy researched four types of organizational culture, which may be accepted by companies. The first type is “the power culture”, which means that the power is concentrated in one person and dominated by one person in the company (Greener, 2010). One person influences all decision-making. A type of organization with this cultural type is able to solve problems and provide solutions easily, however solutions depend on the central person for their success. The fact is that with this cultural type it is difficult to connect activities together, because of group sizes (Greener, 2010). The performance in the companies, which use this cultural type, can be examined by their results.
The second type, according to Handy, is “the role culture”. In this type of culture each person has his or her own well-detailed job position (Greener, 2010). The influence comes from rules and procedures, which are very well-established. In addition, this type of culture can be a good choice in a resistant type of market. This type of culture can provide security and reward promotions for employees.
The third type of culture, which Handy explained, is “the task culture”. This type of culture is activityoriented; the main focus is on task outcome (Greener, 2010). This is a team culture, which is oriented on the completion of a project. This culture is appropriate on the competitive market. The main difficulty is a control in this type of organizations, however there is a control in each type of project.
The fourth and last type of culture is “Person culture”. This type of culture that is not used by many companies, because it is very unusual (Greener, 2010). In such organizations employees prefer to do a job in which they have efficient skills and can perform successfully. Furthermore, employees tend to do a job, which they wish to
Organizational culture is beliefs and assumptions, which are shared by all members of an organization (Seymour, 2013).
Charles Handy researched four types of organizational culture, which may be accepted by companies. The first type is “the power culture”, which means that the power is concentrated in one person and dominated by one person in the company (Greener, 2010). One person influences all decision-making. A type of organization with this cultural type is able to solve problems and provide solutions easily, however solutions depend on the central person for their success. The fact is that with this cultural type it is difficult to connect activities together, because of group sizes (Greener, 2010). The performance in the companies, which use this cultural type, can be examined by their results.
The second type, according to Handy, is “the role culture”. In this type of culture each person has his or her own well-detailed job position (Greener, 2010). The influence comes from rules and procedures, which are very well-established. In addition, this type of culture can be a good choice in a resistant type of market. This type of culture can provide security and reward promotions for employees.
The third type of culture, which Handy explained, is “the task culture”. This type of culture is activityoriented; the main focus is on task outcome (Greener, 2010). This is a team culture, which is oriented on the completion of a project. This culture is appropriate on the competitive market. The main difficulty is a control in this type of organizations, however there is a control in each type of project.
The fourth and last type of culture is “Person culture”. This type of culture that is not used by many companies, because it is very unusual (Greener, 2010). In such organizations employees prefer to do a job in which they have efficient skills and can perform successfully. Furthermore, employees tend to do a job, which they wish to
References: Angel A., (2003). An Organizational Culture Assessment Using the Competing Values Framework: A Profile of Ohio State University Extension. Journal of extension, [online]. Available at < http://www.joe.org/joe/2003april/a3.php > [Accessed 3 July 2013]. Cameron, Kim S. Quinn, Robert E., (2005). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. [Online]. Wiley. Available from: [Accessed 10 July 2013]. Hofstede G, Hofstede G.J. and Minkov M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. Revised and Expanded 3rd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hofstede G. (2001). Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. Second Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications. Seymour S., (2013). Organizational culture. PM027 [Online] Lecture notes. Kaplan International College London. Greener T., (2010). Understanding organizations- what do organizations look like?. [e-book]. Available through: www.bookboon.com [Accessed 7 July 2013].