6 Dimensions of Organizational Culture Which One is Right for You?

By Eva Rykrsmith | Posted on February 25, 2014

An organizations culture is the systematic way employees, leaders, and
work groups behave and interact with each other. Company culture is
collectively composed of values, beliefs, norms, language, symbols, and
habits.
Knowing and understanding your companys culture (or another companys
culture) can be quite useful. A fit between your personality and your
companys culture is of critical importance to both your happiness and your
success. If you dont feel like you are welcome and you belong, it will impact
your professional relationships and drive and desire to excel.
Geert Hofstede, social psychologist and foremost authority on global and
organizational cultures, defines six dimensions:
Means- vs. goal-oriented
A means-oriented culture places importance on how work gets done. The
focus is on the way people do work and an emphasis on avoiding risk. On the
opposite end of the spectrum, a goal-oriented culture identifies with what
work gets done. There is a strong focus on achieving an end result. Of the six
dimensions, this dimension correlates most strongly with organizational
effectiveness; organizations with goal-oriented cultures are more effective
than those with means-oriented cultures.
Internally vs. externally driven
Employees within an internally-driven culture see themselves as experts;
they feel they know what is best for the client and customer and act
accordingly. As Steve Jobs put it, A lot of times, people dont know what they
want until you show it to them. On the other side, employees working in an
externally-driven culture are very customer-oriented and will do whatever the
customer wants. Their mantra might be, the customer is always right and
their favorite metric customer satisfaction.
Easygoing vs. strict work discipline
Work discipline refers to the amount of structure and control. In an easygoing
culture, the approach to work is informal, loose, unpredictable, and these
characteristics facilitate a high level of innovation. But you better like
surprises and be willing to improvise and adapt! In a strict culture, there is a
fair amount of planning, which leads to efficiency and productivity. People
take punctuality seriously and delegate work with detailed instructions.

Local vs. professional

In a local organizational culture, employees identify with their boss and their
teammates. This type of environment risks having a low level of diversity,
since there are social pressures to act, look, and talk in a certain way.
However, these defined norms allow for a great amount of predictability. In a
company with a professional culture, employees identify with their profession
or the content of the work.
Open vs. closed system
In an open system, newcomers are welcomed easily. People are inclusive and
take the approach that anyone will fit in well with the organization. A closed
system is more exclusive, where newcomers have to prove themselves.
Open cultures have managers and leaders who are approachable, and thus
tend to see higher employee satisfaction.
Employee- vs. work-centered
In a culture with an employee-centered management philosophy, leaders
take responsibility for the happiness, well-being, and satisfaction of their
employees. This is true even if it is at the expense of productivity. In a workcentered culture, a focus on high task performance can come at the expense
of employees. In this environment, there is a low level of empathy for
personal problems.
As you read through this list, you can probably pretty easily pick out which
type of culture you prefer and which is not a fit for you. Most of the time, our
preferences and our companys cultures are more moderate and fit
somewhere in the middle of the polar extremes described in this article.
It is important to keep in mind that these dimensions of organizational
culture are neither good nor bad. However, either end of the spectrum on the
extreme side can cause dysfunction; for example, when an organizations
goals are inappropriate for the culture or when a group of individuals do not
integrate well with their environment.