1.

0 INTRODUCTION
Organizational culture is the collective behaviour of people that are part of an
organization, it is also formed by the organization values, visions, norms, working language,
systems, and symbols, it includes beliefs and habits It is also the pattern of such collective
behaviours and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of
perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affect the way people and
groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.
Organizational culture is defined as a pattern of basic assumptions invented,
discovered or developed by a given group, as it learns to cope with the problems of external
adaption and internal investigation that has worked well enough to be considered valid and
therefore is to be taught to the new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in
relation to those problems. Organizational culture is a set of shared understandings, norms,
values, attitudes and beliefs of an organization which can foster or impede change.
When people join an organization, they bring with them the values and beliefs that
they have been taught. Quite often, however these values and beliefs are insufficient for
helping the individual succeed in the organization. The person needs to learn how the
particular enterprise does things.
A common misconception is that an organization has a uniform culture. However, at
least as anthropology uses the concept; it is probably more accurate to treat organizations as
if they had a uniform culture. All organizations have culture, in the sense that they are
embedded in specific societal cultures and are part of them.According to this view,
organization culture is a common perception held by the organizations members. Everyone
in the organization would have to share this perception. However, all may not do so to the
same degree. As a result, there can be a dominant culture as well as subcultures throughout a
typical organization.
A dominant culture is a set of core values shared by a majority of the organization s
members. The values that create dominant cultures in organizations help guide the day-to-day
behavior of the employees. Important, but often overlooked, are the subcultures in an
organization. A subculture is a set of values shared by a minority, usually a small minority of
the organizations members. Subcultures typically are a result of problems or experiences
that are shared by members of a department or unit. Subcultures can weaken and undermine
an organization if they are in conflict with the dominant culture and overall objectives.
Successful firms, however find that this is not the case always. Most subcultures are formed
to help the members of a particular group deal with the specific day-to-day problems with
which they are confronted. The members may also support many, if not all, of the core values
of the dominant culture.

2.0 TASK QUESTION

2.1 Describe what types of behaviour does culture control and culture control
mechanisms?
Control mechanisms play an important role in any business organization, without which the
roles of managers get constrained. Control is required for achieving the goals in a predefined
manner because it provides the instruments which influence the performance and decisionmaking process of an organization. Control is in fact concerned with the regulations applied
to the activities within an organization to attain expected results in establishing policies,
plans, and practices.
Control mechanisms can be set according to functions, product attributes, geographical
attributes, and the overall strategic and financial objectives.
Types of Control Mechanisms
There are various modes of control. The most influential ones are the following:
Personal Controls
Personal controls are achieved via personal contact with the subordinates. It is the most
widely used type of control mechanism in small firms for providing direct supervision of
operational and employee management. Personal control is used to construct relationship
processes between managers at different levels of employees in multinational companies.
CEOs of international firms may use a set of personal control policies to influence the
behavior of the subordinates.
Bureaucratic Controls
These are associated with the inherent bureaucracy in an international firm. This control
mechanism is composed of some system of rules and procedure to direct and influence
the actions of sub-units.
The most common example of bureaucratic control is found in case of capital spending
rules that require top managements approval when it exceeds a certain limit.
Output Controls
Output Controls are used to set goals for the subsidiaries to achieve the targeted outputs
in various departments. Output control is an important part of international business
management because a companys efficiency is relative to bureaucratic control.
The major criteria for judging output controls include productivity, profitability, growth,
market share, and quality of products.
Cultural Controls
Corporate culture is a key for deriving maximum output and profitability and hence
cultural control is a very important attribute to measure the overall efficiency of a firm. It
takes form when employees of the firm try to adopt the norms and values preached by
the firm.
Employees usually tend to control their own behavior following the cultural control
norms of the firm. Hence, it reduces the dependence on direct supervision when applied
well. In a firm with a strong culture, self-control flourishes automatically, which in turn
reduces the need for other types of control mechanisms.
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2.2 Describes the impact of creation and sustaining culture.

How does a culture begin?
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Ultimate source of an organisations culture can be traced to its founders who have a major
impact on the organisations early culture.
Culture creation process occurs in three ways. First way is founders only hire and keep
employees who think and feel the way they do. Second ways are founders instruct and
socialize these employees to their way of thinking and feeling. And third way,are founders
own behaviour acts as a role model which encourage employees to adopt their beliefs, values
and assumptions.
Keeping a culture alive:

- Practice within the organisation which maintain the culture include:

i.The selection process

ii.Performance evaluation criteria
iii.Training and career development activities
iv.Promotion procedures ensuring that employees who support culture
v.Punishing employees who challenging culture
- Forces that sustain a culture:
1.
2.
3.

Actions of top management

Selection practices
Socialization methods
Hofstedes value dimensions:

- Hofstede proposed a framework for understanding how values underlie organizational

behaviour.
- Hofstede proposes four value dimensions as follows:
Power distance
The degree to which a society expects there to be differences in the levels of power.
Uncertainty avoidance
Extent to which people in a society expects there threatened by ambiguous situations.
Individualism vs. collectivism
Two concepts are unrelated individualism is the tendency of people to look after
themselves and family only and neglect society.
o Masculinity vs. femininity
- Masculine values include materialism and lack of concern for others. Feminine values
include concerns for others. Feminine values include concerns for others and quality
life.
o
o
o
-

2.3 How to change an organizational culture?

Changing the organisational culture
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concentrate on positive aspects. It is easier to enlarge the positive aspects than to get rid
of the negative ones.
enlist the commitment of the top of the organization (being a model in their behaviour).
There should be a clear mission with concrete goals. The top management should be
involved. Change may be proposed from within, quite often as the result of interaction
with the outside world, but top management should be involved too.
organize bottom-up participation of people when defining the problem, in the analysis
and solution-formation phase.
define only the outlines, let people participate in formulating what these outlines signify
for their work.
external necessity . Look for an external necessity to change. New questions asked by
target groups or donors can stimulate the organization to make the necessary change.

Cultural Change
For cultural chance there is Lewins Three-Step Change Model. Its include 3 steps.Those are
following:
- Lewins Three-Step Change
1-Unfreezing: means getting ready for change. Its include following activities Arouse dissatisfaction with the current state
Activate and strengthen top management support
Use participation in decision making
Build in rewards
2- Moving: means making the change. Its include following activities Establish goals
Institute smaller, acceptable changes that reinforce and support change
Develop management structures for change
Maintain open, two-way communication
3- Refreezing: means stabilizing the change. Its include following steps Build success experiences.
Reward desired behaviour
Develop structures to institutionalize the change
Make change
Overcoming Resistance to Change- following ways are helpful to overcoming resistance to
changeo Education and communication
o Participation and involvement
o Facilitation and support
o Negotiation and agreement

2.4 Describes how to creating ethical, positive, and spiritualty organizational culture.
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Creating an Ethical Organizational Culture

The content and strength of a culture influences an organizations ethical climate andthe
ethical behavior of its members. An organizational culture most likely to shape highethical
standards is one thats high in risk tolerance, low to moderate in aggressiveness,and focuses
on means as well as outcomes. If the culture is strong and supports highethical standards, it
should have a very powerful and positive influence on employee behavior.
Managerial Practices Promoting an Ethical Culture
Being a visible role model- Employees will look to top-management behavior as a
benchmark for defining appropriate behavior.
Communicating ethical expectations- Ethical ambiguities can be minimized by creating
and disseminating an organizational code of ethics.
Providing ethical training- Use training sessions to reinforce the organizations standards
of conduct; to clarify what practices are and are not permissible; and to address possible
ethical dilemmas.
Rewarding ethical acts and punishing unethical ones-. Performance appraisals of
managers should include a point-by-point evaluation of how his or her decisions measure
against the organizations code of ethics
Providing protective mechanisms- The organization needs to provide formal
mechanisms so that employees can discuss ethical dilemmas and report unethical
behavior without fear of reprimand. This might include creation of ethical counselors,
ombudsmen, or ethical officers.
Creating a Positive Organizational Culture
A positive culture is one that emphasizes the following:
Building on Employee Strengths
Rewarding More Than Punishing
Emphasizing Vitality and Growth of the Employee

2.5 Define a conceptual model and culture assessment as part for managed culture
change.
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I will describe a model of planned, managed change and discuss the various principles
that have to be taken into account if the changes involve culture. It is my experience that
culture change is rarely the primary change goal even though it is announced as such. Instead,
change occurs when leaders perceive some problems that need fixing or identify some new
goals that need to be achieved. Whether these changes will involve culture change remains to
be seen. In the context of such organizational changes, culture change may become involved,
but the leader must first understand the general processes of organizational change before
managed culture change as such becomes relevant.
The Psycho-Social Dynamics of Organizational Change
The fundamental assumptions underlying any change in a human system are derived
originally from Kurt Lewin (1947). I have elaborated and refined his basic model in my
studies of coercive persuasion, professional education, group dynamics training, and
management development (Schein, 1961a, 1961b, 1964, 1972; Schein and Bennis, 1965).
This elaborated model is shown in Exhibit 17.1

Figure 17.1. The Stages of Learning/Change.

The function of cognitive structures such as concepts, beliefs, attitudes, values, and
assumptions is to organize the mass of environmental stimuli, to make sense of them,
and to provide, thereby, a sense of predictability and meaning to the individual
members (Weick, 1995; Weick and Sutcliffe, 2001). The set of shared assumptions
that develop over time in groups and organizations serves this stabilizing and
meaning-providing function. The evolution of culture is therefore one of the ways in
which a group or organization preserves its integrity and autonomy, differentiates
itself from the environment and other groups, and provides itself an identity.

3.0 CONCLUSION
The future holds promise for companies that understand and nurture their cultures.
Cultures are not only able to create an environment, but they also adapt to diverse and
changing circumstances. As organizations begin to experience a revolution in structures, the
study of culture and the implications for change will become more important. Understanding
of work group subcultures within an organizations culture will influence strategies for
changing organizational culture and overcoming resistance to change programs.
Changing an organizations culture may be extremely difficult, as the processes that
support a particular organization or a departmental method of working are both interrelated
and varied. Organizational culture is self-perpetuating and highly resistant to change.
Changes may cause confusion, conflict and resistance.
Managers need to understand the nature and role of culture and how it may be altered.
When the role of culture is more clearly defined, managers can better understand its
importance in managing organizational change and its impact on day-to-day decision-making.

4.0 REFERENCE

http://www.slideshare.net/friendsalways0102/organizational-culture
http://scienceandnature.org/IJEMS-Vol4(3)-July2013/IJEMS_V4(3)2013-21.pdf
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/sablynskic/ch18.htm

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