Organizational culture facts for kids

Imagine a school, a sports team, or even a club you belong to. Each of these groups has its own special way of doing things, right? That's a bit like organizational culture! It's the shared "personality" of a group, like a company, school, or club. It includes the beliefs, values, and ways of behaving that everyone in the group learns over time.

Edgar Schein, a famous researcher, said that organizational culture is like a hidden pattern of ideas that group members pick up as they learn to work together and solve problems. It affects how people interact with each other, with customers, and with other important people connected to the organization. It also influences how much employees feel like they belong to the group.

Think of it as the "unwritten rules" or the "vibe" of a place. Even within a large company, there might be different "subcultures" in different departments, just like different classes in a school might have slightly different ways of doing things.

What is Organizational Culture?

Organizational culture is simply the usual and traditional way a group thinks and does things. Everyone in the group shares these ways to some extent. New members must learn and accept these ways to fit in. When people share common goals and desires, they can work together better. It's about caring about the same things, whether it's for a country, a club, or a company.

A researcher named Elliott Jaques talked about important values that can help people feel truly committed to their work. These values help create a strong organizational culture:

• Work for everyone: Giving people tasks that match their skills and interests.
• Opportunity to grow: Allowing everyone to improve and move up as they get better.
• Fair treatment: Making sure everyone is treated fairly, including fair pay for their work.
• Good leadership: Managers and team leaders working well with their team members, giving feedback and coaching.
• Clear roles: Making sure everyone knows their responsibilities and who is in charge, which builds trust.
• Shared vision: Leaders clearly explaining the long-term goals of the organization.
• Participation: Giving everyone a chance to help make decisions about rules and plans.

When new people join an organization, they learn these ways of doing things through a process called organizational assimilation.

Where Do We See Organizational Culture?

The idea of organizational culture applies to all kinds of groups, not just businesses. You can find it in:

• Schools
• Universities
• Non-profit groups
• Government offices
• Sports teams
• Clubs

In business, you often hear terms like corporate culture or company culture. These terms became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. It's similar to "organizational climate," which focuses on the behaviors that the group encourages.

Researchers study organizational culture in different ways. Some see it as something a group *has*, like values, rules, or traditions. If you understand these, you can see how they affect how productive, creative, or successful a group is. Others see the group *as* its culture, meaning the culture is the very way the group exists and communicates.

One way to look at culture is through communication:

• Traditional view: Looks at clear things like stories, rituals, and symbols.
• Interpretive view: Focuses on the shared meanings that members have.
• Critical view: Looks at shared meanings but also how power struggles happen within those meanings.

One business expert, Bernard L. Rosauer, says organizational culture is a very complex state that comes from a few key ingredients:

• Employees: How engaged and happy they are.
• The work: Making sure tasks are valuable and efficient.
• The customer: How likely customers are to recommend the company to others.

He believes that focusing on these three areas can help improve a company's culture and its brand.

Types of Organizational Cultures

Just like people have different personalities, organizations can have different types of cultures.

Strong and Weak Cultures

• Strong culture: This is when everyone clearly understands and believes in the group's values and rules. They respond to situations because they are aligned with the group's goals. Strong cultures often have special events or policies to help spread their values. They focus on employees and their performance, and people tend to work together well. This helps the group run smoothly and achieve its goals.
• Weak culture: This is when members have trouble explaining or understanding the group's values. Control often comes from many rules and paperwork, rather than shared beliefs.

Groups with strong cultures often have clear values that give members a reason to embrace the culture. This can lead to:

• Better alignment with the group's vision and goals.
• High motivation and loyalty among members.
• Stronger teamwork.
• More consistent behavior and better coordination.
• More efficient work.

However, sometimes a strong culture can lead to something called groupthink. This happens when everyone in a group tries so hard to agree that they don't challenge ideas or think creatively. Even if someone has a different idea, they might keep it to themselves to avoid conflict. This can stop new ideas and lead to decisions made without enough thought. Groupthink can happen if people rely too much on a strong leader or if the group avoids disagreements.

Healthy Cultures

Organizations should aim for a "healthy" culture. This helps them be more productive, grow, work efficiently, and have fewer people leave. A healthy culture often includes:

• Accepting and valuing differences among people.
• Treating every member fairly and respecting their contributions.
• Members feeling proud and excited about their group and their work.
• Equal chances for everyone to reach their full potential.
• Good communication with all members about rules and issues.
• Strong leaders who have a clear direction.
• Ability to be creative and offer great service.
• Fewer people leaving the organization.
• Investing in learning and training for members.

Groups with healthy, performance-focused cultures often grow financially faster. They encourage members to be involved, communicate well, and take smart risks to innovate.

A healthy group can deal with members' concerns internally. If members feel they need to speak out publicly (like whistleblowing), it can sometimes be a sign of a very unhealthy culture.

Communication in Culture

Different types of communication help create an organizational culture:

• Metaphors: Comparing a company to a "machine" or a "family" shows how members feel about working there.
• Stories: These can teach members how to act (or not to act) in certain situations.
• Rites and ceremonies: These combine stories and symbols.
  • Rites of passage: When members move into new roles.
  • Rites of enhancement: Publicly recognizing someone's achievements.
  • Rites of renewal: Improving existing ways of doing things.
• Comments: Explanations or criticisms about actions. These show what people think and the rules they follow.

Bullying Culture

Sometimes, a group can have a bullying culture. This happens when members and managers feel that senior leaders support, or at least don't stop, abusive behavior. New managers might see this behavior as normal if others get away with it or are even rewarded.

When bullying happens at the top, it can affect everyone. If leaders bully, those they bully might then bully their own team members. This can hurt the productivity of the whole organization.

Tribal Culture Stages

Some experts suggest that organizational cultures change in stages, like tribes:

• Stage 1: "Life sucks" – People feel very disconnected and unhappy.
• Stage 2: "My life sucks" – People feel stuck and frustrated with their own situation.
• Stage 3: "I'm great" – People focus on their own success, often at the expense of others.
• Stage 4: "We are great" – Groups work together and feel unified, focusing on team success.
• Stage 5: "Life is great" – People focus on shared values and making a positive impact on the world.

This model helps leaders understand where their organization's culture is and how to guide it to a better stage.

Personal and National Culture

Your personal culture (how you were raised) can be shaped by the culture of the organization you join. People are often advised to find a company whose culture matches their personality.

Also, the culture of a country (national culture) can greatly influence how companies are run there. For example, how people expect leaders to behave or how employees should be treated can differ a lot between countries. This is because different nations have deep-rooted values about things like property rights or the purpose of businesses.

When people from different national cultures work together, like in an international company, new "hybrid" cultures can emerge. People learn to adapt their behaviors and expectations to work effectively with others from different backgrounds.

Why Culture Matters

Organizational culture has many effects, both good and bad:

• It can give a company a competitive edge through new ideas and great customer service.
• It leads to consistent and efficient work from employees.
• It builds strong teamwork and high morale (happiness) among employees.
• It helps the company stay focused on its goals.
• It can even affect how well a company handles information security.

Experts believe that culture is a big factor in whether an organization succeeds or fails. Companies like IBM and McDonald's, which have been successful for a long time, partly owe it to their strong organizational cultures. Studies show that companies with strong, performance-oriented cultures have much better financial growth.

Culture also affects how happy employees are and whether they stay with the company. If employees feel that the company's culture doesn't fit what they believe it should be, they might be less satisfied, more stressed, and more likely to leave.

A good culture can also encourage creativity, motivate employees, and make them more likely to report unethical behavior. It also helps attract new talent and keep existing employees.

Changing Organizational Culture

Changing an organization's culture can be a big challenge, especially if employees are used to certain ways of doing things. Some studies suggest that many change efforts fail because of the existing culture. This is because cultures often reflect how things were done in the past and can be hard to shift.

Culture change might be needed to:

• Reduce the number of employees leaving.
• Influence how employees behave.
• Improve the company.
• Refocus company goals.
• Provide better customer service.
• Achieve specific company results.

Many things can affect culture change, like the outside world, competitors, new technology, the size of the workforce, and the company's history.

To change a culture, a company first needs to understand its current culture. This can be done through surveys, interviews, or observing how people work. Then, the company needs to clearly decide what the new, desired culture should look like and plan how to get there.

Here are some steps for cultural change: 1. Have a clear vision: Leaders need to clearly explain the new strategy, values, and behaviors. 2. Show commitment from the top: The leaders must truly believe in and support the change. 3. Leaders model the change: Leaders should act in ways that show the new values and behaviors they want to see in the company. 4. Adjust systems and policies: Change rules, rewards, and hiring practices to match the new culture. This sends a clear message that the old ways are gone. 5. Bring in new people and train existing ones: Hire people who fit the new culture and train everyone to understand the new ways of working. 6. Be ethical and sensitive: Make sure changes are fair and don't create problems for employees. Regularly check how the change is going and celebrate improvements.

Changing culture takes a long time, especially for companies with a very strong existing culture. It's important for leaders to convince people that the benefits of the change will be worth it.

Mergers and Cultural Leadership

When two organizations combine (a merger), one of the biggest problems can be their different cultures clashing. This can lead to issues with identity, communication, and conflicts.

To help with this, leaders need to be "cultural leaders." They help guide the change from two old cultures into one new one. This involves:

• Creating a new culture: Recognizing past differences and setting realistic goals for the new combined culture.
• Changing the culture: Gently replacing the old ways with the new ones.
• Integrating the new culture: Helping people combine the best parts of the old cultures with the new one.
• Embodying the new culture: Making sure the new culture is established and continues to be followed.

Corporate Subcultures

Corporate culture is the total sum of values, customs, traditions, and meanings that make a company special. It's often called the "character of an organization" because it shows what the company's founders believed in. These values influence how ethical the company is and how managers behave.

While top management tries to set the main corporate culture, smaller groups within the company (like different teams or departments) often have their own ways of doing things, called "subcultures." These can affect the whole company. For example, computer technicians might bring their own ways of working and talking from their field, which can influence the company's overall culture.

Some experts also talk about a "shadow side" of organizations. This refers to the hidden, often messy or difficult parts of a company's personality that aren't written down in rules or discussed in formal meetings, but still affect how productive and happy people are at work.

Legal Aspects

Sometimes, a company's culture can even be found responsible for injuries or other problems, leading to large fines. For example, if a company's culture encourages unsafe practices, it can have serious legal consequences.

Research and Models of Culture

Researchers have developed different ways to understand and classify organizational culture. While every organization's culture is unique, these models help us see common patterns.

Hofstede's Dimensions

Geert Hofstede studied IBM employees in many countries to see how national cultures affect business behavior. He found several "dimensions" of culture:

• Power distance: How much a society accepts that power is unevenly distributed.
• Uncertainty avoidance: How a society deals with unknown or uncertain situations.
• Individualism vs. collectivism: Whether a society focuses more on individual goals or group goals.
• Masculinity vs. femininity: Whether a society values traits like assertiveness and competition (masculine) or cooperation and caring (feminine).
• Long- Versus Short-Term Orientation: Whether a society focuses on long-term planning and saving, or quick results and traditions.

These dimensions help companies understand how to adapt their ways of working to different countries.

Schein's Three Levels of Culture

Edgar Schein said that culture is the hardest part of an organization to change. He described culture at three levels, like layers of an onion: 1. Artifacts: These are the things you can easily see, hear, or feel. This includes the office layout, how people dress, how they talk, company slogans, and awards. They are the visible signs of the culture. 2. Espoused values: These are the values that members say they believe in, like "customer service" or "loyalty." You can learn about these by talking to people in the organization. 3. Basic underlying assumptions: This is the deepest level, and it's often unspoken and unconscious. These are the fundamental beliefs and feelings that people have about the organization, like whether it's trustworthy or supportive. These are very hard to change because people aren't even aware of them.

Understanding these levels helps explain why it's hard for new people to fit in quickly and why changing a culture is so difficult.

Charles Handy's Four Cultures

Charles Handy described four types of cultures, linking them to how an organization is structured: 1. Power culture: Power is held by a small group or a central person. Decisions are made quickly. Think of a spider web with power at the center. 2. Role culture: Power comes from a person's position in a clear, structured hierarchy. Rules and procedures are very important. Think of a Roman building with strong pillars (departments). 3. Task culture: Teams are formed to solve specific problems. Power comes from the team's expertise. People are highly skilled and work together on projects. 4. Person culture: Individuals believe they are more important than the organization itself. This can be hard for organizations to operate, but it works for some professional groups where each person brings unique skills.

Cameron and Quinn's Four Culture Types

Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn identified four main culture types based on how flexible or stable a company is, and whether it focuses internally or externally:

• Clan culture: A friendly place where leaders are like family figures. It focuses on teamwork and caring for employees.
• Adhocracy culture: A dynamic place where leaders encourage new ideas and creativity. It focuses on innovation and adapting to change.
• Market culture: A competitive place where leaders push for results. It focuses on achieving goals and winning against competitors.
• Hierarchy culture: A structured and formal place where leaders act like coordinators. It focuses on rules, procedures, and control.

Clan cultures are often linked to happy employees and good service quality. Market cultures are linked to innovation and financial success.

Robert Cooke's Culture Types

Robert Cooke describes cultures based on the behaviors members feel they need to show to fit in:

• Constructive cultures: Members are encouraged to work together and interact in ways that help them grow and achieve. This leads to high motivation, satisfaction, and teamwork.
  • Achievement: Aiming for excellent results.
  • Self-actualizing: Thinking creatively and growing personally.
  • Humanistic-encouraging: Helping others grow and resolving conflicts well.
  • Affiliative: Building friendly relationships and cooperating.
• Passive/defensive cultures: Members feel pressured to act in ways that protect their own security, even if it's not how they truly feel. They might try to please others and avoid conflict. This can lead to unresolved problems and lower satisfaction.
• Aggressive/defensive cultures: Members are expected to be forceful and protect their status. People might focus on their own needs, criticize others, or try to control them. This can be stressful and hurt long-term growth.

Adam Grant's Giver, Taker, and Matcher Cultures

Adam Grant describes cultures based on how people interact:

• Giver culture: Employees help others, share knowledge, and offer support without expecting anything back. This often leads to better group effectiveness.
• Taker culture: People try to get as much as possible from others while giving less. Winners are those who gain power at others' expense.
• Matcher culture: People try to balance giving and taking, trading favors in a balanced way. Most organizations are like this.

If leaders reward individual performance too much, it can shift a culture from "giver" to "taker" or "matcher."

COVID-19's Impact on Culture

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed organizational cultures. Fighting the spread of the disease became a shared responsibility. Many workplaces adopted new rules, like wearing masks.

In some parts of Asia, wearing masks was already a common cultural practice due to past health crises. This shows how cultural values can influence behavior during a pandemic.

The pandemic also highlighted the difference between individualistic cultures (focused on individual needs) and collectivist cultures (focused on the group's needs). Wearing a mask, for example, became a symbol of collective responsibility and solidarity in many places.

However, cultures can be resistant to change. The pandemic forced many organizations to adapt quickly. Companies with strong, innovative cultures were often better at changing and dealing with the crisis.

The pandemic also changed how people worked, with a big increase in remote work and the use of digital tools like video conferencing. While this helped bridge distances, it also led to new issues like "Zoom fatigue" and made it harder for new employees to feel connected.

To address these challenges, companies needed to:

• Make employees feel valued and heard.
• Communicate proactively.
• Get rid of old habits that no longer worked.
• Adopt new valuable practices.
• Clearly define and build the new culture.

During the pandemic, many employees reported that their leaders communicated honestly and transparently. Leaders also paid more attention to employee well-being and flexibility. This had a positive impact on cultural values. Companies also found a renewed sense of purpose, focusing not just on profit but on helping customers and society.

Remote work also led to the creation of new "subcultures" within the main organizational culture, as people found new ways to connect and interact virtually.

Critical Views

Some experts have criticized the idea of organizational culture, especially when it's used by managers to control employees. They argue that organizations often have many different cultures, not just one, and that trying to "engineer" a culture might not benefit everyone in the organization.

They suggest that culture is like the roots of a plant – it drives the organization, rather than the other way around. We might not even be aware of how deeply culture shapes our behavior and interactions. This makes it very difficult to categorize or change a culture, as many of its core beliefs are unspoken and taken for granted.

See also

In Spanish: Cultura organizacional para niños