Organizational Culture

Compiled By,
Dr. Shameen Warsi
Culture
Culture is the set of important understanding that members of a community
share in common.
It consist of ways of thinking, feeling and reacting that are acquired by language
and symbols that creates distinctiveness among human group.
Organizational Culture
q System of shared assumptions, values and beliefs, that governs how
people behave in organizations.
q Culture of the organization provides boundaries and guidelines that help
members of the organization know the correct way to perform their jobs.
q The culture of an organization is ingrained in the behaviour of the
members of an organization and is very difficult to change. For this reason
culture is thought as the personality of the organization.
Organizational Culture
q Organizational culture is composed of several characteristics that range in
priority from high to low. Every organization has a distinct value for each of
these characteristics, which, when combined, defines the organization's
unique culture.
q Members of organizations make judgments on the value their
organization places on these characteristics and then adjust their behavior
to match this perceived set of values.
qEvery organization develops and maintains a unique culture, which
provides guidelines and boundaries for the behavior of the members of the
organization.
Relationship between Organizational Culture
and Behavior
Organizational culture and behavior are two separate yet wholly
related concepts. The type of established and shared values that
shape the activities of an organization is known as the
organizational culture.
Organizational behavior is the way the employees or the human
elements in the organization behave as a consequence of the
organizational culture in place in an organization.
Both organizational culture and behavior are critical to the
workings of a company because they can help determine whether
an organization is successful or not.
What is Organizational Culture? | Organizational Behavior and Human Relations
(lumenlearning.com)
https://youtu.be/4cBN8xH-5Qw

Organisation Behavior Project - A Role Play on "Values" - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiQgU_p9wXE
Common organizational cultures
Few of these cultures could be directly described as bad or good for an
organization. However, some are more appropriate for certain kinds of
organizations than others.
§ Safety: A safety culture conducts its work with particular attention to
the protection of workers, equipment, and the environment.
§ Quality: A quality-oriented culture conducts work with attention to the
quality of the organization’s products and services and prides itself on
being the best in the business. Organizations with a quality culture
continuously strive to do better.
§ Ethical: An ethical culture stresses ethical behavior. The employees of
ethical organizations are expected to follow a code of conduct and deal
honestly with other employees, clients, and the public.
§ Technology-driven: A technology-driven culture uses state-of-the-art
technology to provide products and services to customers. Organizations
with this type of culture pride themselves on being up-to-date with the
latest in technology.
§ Innovation: Innovation cultures are willing to take risks on new ideas,
processes, and products to stay on the cutting edge. Organizations that
have this kind of culture are willing to be wrong, or experience failures
once in a while to be open to the new discoveries that drive their
ultimate success.
§ Customer service: Organizations that are customer-service oriented
focus on customer needs and expectations for their products and
services. These organizations focus on keeping customers happy because
they want to encourage repeat customers who will make referrals.
Caring and compassion: Cultures that are characterized by the terms
“caring” and “compassion” are particularly attentive to the feelings and
needs of the people they serve, especially in vulnerable or high-need
situations. The emergency ward example given previously could be
described as a caring and compassionate culture.
Team: Team cultures value the heightened effectiveness of a diverse
group of people who pool their individual talents to achieve more and
better results than individuals can alone.
Military: Military culture is characterized by strict chains of command and
the following of orders from persons in superior positions.
Constructive: In a constructive culture, employees are highly collegial
with one another. They are expected to help each other reach high
degrees of job satisfaction, personal and group achievement, and social
or relationship ties.
Passive-defensive: In a passive-defensive culture, members feel they
must act in a safe way to avoid personal risk. This type of culture is
characterized by individuals who seek approval, avoid risk, and
acknowledge their dependence on others.
Aggressive-defensive-competitive: In this type of culture, members are
expected to be engaged in highly energetic execution of their roles and
be forceful to protect themselves and achieve individual goals. In this
kind of culture, individuals are competitive and perfectionist, and they
seek power, position, and personal reward.
Fabindia
Historically and traditionally, Fabindia has hired generalists. It has supported the
development of these employees, through mistakes, with training, learning and
opportunity enabling them to perform well in their responsibilities and take decisions that
affect the performance of the organization. In addition, having 76 percent women in
leadership positions, given that the average percentage of women leaders in the top 50 in
the Great Place to Work® (GPTW) survey is just 20 percent, it is commendable. It has been
able to achieve this by empowering women, making them feel safe, secure and offering
them growth and leadership opportunities.
Roles determine the level in Fabindia. Therefore, if an employee moves up a level, the role
changes, which in turn determines the specific learning and training that the company
provides. Using a competency based HR system has allowed the organization to focus on
the specific requirements of each role and employee.
Fabindia lives its ideology; it is a part of its DNA. Its core culture has not seen a dilution
even though the environment has changed. Despite rapid growth, every employee is made
to feel connected and is able to recognize his or her role in the company's success story.
The Oberoi Group - Translating Dharma
into Best Practices in HR
The company's Dharma - is the starting point for everything the organization
undertakes. The adoption and evolution of the Dharma was a participative process
across all hotels in all locations. This exercise validated the core values endorsed by the
founding Chairman, which include the conduct that applies to all aspects of the
Group's business.
So, how does an employee know that he or she is doing the right thing? By making
every decision and basing every interaction on the company Dharma. The Oberoi
Group's Dharma has been expressed in the form of specific conduct expected from
every employee and the organization has put in place robust mechanisms to enable
and make it easy for employees to practice it.
Rated 33 out of 471 companies in the Great Place to Work®survey 2010, the Oberoi
Group was placed second in the hospitality industry. Being an Indian organization with
an international presence, it has leveraged the Indian concept of Dharma to bring to
life its core values in a language that employees can easily imbibe and practice. Using a
number of high value initiatives and a new age approach to its HR practices, the Group
has succeeded in creating an engaged workforce that drives its bottom line.
Forbes Marshall – All in the Family
Forbes Marshall describes the role of HR as “facilitators.” However, facilitation, in their context
and based on the practices and the role of HR in this case study, would need to be redefined to
include boundaryless ownership, continuous learning and maintenance of high quality standards.
Starting with defining their own competency model that required a thorough understanding of
their business to being the first point of contact for an employee when in a crisis, we find the HR
team taking ownership of not just employee development from a business perspective but also as
an extended family in the true sense of the term.
The fact that they worked towards influencing the unionized workforce through 'show' and 'tell'
on adopting the competency framework exemplifies consistency in the pursuit of the HR
philosophy.
The practice of having the competency model validated by TUV and also having their CSR process
audited reflects the focus on ensuring quality in their initiatives. Their emphasis on continuous
improvement becomes evident in the changes made to their learning framework, which focuses
more on learning on the job.
The 'soft' people-friendly values are balanced and enhanced by a strong focus on accountability -
of line managers, employees, and especially the HR function itself. The importance given to HR
accountability and practices like constant vendor evaluation, training the HR team on instructional
design and incentivizing training effectiveness has helped promote a learning culture in the
organization.
Levels of Organizational Culture
The Three Levels of Culture
Level 1-The Artefacts
The visible manifestations of culture for example dress code and décor.
Level 2-Espoused Values
How an organization explains its culture, for example official policy and accepted
beliefs. Discover through ‘why’ questions.
Level 3- Shared Tacit Assumptions
The hidden assumptions, values and beliefs. The understood, traditional and
unofficial ways of being, doing and feeling.

Culture is the way that an organization behaves, thinks, feels and understands
itself. But much cultural influence is hidden beneath the surface.
There are different levels of cultures that have developed over a period of time in
response to changing stimuli.
Change that tries to change behavior without understanding the deeper cultural
influences is unlikely to succeed.
Dominant Culture
Strong V/s Weak Culture
Culture V/s Formalization
Organizational Culture V/s National Culture
Organizational Culture Change
Culture is considered a potential competitive advantage by 82 percent of more than 7,000
CEOs and HR leaders from 130 countries, according to the Deloitte Global Human Capital
Trends 2016 report.
Yet only 28 percent of the Deloitte survey respondents believe they understand their culture
well, and only 19 percent believe they have the “right culture.”
ü Define desired values and behaviors
ü Align culture with strategy and processes.
ü Connect culture and accountability.
ü Have visible proponents
ü Define the non-negotiables
ü Align your culture with your brand
ü Measure your efforts
ü Don’t rush it
Forces for Change
“Change or Die”
Ø Technology
Ø Economic Shocks
Ø Competition
Ø Social Trends
Ø World Politics
Overcoming Resistance to Change
Ø Education and Communication
Ø Participation
Ø Facilitation and Support
Ø Negotiation
Ø Manipulation and Cooptation
Ø Coercion
Approaches for Managing Change
If you have a large cube of ice but realize that what you want is a cone of ice, what do
you do? First you must melt the ice to make it amenable to change (unfreeze). Then
you must mold the iced water into the shape you want (change). Finally, you must
solidify the new shape (refreeze).
Unfreeze
ØDetermine what needs to change by surveying your team or
organization to understand the current state.
Ø Understand why change has to take place.
Ø Frame the issue as one of organization-wide importance.
Ø Create a compelling message about why change has to occur.
Ø Communicate the vision in terms of the change required.
Ø Emphasize the "why."
Ø Remain open to employee concerns and address them in terms
of the need to change.
Change
After the uncertainty created in the unfreeze stage, the change stage is where
people begin to resolve their uncertainty and look for new ways to do things.
People start to believe and act in ways that support the new direction.
The transition from unfreeze to change does not happen overnight: people
take time to embrace the new direction and participate proactively in the
change.
In order to accept the change and contribute to making it successful, people
need to understand how it will benefit them. Not everyone will fall in line just
because the change is necessary and will benefit the company. This is a
common assumption and a pitfall that should be avoided.
Refreeze
When the changes are taking shape and people have embraced the new
ways of working, the organization is ready to refreeze. The outward signs of
the refreeze are a stable organization chart, consistent job descriptions, and
so on.
The refreeze stage also needs to help people and the organization to
internalize or institutionalize the changes. This means making sure that the
changes are used all the time, and that they are incorporated into everyday
business. With a new sense of stability, employees feel confident and
comfortable with the new ways of working.
As part of the refreezing process, make sure that you celebrate the success of
the change – this helps people to find closure, thanks them for enduring a
painful time, and helps them believe that future change will be successful.
Google
Google's corporate culture is a treasure trove of perks and
bonuses. Free meals, employee vacations and parties, cash
bonuses, open speeches by high-level executives, employee
recognition, gyms, and a pet-friendly atmosphere are all
available at Google. It's no surprise that Google's company
culture is the gold standard by which all other IT firms are
judged.
Zoom
The video conferencing technology company -Zoom is known
for its amazing culture, and with good reason: their emphasis
on people. The business has a reputation for genuinely caring
about its employees. Zoom even encourages employees to bring
loved ones to work so that teammates and coworkers can meet
the individuals who work behind the scenes, who inspire them,
and for whom they work.
Netflix
Netflix's corporate culture is based on the principle of "people
over process." They have a set of ideals in which they strongly
believe and which they want their employees to live out in their
job.
The foundation of the organization is a strong sense of loyalty and
ownership. Their goal is to pervade the workforce with their
values and philosophies in order to motivate and urge people to
support innovation in order to achieve higher growth.
Zappos
Zappos' culture is now well-established and well-known. They
concentrate on hiring to keep things going. The goal of the hiring process
is to discover people who share the company's values.
Zappos devotes a significant amount of time and resources to employee
team building and culture promotion. They want every employee to
embody the company's principles. Customers can even tell that Zappos
staff are happy.
DHL
DHL is unique in how it benefits from its dynamic, multicultural
environment. With a variety of programmers, such as the unique
integrated learning platform that fosters talent development, the
organization looks after its employees throughout their careers.
Another pillar is workplace wellness, which includes annual events and
long-term activities to protect employee health.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn was even on Glassdoor's 2020 Best Places to Work list,
but two characteristics aren't mentioned enough: devotion to
people and a focus on five principles: transformation, integrity,
collaboration, humor, and results.
Pixar
How does a corporation maintain such a high level of creativity and
excellence at the same time? Well. we would never really know. At Pixar,
everything is a work of art and employees are encouraged to be their
true “creative” self. The essential ideals of the animation studio inspire
the entire cultur. .

Pixar believes that if you want to be creative, you must be innovative in

everything you do. This can even be seen throughout Pixar, especially in
the design of the company's "cubicles," which are sometimes shaped like
cute little huts.
 Bento for Business
Bento for Business is an expense management software that helps small businesses control
employee spending with smart employee debit cards.

Bento’s motto - “Be Human” - illustrates the company’s dedication to both professional and
personal development. To support team members in all aspects of their lives, several
members of the company’s leadership team extend their mentorship beyond the workplace,
helping employees be more human. This mentality of helping and supporting each other is
transferred throughout the company from colleagues to customers and partners.

When one employee was apprehensive about talking with the CEO, they began having
regular meetings to build their confidence, discussing both personal and professional
challenges and goals. No matter their level, employees feel valued in all aspects of their lives,
including both their professional and personal aspirations.
FloQast
FloQast provides cloud-based software that helps accounting
departments streamline and improve workflows. “Overall, I think it’s
really important for management to be open about what’s going well
and what’s going poorly with the business,” says Mike Whitmire, Co-
Founder and CEO. “I like discussing the good, but honestly, I see more
value from discussing the bad.”
Transparency is key to their culture and is embodied by everyone from
the CEO to the latest hire. One employee noted how surprised she was at
how transparent the CEO and COO were during the interview process.