An Organizational Culture. How Does It Affect The Decision And Essay

An Organizational Culture. How Does It Affect The Decision And Outcomes Of The Organization Can Organizational Culture Be Changed - Essay Example There is also no single definition of culture and it only involves assumptions, adaptations, perceptions, and learning that use symbols, language, ideologies, rituals, and myths in creating its beliefs, values and expectations. In a business setting, organizational culture is the shared philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs, expectations, attitude, and norms that knit the organization together. All of these interrelated psychological qualities reveal a group agreement, implicit or explicit, on how to approach decisions and problems or how things are done in a specific organization. It manifests in behavioral norms, hidden assumptions, and human nature, each occurring at a different level of depth within the organization. Studies have showed that organizational cultures are influenced by national cultures. Organizational culture differs not only from one business or industry to another but also from one country to another. In fact, industry and business culture are im mensely influenced by national cultures. The dimensions of cultures between countries were categorized by Hofstede. Hoftstede formulated a cultural assessment tool whereby dimensions of one’s cultural strength can be assessed by assigning a scale ranging from 0 to 100 in the five cultural dimensions. This tool of Hofstede is a popular tool among managers who would like to understand another culture apart from their own. The five cultural dimensions of Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long-Term Orientation; Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture in details are; Small vs. large power distance – This refers to how a society handles inequalities and the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. Individualism vs. collectivism  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Behavior towards community. The degree to which individuals are integrated into groups or are expected to look after themselves and self-actualize. Masculinity vs. femininity)  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Behavior and roles distributed according to gender. (This dimension is often renamed by users of Hofstede’s work to Quantity of Life vs. Quality of Life because one of the notable findings in the IBM studies revealed that in ‘masculine’ cultures, people (whether male or female) value competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth and material possessions whereas in ‘feminine’ cultures, people (again whether male or female) value relationships and quality of life. Weak vs. strong uncertainty avoidance – This refers to the level of need for structure. Cultures with low uncertainty avoidance tend to accept risk and change and prefer implicit or flexible rules and guidelines. Long vs. short term orientation – How much society values long-standing, as opposed to short term, traditions and values. Cultures with high long-te rm orientation place strong importance on family, discipline and social obligations These varying organizational cultures affect the decision and outcomes of the organization in manner that it dictates or sets the phase on how things should be done in an organization and how should manager approach the workforce considering the prevailing culture. A positive culture is often cultivated by management to be able to increase the productivity of the organization while keeping the people happy which reinforces further the positive and cohesive organizational culture. A positive organizational culture benefits the business enterprise because of its higher productivity outcome. When organizational culture is positive, people are motivated and get things done faster not to mention that