Introduction
What Is Organizational Culture?
Organizations have a “vibe” to them. For instance, some feel cooperative and friendly while others have a heavy atmosphere of competitiveness. These climates, or more accurately, the thing that creates and sustain them, is organizational culture. As Cheri Ostroff, a Professor of Management and Organizational Culture Theorist put it, “climate develops from the deeper core of culture.” To help employers make the most of their organizational cultures and adapt them when advantageous, it is important to first understand what constitutes culture.
Fundamental Components Of Organizational Culture
Depending on who you ask, the definition of organizational culture will vary. This examination of organizational culture follows several leading scholars who take a holistic approach to defining it. These researchers theorize that many of the elements that other thinkers have singled out as being the lone fundamental ingredient of organizational culture are but one of many components that have a direct and immediate effect on the attributes and strength of a given culture. In particular, this analysis assumes that organizational culture is composed of or directly impacted by organizational:
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Norms and values: Organizational norms are rules for what is appropriate, allowed, required, or forbidden for organizational members. Most commonly, these norms are directed at behaviors. However, they can also be aimed at beliefs and even values (e.g., some organizations have norms that require members to value diversity, innovation, or competitiveness).Values are a subset of organizational norms. In general, an organization’s values are the things it deems to be appropriate objects of positive evaluative feelings or emotions (e.g., joy, admiration, pride, gratitude, etc.). For instance, if an organization contains norms that encourage employees to feel proud of their collaborative tendencies, then that organization values collaboration, at least to some degree.
- Beliefs and stances: Some beliefs are so central to an organization’s mission or entrenched in the minds of its members that they become part of that organization’s culture (e.g., the culture of any climate-change organization will almost certainly include beliefs about the reality of climate change and the necessary means of preventing further environmental damage).
- Behavioral dispositions: An organization’s culture is heavily impacted by and made most readily apparent through the behavior of its employees. For instance, if an organization’s employees tend to work together, this makes the culture more cooperative and sends a strong signal to other employees that cooperation is common and expected, thereby encouraging other workers to behave in a similar manner. Thus, behavioral dispositions are one of the more potent elements of organizational culture.
Cultural Traits And Strength
"To make progress we argue that future research should focus on conceptualizing and assessing organizational culture as the norms that characterize a group or organization that if widely shared and strongly held, act as a social control system to shape members’ attitudes and behaviors. We further argue that to accomplish this, researchers need to recognize that norms can be parsed into three distinct dimensions: (1) the content or what is deemed important (e.g., teamwork, accountability, innovation), (2) the consensus or how widely shared norms are held across people, and (3) the intensity of feelings about the importance of the norm (e.g., are people willing to sanction others)."
Traits Of Organizational Cultures
Based on the basic elements that an organization’s culture is composed of (i.e., which norms, beliefs, values, and behavioral dispositions it has), it acquires particular traits or attributes. These traits are typically manifestations of an organization’s approach or response to common organizational questions (e.g., how much autonomy should be given to employees, how should individual performance be evaluated, to what degree should organizational decisions be limited by ethical considerations, etc.).
CONFORMATIVE
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
An organization’s culture is conformative to the extent that its members are expected to defer to team leaders and rely on the procedures and tools they are given to complete their tasks. Conformative cultures emphasize doing the most with what they have. They look to leave well enough alone, stick to the status-quo, and take to heart the proverb, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
Popular Benefits
- Clear organizational structure
- Predictable workload capacity and productivity
- Safety and stability
- Steadfast mindset
INNOVATIVE
“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”
Highly innovative cultures are constantly seeking to improve existing products and create new ones. Innovative cultures have a high-risk tolerance and encourage creative problem-solving. They reward innovation, are not prone to penalize failed attempts, and create unique antidotes to organizational problems.
Popular Benefits
- Agility and adaptability
- Novel solutions
- Employee commitment and investment
- Growth mindset
COOPERATIVE
“If we don't all row, the boat won't go.”
Cooperative cultures emphasize friendly, supportive, trusting, and collaborative relationships where individuals work together to share their ideas and problem solve in order to meet organizational goals.
Popular Benefits
- Cohesive and resilient teams
- Efficient communication
- Empathetic and supportive relationships
- Tolerant and accepting attitudes
COMPETITIVE
“Competition is the whetstone of talent.”
Cultures are competitive to the extent that members are expected to outperform colleagues, work against others, and operate in a “win-lose” framework.
Popular Benefits
- Driven workforce
- Peak performance
- Personal accountability
- Successful goal setting and execution
OUTCOME-ORIENTED
“All’s well that ends well.”
Cultures that are heavily outcome-oriented rely primarily on results or outcomes when evaluating the success of employees and determining who is to be rewarded, promoted, penalized, demoted, or terminated.
Popular Benefits
- Concrete goals
- Decisiveness
- Directed focus and attention
- Personal accountability
EFFORT-/REASONING-ORIENTED
“It’s the thought that counts.”
In effort-oriented cultures, the degree to which employees try to achieve the desired outcomes along with whether their actions are well-supported by the information available to them when they complete their tasks is used as the primary measure of success. In these cultures, a decision that leads to bad results may still be highly praised, so long as it made good use of what was known at the time.
Popular Benefits
- Analytical problem solving
- Novel solutions
- Data-driven results
- Detailed thought and attention
Customer-Centric
“The customer is always right.”
Organizations are customer-centric to the extent that they prioritize customer satisfaction and allow the company’s evolution to be guided by the wants, needs, and demands of the customers.
Popular Benefits
- Customer loyalty
- Employees become customer champions
- Enhanced customer value
- Reduced churn
Employee-Centric
“Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.”
Employee-centric organizations are highly attentive to what their employees gain from their work. To this end, these companies work to improve employee well-being and happiness and provide opportunities for self-actualization, which enables workers to fulfill their talents and potential.
Popular Benefits
- Company advocacy
- Employee commitment and investment
- Employee wellness
- Talent attraction
Purpose-/Mission-Driven
“Practice what you preach.”
An organization’s culture is purpose-driven to the extent its leaders and employees think beyond the bottom line and bear in mind what the company stands for or what it aims to achieve when completing, evaluating, and assessing the significance of their work. These companies seek to connect their work with something bigger, whether that be an internal organizational objective or an attempt to change the world.
Popular Benefits
- Intrinsic and sustainable motivation
- Passion and pride
- Reputation and public image
- Socially responsible and ethical practices
Profit-Driven
“Money talks.”
Highly profit-driven companies rely heavily on monetary outcomes when determining the direction their organizations should take going forward. Profit-driven companies may make use of ethical or mission-related considerations but only when they believe that doing so will be profitable.
Popular Benefits
- Concrete goals
- Directed focus and attention
- Opportunistic mindset
- Pragmatic decision making
Being Active And Strategic In Organizational Culture
Step 1: Measure It
Step 2: Evaluate It
Step 3: Make It Explicit
Step 4: Explain Its Value
Step 5: Practice What You Preach
Step 6: Hire For Culture
- How do you measure success as work? (Can be used to assess a candidate’s preferred method of task-evaluation)
- Describe a time when you helped a coworker or direct report with a work problem? (Can be used to assess a candidate’s attitudes toward cooperation)
- What attracted you to the role? (Can be used to assess the degree to which the job or organization’s purpose motivated them to apply)
- Tell me about a time you had to change your mind or way of doing things in order to improve. (Can be used to assess a candidate’s response to criticism and attitudes towards innovation)