Culture is an integral and vital part of any organization. While there is a strong focus on the organizational culture given the pace of change and the resulting uncertainty in the business environment, its introduction as a concept of importance can be traced back to the 1950s. As with any subject domain, corporate culture has been extensively researched and studied, further shaping its dimensions and understanding.
The simplest definition of organizational culture was given by Deal and Kennedy n 1982.
The organizational culture is the way we do things around here.
Deal and Kennedy, 1982
Organizational culture, in other words, refers to the shared values and beliefs that govern the varied interaction and behavior of the people in an organization. These values and beliefs go on to build the personality and character of the organization. Thus, organizational culture can be understood as a set of unwritten rules that primarily influence the actions and attitudes of every individual employee.
Table of Contents
Organizational Culture: Perspectives on Evolution
Organizational culture as a term is derived from two broad categories; culture and organization. English anthropologist Taylor gives us a glimpse into what constitutes culture, way back in the 1870s. This definition may as well be one of the earliest recorded texts relating to the phenomenon of culture. On a collective note, culture influences the complex process of human behavior that comprises thoughts, words, and actions.
Some of the characteristics of culture are given by the following notions.
- Culture is developed and learned, as opposed to an inherent quality or trait.
- While it is learned, culture is passed on from people to people.
- Culture is not rigid and can be adapted to changes over time.
A simple definition of an organization is people directing their attitudes and behavior to achieve a specific set of common goals. While usually considered an entity by itself, an organization could refer to a company, institution, or any form of association. The crux of the union is that there are a set of people who make the organization.
Some of the characteristics of an organization carry the following notions.
- The entity is a group of people targeting a particular purpose.
- All the people in the organization work towards a common goal while having their unique set of targets.
- Every individual in an organization will strive towards common objectives on a personal level, and by doing so, create the potential to reach collective goals.
As a combination of these categories, organizational or workplace culture is the patterns, practices, attitudes, and beliefs that wholly influence the way people in an organization behave and ultimately get things done. These factors also influence employee engagement and shape organizational dynamics and organizational behaviors. Going by this, organizational culture is subjective in nature. The constituents of the culture are abstract and intangible in the form, norms, and values that may not be strictly defined or recorded in any medium.
Culture Models: A Spotlight
Experts who have attempted to study the vast domain of organizational culture and organizational cultural traits have developed different models to explain and reinstate their research. For a fact, it has been quite the process to classify and categorize corporate culture into models that have ultimately given way to our current perception. Given this, it is also notable that the specific model of choice and use influences a big part in the success or failure of an organization. Therefore, to make the best choice, we may have to reexamine cultural models present to us. In simple words, organizational culture could be thoughts of as an organization’s way to success.
1. The Reengineering Alternative by William Schneider
First, William Schneider’s culture model involves two dimensions through which the model expresses decision-making and attention.
Decision-making as a dimension extends through the spectrum of personal to impersonal. The model either takes in an impersonal approach based on facts and data or is synonymous with the personal approach, giving importance to gut feeling and emotions. Similarly, the second dimension of attention paints the spectrum between actuality, where an organization considers reality as the primary influence instead of possibility.
These dimensions go on to build the four quadrants that are classified into,
- Collaboration
- Competence
- Cultivation
- Control
Command
Decision making: Company
Attention: Reality
This quadrant focused on the aspects mentioned above on the dimensions, choosing to analyze and react to the problems at hand, navigating the way through the strict available data and supporting information. Usually, this model fosters hierarchy, with a touch of seriousness in the embedded culture.
Collaboration
Decision making: People
Attention: Reality
Collaboration, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of control culture. Here, the organizations thrive from working as teams. This approach leads to the overall culture being participative, with importance given to the resultant emotional environment.
Competence
Decision making: Company
Attention: Possibility
Being diagonally opposite to collaboration, the competence culture model fosters and builds a rigorous environment, thus preferring superiority and pursuit of excellence.
Cultivation
Decision making: People
Attention: Possibility
The cultivation quadrant is placed diagonally opposite to command, and hence the distinct change. The cultivation quadrant differs in the domain of attention with the collaboration culture and thrives towards what is best possible, more than already present. This culture aims to cultivate and ultimately empower people in the organization.
2. The 8 Types of Organizational Culture
To better study types of culture and propose an efficient model for understanding organizational culture models, four experts from the field created a system of 8 domains in the resulting culture model. Similar to William Schneider’s culture model, this approach takes in 2 main dimensions that further help define the quadrants and domains.
The first dimension is people’s interaction, which is classified into,
- Independent (competence and individual growth)
- Interdependent (group effectiveness)
The second dimension is a response to change, which is classified into,
- Stability (rules and hierarchy)
- Flexibility (innovation and diversity)
The resulting culture types are as follows,
- Purpose
- Caring
- Order
- Safety
- Authority
- Results
- Enjoyment
- Learning
Purpose
Here, the ultimate goal is altruistic and ideal. The bigger goals surpass individual wins, and the employees strive towards creating an impact for ordinary goodness. Global community and sustainability may be listed as the core values.
Caring
The main drivers of the domain are mutual trust and relationships. In addition, one could note that loyalty is highly favored, and the employees are highly collaborative.
Order
In opposition to the culture types discussed, order culture is driven by a stable model. This approach translates into employees playing by the rules and going by the said methodology. Thus, the environment is structured and ordered as the name suggests.
Safety
The employees feeling a sense of security takes precedence in this culture model. Realism and caution are core qualities, where planning in accordance to change is favored.
Authority
Placing high bets on overconfidence, the employees strive towards creating a bold environment where personal growth is the primary objective.
Results
As simple as the same, the result culture model emphasis goal-driven and result-oriented approaches. With a focus on winning, the environment aims to foster competence and success.
Enjoyment
As much as it is guessable, the environment favors spontaneity, even a sense of lightness and humor. As a result, employees look for instinctive, right down to fun experiences created due to the environment.
Learning
Curiosity and innovation are the core pillars of this culture model. The environment emphasizes learning and exploration.
3. Types of Company Culture by Robert E. Quinn and Kim Cameron
One of the most popular culture models developed comes from Robert E. Quinn and Kim Cameron from the University of Michigan. Not only is this model vastly popular, but it has also been steadily adopted by a vast number of companies and organizations to find success in culture development.
Robert and Kim based their study on developing an organizational culture model on the 15 min survey called Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). An approved methodology to study organization cultures, Robert and Kim used the Competing Values Framework to further detail and develop the final company culture model. This model puts forward four types of culture.
- Clan Culture
- Adhocracy Culture
- Hierarchy Culture
- Market Culture
Clan culture
As a base, the clan culture operates with people sharing similar interests and work normality. Mutual trust is inbuilt through the positive approach to relationships. The employees are generally collaborative and value interaction.
Adhocracy culture
The Adhocracy culture model follows a creative approach. The employees are characterized by their streak of innovation and risk-taking while possessing qualities of entrepreneurship.
Hierarchy culture
The hierarchy model is the easiest to understand in its approach. The core values are formed based on the two pillars of structure and control. This model may also be called bureaucratic in its approach, so much so that there is a well-defined and ordered culture, usually defined by set rules, regulations, and protocols to follow.
Market culture
Market culture is primarily result-oriented and goal-focused. The employees foster high expectations and are even highly competitive. Similar to other models present, market culture places emphasis on individual wins. Since there is a competitive streak between the other competitors, this culture aligns itself with market demands.
Conclusion
Through the years, organizational culture has evolved into different forms and shapes. From being wholly intangible, organizational culture as a set of norms and influences has become somewhat tangible and moldable. For example, a study over 11 years shows us that the companies that focused and improved their organizational culture made an income increase of 682% instead of 166% for those who did not. This significant number only further emphasizes the need to understand and fully implements stable culture models for success.
In addition to income benefits, ongoing studies and research sheds light on essential perspectives. For example, a whopping 77% of employees in this study reveal that company culture plays a big part in their decision to work for a company. In addition to that, organizational culture emerged as one of the leading indicators of employee satisfaction, which further plays a role in employee retention.
While culture is constantly evolving, all with research on neuroscience and technical data, the organizational current culture is bound to go through a long line of considerably different attributes, leaving us to wonder how truly will company culture look like in the era of digital workplaces.
All organizations have a unique culture. Many years ago, George Patton said that if you don’t know your organization’s culture, you don’t know what it’s made of, and if you don’t know what your organization’s made of, you can’t be sure your organization is succeeding. Hopefully, you will find this article helpful in understanding and shaping your organization’s culture.
