Role of Employees is Formulating Organizational Culture Research Paper

Role of Employees is Formulating Organizational Culture - Research Paper Example The organizational culture of an organization can be defined as the values which contribute to the creation of a conducive psychological and social environment within which to work. These values are based on the previous and existing knowledge of the organization which forms the philosophies that hold the organization together. There may however be many different conflicting cultures within an organization, especially the large ones, due to the different characteristics displayed by the various management teams that work in the organization. Organizational culture may have both positive and negative effects on the individuals involved and these among others will be discussed in this paper. While the management of an organization plays a major role in the formulation of organizational culture, the employees of such an organization also have a role to play in its formulation. According to the book Changing Organizational Culture: The Change Agent's Guidebook by Marc Schabracq, the orga nizational culture involves the social expectations and standards which determine the values and beliefs which hold the people working within an organization together. ... Organizational culture is the single most important thing that determines whether and organist ion will be successful or not. There are four major elements of culture which determine the success of an organization: the values which define the beliefs at the heart of corporate culture; the individuals within the organization who embody its values; the routine interactions between members of an organization which are full of strong symbolic qualities to make them feel like part of a family; and finally, the informal communication system within the organization. Although it is a very difficult thing to happen, the culture of a particular organization is subject to change. This does not come easily and may require a very competent person or people to succeed in changing it. In order to change organizational culture, one has to be aware of what exactly it takes to change the existing culture. Moreover, the ability to change the culture is in the hands of the top management of the organiza tion and it is they who are responsible for the institution of such change. Lastly, organizational structure helps to resolve the dilemma of bureaucracy because although formal procedures are necessary for business integrity, bureaucracy also ends up stifling autonomy and creativity. The organizational culture consists of many subcultures which interact with one another for the sake of the running of the organization. It can be said that this culture is not as homogenous as one would expect and may, in fact, consist of many coexisting cultures which work hand in hand out of necessity.