This assignment aims at discussing whether a strong organisational culture which can be used as a tool of management control helps to both motivate staff and improve company performance and should therefore be encouraged.
Organisational culture can be defined as “the basic values, ideologies and assumptions which guide and fashion individual and business behaviour.” (Wilson and Rosenfeld 1990, p.229). Following Schein, organisational culture can be subdivided into three levels, representing the visibility to the observer. Most visible are the culture’s artefacts or surface manifestations, including organisational structure, processes, physical environment, technology and products, employees clothing, manners of address as well as language and company myths. These and other artefacts can be discovered while interacting with the organisation as an employee, customer or other stakeholder. The second level are espoused beliefs and values. The companies set of values normally establishes over a long period emerging from the founders and managements own mindset. These values are (or better should be) adopted by all employees as a part of their own values and beliefs and are also manifested as stated company values. The third and most in-depth level of organisational culture are the underlying basic assumptions. They evolve when beliefs and values become treated as reality, though they are never visible to an observer and can be described as the company’s own culture (Schein 2004). An important factor, when looking at organisational culture is the similarity or differences of the management’s and the employee’s view of corporate culture. A high match of organizational culture levels results in a strong organisational culture whereas differences in both groups’ mindsets lead towards a weak culture. Important thereby is not only a match of the culture’s manifestations, which only leads to a superficial strong culture, much more significant is sharing of the same values and underlying assumptions (Hartog and Verburg 2004). In a strong organisational culture, common thinking and views between employers and employees may eventually result in a better working atmosphere, an alignment of the workforce and ultimately in better performance (Deal and Kennedy 2000). Weak corporate cultures on the other hand are marked by less shared values, beliefs and assumptions and are less stringent in its thinking but are therefore also more open to changes and fluctuations. [...]
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- This assignment aims at discussing whether a strong organisational culture which can be used as a tool of management control helps to both motivate staff and improve company performance and should therefore be encouraged.
- Organisational culture can be defined as “the basic values, ideologies and assumptions which guide and fashion individual and business behaviour.”
- An important factor, when looking at organisational culture is the similarity or differences of the management's and the employee's view of corporate culture.
- The question if organisational culture can and should be used as a tool of management is discussed with great controversy within organisational behaviour specialists.
- Following the managerial perspective towards organisational culture, a link between a strong and efficient culture and performance may be pursued.
- Factors encouraging a strong organisational culture and the use as a management tool include the comprehensible link between organisational culture, motivation and performance as shown in recent studies as well as the obvious effectiveness on operations of certain traits of culture.
- On the other hand, various studies oppose a clear link between corporate culture and performance in stating important bias factors and interdependencies.
- To conclude, both perspectives towards organisational cultures and its effects on motivation and performance can contribute valid information to this crucial field of study.
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This assignment explores the relationship between strong organizational culture, its use as a management control tool, and its impact on employee motivation and company performance. The central question is whether a strong organizational culture should be encouraged in order to achieve these positive outcomes.
- Defining and understanding the concept of organizational culture at different levels.
- Examining the potential benefits of a strong organizational culture for employee motivation and company performance.
- Analyzing the arguments for and against the manageability and effectiveness of organizational culture as a management control tool.
- Exploring the relationship between different organizational culture traits and their impact on performance.
- Considering the limitations and complexities of drawing definitive conclusions about the link between organizational culture, motivation, and performance.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- This chapter introduces the assignment's central question and provides a definition of organizational culture, highlighting its three levels: artifacts, espoused beliefs and values, and underlying basic assumptions. It emphasizes the importance of alignment between management and employees' views of culture for a strong organizational culture.
- This chapter discusses the debate surrounding the use of organizational culture as a management control tool. It presents both the managerial perspective, which views culture as a controllable factor influencing performance, and the social science perspective, which argues against the direct manageability of culture and its link to performance.
- This chapter examines the evidence supporting the potential link between strong organizational culture and performance. It reviews studies that suggest positive correlations between various culture traits, such as market orientation, innovation, and high performance, and improved company performance. However, it also acknowledges inconsistencies in the findings and limitations in establishing a clear causal link.
- This chapter presents arguments for and against using organizational culture as a management tool. It highlights the potential benefits of shaping culture towards desired traits, such as market orientation, innovation, and high performance, but also emphasizes the complexity and ethical considerations involved in influencing culture.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The key terms and topics explored in this text include organizational culture, management control, employee motivation, company performance, organizational culture traits, market orientation, innovation, high performance, and the manageability of culture. The discussion centers around the relationship between these elements and their potential influence on organizational success.
- Citation du texte
- Matthias Arnold (Auteur), 2005, Organisational culture as a management tool, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/55705
