Organizational Behavior
January 20, 2014
Lauer, L. D. (1993, Nov). Using your organization's culture to build productivity and. Nonprofit World, 11, 34. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/221256569?accountid=28568
Larry Lauer, associate vice chancellor for university relations and assistant professor at Texas Christian University, gave advised on building an organization that brings its diversified members together yet that portrays and maintains respect for individuals in the company, regardless of their religious or ethnical background. He mentioned that it should be built in a way that avoids direct conflicts with the differences. Moreover, he encouraged that leaders of the organization, most importantly management, should strive to implement the culture in writing, whatever activities they undertake with the organization, and instill it in the members, including the new employees. The suggestions given on how to carry it out include the following: using qualitative research, consider bringing in a trained facilitator, holding pre-project briefings, and identifying cultural traits. Lauer (1993) further emphasized on the importance of culture, mainly in non-profit organizations, how it affects the organization, and the process of building it.
Lauer (1993) stated that an establishment of culture is crucial to the communication of an organization. He described an instance where people within the company brainstorm ideas to strengthen the company. However, he said, those ideas may not have a long-term impact if they are not based from an understanding of the organization’s culture. The understanding involve having the knowledge of its importance, how to identify its traits and strengthening them in a well-designed communication program (Lauer, 1993, par. 2, 3).
An organization’s culture strengthens its members, said Lauer (1993). Many are not consciously aware to the extent an organization’s culture has affected their work in the organization. When mergers take place, management problems may rise, which, is mostly related with the lack of understanding the culture, including value priorities, beliefs, and behavior expectations. Lauer (1993) shared a scenario of two non-profit organizations in Texas which focus on child and drug abuse. They had a merger, know how to carry out the required work, but they could not reach an understanding because of culture differences. Consequently, the culture of an organization enables the members to work together (Lauer, 1993, par.4-6).