Would you act the same way at a rock concert as you would watching a symphony orchestra perform. Although there is no written rules that dictate the acceptable way to act at either type of performance, concert audience will try to make it very clear to you if your behaviour does not conform to what they consider to be the acceptable way to act at either type of performance. The concert audience will try to make it very clear to you if your behaviour does not conform to what they consider to be appropriate.
Would you dress the same way to attend a gold tournament as you would to attend a football game? Although both are sporting events there are a set of unwritten rules that dictate what is considered to be the acceptable way to dress for each type of event and the people in attendance will send you signals as whether or not they think you are dressed appropriately.
At concerts and sporting events and just about anywhere were people get together, group members convey social expectations by how they dress and act. New comers to the group are expected to learn what is acceptable to the group by observing the behaviour and dress code of the group members and adapting to the situation accordingly. Organisational culture works a lot like this.
Every company has its own unique culture, just like people do the unique personality of an organisation is referred to as its culture. In groups of people that work together organisational culture is an invisible but powerful force that influences the behaviour of the members of that group.
So how do we define organisational culture?
Organisational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values and beliefs which governs how people behave in organisations. These shared values have a strong influence on people in the organisations and dictate how they dress, act and perform their jobs. Every organisation develops and maintains a unique culture which provides guidelines and boundaries for the members of the organisation.
Let’s now explore what elements make up an organisations culture. Organisational culture is composed of 7 characteristics that range in priority depending on the organisation; these include innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness and stability.
The first characteristic is innovation which is also known as risk orientation. Companies with cultures that place a high value on innovation encourage their employees to take risks and innovate in the performance of their jobs. Companies with cultures that place a low value on innovation expect their employees to do their jobs the same way that have been trained to do them, without looking for ways to improve their performance.
So the next characteristic of organisational culture is attention to detail. This characteristic dictates the degree to which employees are expected to be accurate in their work. A culture that places a high value on attention to detail expects their employees to perform their work with precision. A culture that places a low value on this characteristic does not.
After this we have emphasis on outcomes also known as outcome orientation. Companies