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Organisational Culture and Ways of Managing It Effectively

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Organisational Culture and Ways of Managing It Effectively
Organisational culture has been widely researched over the years because of the important benefits that arise from a strong culture in aiding organisations to succeed and grow. Understanding how to ‘build, maintain or modify an organisation 's culture ' (McAleese, D & Hargie, O. 2004 p.155) is essential to achieving a competitive advantage as organisations can have a direct influence on attitudes and behaviours of the employees within an organisation. (Robbins, Millett, Cacioppe & Waters-Marsh, 2001)

Definitions

There is a ‘great diversity of opinion concerning what the phrase ‘organisational culture ' refers to ' (Brown, A. 1995 p.5), as organisations have their own way of expressing the values and goals that the employees and organisations share. (McAleese, et al. 2004) As a result, how organisational culture is defined has significant implications for how the concept is analysed. (Brown, A. 1995)

Brown (1995 p.6) defined organisational culture as ‘the pattern of beliefs, values and learned ways of coping with experience that have developed during the course of an organisation 's history, and which tend to be manifested in its material arrangements and in the behaviours of it 's members. '

Robbins et al. (2001, p.555) defined organisational culture in terms of certain characteristics that the organisation and its members value in order to create a successful working environment. These include innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, focus on outcomes, consideration for members within the organisation, team orientation, aggressiveness and competitiveness and emphasise on stability or growth. (Robbins et al. 2001) The degree to which employees display these characteristics will therefore shape the organisations culture.

Functions

There are a number of functions that have been attributed to organisation culture, for example it enables organisations to be distinguished between one another or can suggest a sense of identity for



References: Brown, A. 1995, Organisational Culture, Pittman Publishing, London Dwan, S Earle H. A. 2003, Building a workplace of: Using the work environment to attract and retain top talent, Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 2 No. 3, p244-257 Hartel, C Frank, E. 1987, Organisational "Culture": Some Implications for Managers and Trainers. Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 11, No. 7. p29-32 Martins, E.G & Terblanche, F Parker, R & Bradley, L. 2000, Organisation culture in the public sector: evidence from six organisations. The International Journal of Public Sector Management. Vol. 13 No. 2, p125-141. Robbins, S.P. Millett, B. Cacioppe, R. & Waters-Marsh, T. 2001, Organisational Behaviour, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, Australia Roberts, G.B, Watson, K & Oliver, J Russell, R. D. 1989 How Organisational Culture Can Help to Institutionalise the Spirit of Innovation in Entrepreneurial Ventures. Journal of Organisational Change Management. Vol. 2, No. 3 p7-15 Sathe, V Struwig, F. W. & Smith, E. E. 2002, The relationship between organisational culture and strategy formulation in South African firms. South African Journal of Business Management Vol. 33 Issue 1, p.21-29 Thomas, A Wilson, A. 2001, Understanding Organistional Culture and the implications for corporate marketing. European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 35 No. 3/4, p353-367

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