ORGANIZATIONS AND ITS COMPONENT PARTS NOTES
ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Introduction
Culture is shared meaning, understanding and sense making .Culture sums
up the dominant values visions, perspectives ,standards and models of
behaviour that are in organizations. The shared beliefs, values and
expectations held by individual also constitute organization culture.
Definitions:
- Organization culture is defined as a pattern of basic assumptions
invented , discovered or developed by a group as it learns to cope
with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration
that has worked well enough to be considered valuable and therefore
to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive ,think
and feel in relation to these problems.( Edgar Schein) - Organization culture can therefore said to be the essential
collection of shared values which provide both explicit and implicit
sign post to preferred behaviour in the organizations. - Organization culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by
members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations.
Functions of cultures
- It creates distinction between one organization and others.
- It conveys a sense of identity for organizations members.
- It facilities the generation of commitment to something larger than
one’s individual interest. - It enhances the stability of social system.
Characteristics of Organization Culture
- Innovation and risk taking
The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risk. - Attention to detail
The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision
,analysis and attention to detail . - Outcome orientation
The degree to which management focuses on result or outcomes rather
than on the techniques and processes used to achieve those outcomes. - People orientation
The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the
effect of outcomes on people within organization. - Team orientation
The degree to which work activities are organized around teams
rather than individuals. - Aggressiveness
The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather
than easy going - Stability
The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining
the status quo in contrast to growth. - Norms
Standard to behavior exist including guidelines on how much work to do . - Dominant values
These are those values that the organizations advocates and expects
from the participants in an organization e.g. High quality, low
absenteeism and high efficiency. - Rules
These are strict guidelines related to getting along in the
organization.
Creating an Ethical Organization Culture
- Be a visible role model
Employees will look to top management behaviour as bench mark for
defining appropriate behavior. - Communicate ethical expectations
Ethnical ambiguities can be minimized by creating and disseminating an
organizational code of ethics. It should state the organization’s
primary values and ethical rules that employees are expected to follow. - Provide ethical training
Set up seminars ,workshops and ethical training programs .Use the
training sessions to reinforce the organization’s primary values, rules
and standard of conduct . - Visibility rewards to ethical acts and punish unethical ones
Performance appraisals of managers should include a point by point
evaluation of how his or her decisions measure up against the
organization code of ethics .People who act ethically should be visibly
rewarded for their behavior and unethical acts should be punished . - Provide protective mechanisms
The organization needs to provide formal mechanisms so that employees
can discuss ethical dilemmas and report unethical behaviour without fear
of reprimand.
Creating a Culture
A culture is created basically by a founder or top-level manager who
forms a core group that shares a common vision .
Stage I
- Recruitment of like minded individuals
These people will be attracted instinctively to the founder’s
visions and aims. - The development of groups norms
These are likely to be strongly influenced by founders in the
formative stages - Statement of espoused values
The founders or initiators will have the
greatest influence on these values in the early stages ,
subsequently, the organizations leadership must demonstrate to other
stakeholders that what is saying truly believes and not accordingly . - Production of mission statement
These provides visible evidence of espoused values and norms and the
platform for the organization’s relationships with various stakeholders.
Stage 2
These comprise of habit and tradition building activities, aimed at
embedding the culture in the day to day activities of the organizations
by means of procedural and ritualistic measures such as:
- The introduction of appropriate communication systems and decision
making to assist integration - The installation of organizational procedures and rules which
promotes integration by setting standards for members to follow. - Promotion of organization symbols
Battle flags national emblems demonstrates the unity of the
organization which come to embody a certain reputation e.g. Red Cross. - Development of key rituals, helps to establish the organizations
ethos’s i.e.- the part of culture to do with organization climate. - The production of policy statements on the key issues .These lay the
basis for relations with stakeholders.
Creating a Customer Responsive Culture
Customer responsive cultures hire service oriented employees with good
listening skills and willingness to go beyond the constraints of their
job description to do what’s necessary to please the customer.
Managerial Actions to Be Taken
- Selection
Customer responsive culture begins by service; contact people with the personality and attitudes
consistent with a high service orientation. - Training and socialization
The training programs vary according to the organization but they
focus on product knowledge, active listening , showing patience and
displaying emotions. - Structural design
Organization structure need to give employee more control by
reducing rules and regulations. Employers are better able to satisfy
customers when they are in control. - Empowerment
These involves consistent empowering employees with discretion to
make day to day decisions about job related activities. - Leadership
Effective leaders in customer responsive cultures deliver by
conveying a customer focused vision and demonstrating by their
continual behaviour that they are committed to customers. - Performance
A customer responsive culture will be fostered by using evaluations that include, input from customers - Reward systems
Provision of ongoing recognition to employees who have demonstrated
extra – ordinary effort to please customers,i.e. the management
promotes good service.
THE ORGANIZATION AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
Organization does not exist in isolation .There are part of wider fabric
of society in general which constitute the environment within which they
operate . Environment is analyses using an acronym PEST as follows:
- Political
These are factors affecting the requirements placed on the
organizations arising from actions of national (and international )
governments and its agencies, including legislation and general
political dimension which issues and activities may assume. - Economic
These are factors affecting financial functioning of the
organization such as potential for growth , market for organizations
products ,or the views of money as it impacts on reward system . - Social
These are factors affecting the supply of labour such as demographic
changes in terms of age , profile of the working population ,
numbers of people in the Job market and changing cultural norms of
behavior and attitudes in society at large which influences people’s
expectations and behavior at work. - Technology
These are factors affecting processes of production , such as
changes in computer technology and communication and the
implications of new manufacturing processes.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
This is the arrangement and inter-relationship of the components parts
and positions of organizations. Organization structure defines how tasks
are formally divided, grouped and coordinated. Organization structure is
divided into two;
- Formal Structure
These comprises of allocation and organization of individual and
group responsibilities in pursuit of organizational goals . - The Informal Structure
These comprises of patterns of social interaction within the
organization which are separate from those derived from the formal
structure.
Key Elements to Consider When Designing Organization Structure
- Work specification
This is division of labour which describes the degree to which
activities in organization are subdivided into separate jobs .These
increases productivity and reduces boredom and promote employee
satisfaction . - Departmentalization
These is grouping jobs which involve common tasks or by functions
performed .These enhances smooth running and defines job description . - Chain of command
These is unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of
organization to the lowest echelon and clarifies who reports to whom. - Span of control
These is the number of subordinates of manager can efficiency and
effectively direct. The wider the span, the more efficient the
organization. - Centralization and decentralization
Centralization refers to the degree to which decision making is
concentrated at a single point in the organizations with little or
no allocation to lower subordinates levels .Decentralization refers
to the systematic devolution of responsibility and authority
within structure of organization .These means certain levels or
parts of organizations are given responsibility or authority to
discharge responsibility. - Formalization: Formalization refers to the degree to which jobs
within organizations are standardized .The degree of formalization
vary widely between organizations and within organizations .If a job
is highly formalized , then the job incumbent has minimum amount of
discretion over what is to be done, when it is to be done , and how
it is to be done .
Organizational Charts
Organization’s chart is a diagrammatic representation of the
organization structure. Organization charts vary in the level of detail
displayed but they all invariably display three elements of the
organizations structure:
- The division of organizations into departments section ,unit e.t.c
- The major positions in each divisions
- The interrelationships between positions and division , including
the management reporting lines and channels of communication .
Types of Organizational Structures
- The simple structure
These is characterized by what is not rather by when it is .It is not
elaborate. The simple structure is a flat organization .It tends to be
associated with broad span of control but in larger organizations broad
span control The major advantage is that there is provision , for more
flexible work and greater devolution of authority and autonomy . - The Bureaucracy
These structure has highly routine operating task achieved through
specialization, very formularized rules and regulations .Tasks that are
grouped into functional development , centralized authority ,narrow
Spans of control and decision making that follows chain
command - The team structure
Team structure breaks down departmental barriers and decentralizes
decision making to the level of work team. It requires employees to be
generalist as well as specialist. - The virtual structure
This is where the organizations out sources major business functions.
The virtual structure is highly centralized with little or no
departmentalization . - The bounder less structured organization
These organization seeks to eliminate the chain of command ,have
limitless span of control , and replace departments with empowered teams
by removing vertical boundaries ,management flattens the hierarchy
status and rank are minimized . - The Matrix Structure
These structure creates dual lines of authority and members functional
and product departmentalization .
