Organisational Culture

Organisational Culture

1. Provide some examples of the ‘visible’ aspects of culture in an organisation of your choice – what are some hidden aspects? To gain this information use your own work experience or base it on a company you visited within The Eden Centre as part of the lecture.

At the visit in Eden Centre I went to one of the local hairdressers. When I entered into the salon two of staff members came to me and straight away asked me if I would like to have my hair done. They explained all the cuts styles, prices and also discounts. I was not feeling very well around those people, they were very cold and not friendly to customers. I could see that there is no team work. I asked few questions about their culture at work but the answer was that they not socialise with each other, the girl I was talking to was not in a mood to chat to me, she did not smile and she was a bit rude and not enthusiastic because I took her away from work. I had a feeling that if I did not need the service that I should leave as soon as possible .It was very visible that this is a strange place to work. They were dressed smart and the salon was in clean and tidy order but I could feel a “cold brief” from the staff.

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2. Explain what Handy meant by the following in your own words:

Ø A power culture

Ø A role culture

Ø A task culture

Ø A person culture

With an organisational example of each

A power culture is describes as a web and is concentration of power of a family business this mean that father or mother of the family is a boss running big or small firm with their children or other members of family, when the main boss have last word to say and is giving strict responsibilities to others. Very good example of the family business is “The Body Shop” opened by Anita Roddick.

A role culture is a type of a Greek temple and has been often stereotyped as a place of bureaucracy. The firm is run by the paper system. An authority is based on personal initiative but is decided by job descriptions very good example of role culture in my opinion is “The Government” they are sending lots of documents from office to office.

A task culture is characteristic for organisations which are involved in research and development activities and they are very dynamic. They are very flexible and adapt to change quickly. All departments are working with each other very well and they have an excellence communication. Great example of that culture is a “TESCO” because from the start they are changing and developing very well and also providing new services for their customers.

A person culture is characteristic model of management, where the individuals within the structure determine to follow for example there is no formal hierarchies and all of the managers are responsible for everything .Good example of person culture could be a “Court” were the individuals are ” Judges”.(Sherwin 2009)

3. What do you think are the problems of trying to classify culture into one of the four types described above?

The problem with trying to classify all the culture will not be a good idea because all those types are very individual and different from each other. Every type belongs to different organisations and cultures.

4. Provide a link within your blog to a company or organisation which you feel demonstrates a strong culture. Explain why you have chosen this company.

http://www.tesco-graduates.com/home/working/our-culture

I have chosen “Tesco” as an example of an organisation which has in my opinion very strong culture. People are cheerful to each other and there is a place for disable people or with learning disabilities. They all work together creating friendly environment and enthusiastic place to work.

Organisation cultures have been the subject of many books and much academics research. The organisation’s vision, mission, history, operating norms, environment and structure from culture for the purpose of discussing reward plans, culture can be described as how the organisation use its employees to get work done. It is more than work design. It is the way people are considered when there is a desire to improve performance.

References:

Managing Change Toolkit-Lindsay Sherwin (2009) online source

Available from http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/images/power.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm&h=411&w=837&sz=8&tbnid=w2k8ddbFaRBByM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=144&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpower%2Bculture&hl=en&usg=__OL0a7QBajp0WCKsipqHGskSv598=&ei=B3DLS8fmJNqTOLin1IMG&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBMQ9QEwAw

(Accessed 16 April 2010)