Organizational Culture - What Does Your Organization Practice?

This topic is important to both business owner, workplace managers and employees. 

Based on Wikipedia’s definition, Organizational culture encompasses values and behaviours that "contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization". In simpler terms, is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations.

 These shared values have a strong influence on the people in the organization and dictate how they dress, act, and perform their jobs.


There are 4 basic types of organizational cultures in management:



1. Power culture – In this type of culture, an individual runs the organization from top to bottom. No decision can be implemented without the final go-ahead from this individual. This is prevalent in Nigeria, China, HongKong etc. Major decisions are in the hands of a one or two people, and decisions can change at any time without explanation. Eventually everyone gets used to fact that the superior is not to be questioned and may not even be address by their first name. Employees only do what they are told and this does not leave room for creativity. Bad as it sounds, it could work well in a manufacturing and production organization; as you would the output to be in certain specifications for customer satisfaction. So no need for too many questions or creativity.



2. Role Culture – Here, everyone knows what their roles and responsibilities are. This means that not just one person has control over the whole business, but a number of people who have important job positions will also have important decisions to make depending on their job role. There is usually a long chain of command, so decision making can be quite slow. Such organizations do not usually take risks and there is little need for expertise. There are rules, regulations, hierarchy and a lot of delegation. E.g Banks



3. Task culture – This involves high levels of teamwork. Teams are formed and re-shuffled, if need be, to perform specific tasks and aid projects progression. The goal is the task at hand and anyone who is best at it would lead the team in the right direction, even though no one is to be made to feel less important towards the project. When the task is completed, such teams would most likely not work together again. In forming such teams, there should be a variation of skills and personalities. Personal power is also released to each person. It is usually awkward at the initial team forming stage and some people may perform better on some projects and poorly in others. E.g: Consulting firms, event planning firms.



4. Person culture – Here, employees use their personal expertise to complete and deliver tasks. There is little or no hierarchy and the organization exists to ensure its employees feel unique and superior in their own way. Without the input of any employee, such organizations can’t run efficiently. This could also make such employees act very proudly, when their performance is exceptional. E.g Doctors in hospitals, Lawyers in law firms, Architect in architecture and design firms.


What culture do you think your organization operates under? Which do you prefer?

As a business owner, do you think you are practicing the wrong culture?