Organizational Culture

Culture

Culture Culture means the way of life, It is shared values philosophies, ideologies, assumptions, beliefs, expectations, attitude and norms that knit a community together .All of those are interrelated psychological values that reveal a group that how to approach the decisions. We can say that culture is an Integration of human group ideas, customs and Tradition in systems.

Characteristics of culture         

Learnt –culture is learnt rather then genetics or heredity. Shared –Members of a group and organization share culture. Continuous-it is cumulative in its development and passes on from one generation to another. Integrated (Internal)-It is composite, Interrelated, Interdependent, so a change in one area will affect others. Adaptive (External)-Culture is based on human qualities of adaptively, creative innovation and imagination. Regular-When participants interact with each other; they use common language, terminology and accepted forms of behavior. Norms-Culture exhibits its distinctive standards of behavior. Dominant values –Culture highlights certain dominant values that are advocated and accepted by residents. Rules-The formal rules that underline the constitution of the society. The informal rules that govern the interaction and transaction of individuals.

Organizational Culture A common perception held by the organization’s members; a system of shared meaning. Organizational culture is the common set of assumptions, beliefs, and values that has developed within the organization to cops with the external and internal environment and which is passed on to new members to guide their actions within these environments. The underlying organizational values which are the core of a firm's culture 1. Trust & respect individuals 2. Focus on a high level of achievement and contribution 3. Conduct business with integrity. 4. Achieve common objectives through team work

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Characteristics of Organizations that Develop High Ethical Standards   

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High tolerance for risk Low to moderate in aggressiveness Focus on means as well as outcomes

Managerial Practices Promoting an Ethical Culture     

Being a visible role model. Communicating ethical expectations. Providing ethical training. Rewarding ethical acts and punishing unethical ones. Providing protective mechanisms.

Ethical Leadership Managers must provide a good role model by: 

Being ethical and honest at all times.

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Telling the truth; don’t hide or manipulate information.

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Admitting failure and not trying to cover it up.

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Communicating shared ethical values to employees through symbols, stories, and slogans.

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Rewarding employees who behave ethically and punish those who do not.

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Protecting employees (whistleblowers) who bring to light unethical behaviors or raise ethical issues.

VALUES Vs SKILLS   

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Values help us to ‘become’ while we need skills to ‘do’. Values act as a base for the skills and hence precede skills in their importance. Values are internal –deal with purity of mind and soul. While skills are external – deal with functioning well at job. Values bring about universal good (software aspect). Skills bring about achievement of tasks (hardware aspect). Values are enduring and do not change with time. But skills have to be updated regularly and change with passage of time

The Value of A Good Manager Employees would like 

Managers who show care, interest and concern for their staff

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To know what is expected of them

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A role which fits their abilities

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Positive feedback and recognition regularly for work well done

How Managers Can Improve Ethical Behavior in An 1. Hire individuals with high ethical standards. Organization 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

Establish codes of ethics and decision rules. Lead by example. Set realistic job goals and include ethics in performance appraisals. Provide ethics training. Conduct independent social audits. Provide support for individuals facing ethical dilemmas.

Benefits Ethics Training 

Can make a difference in ethical behaviors.

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Increases employee awareness of ethical issues in business decisions.

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Clarifies and reinforces the organization’s standards of conduct.

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Helps employees become more confident that they will have the organization’s support when taking unpopular but ethically correct stances.