What Is The Organizational Culture? Features And Components
Culture is something inherent to human beings. Everywhere we go, wherever we establish ourselves, we generate culture in one way or another, and the work environment is no exception.
This also extends to the world of business and human organizations and institutions in general, which create their own interaction dynamics. In this article we are going to see What does the concept of organizational culture consist of? the different theories that seek to explain it, the various types that can occur and, above all, the practical uses it has.
When a group of people work in the same place and therefore share a lot of time together, it is logical that a series of customs are established, common experiences are lived and certain values ​​are shared. All of this would make up the organizational culture of that specific company.
It is possible to find many different names, such as corporate culture, corporate or business culture Even administrative or institutional. But the important thing is that they all refer to the same concept.
This cultural process is generated little by little and it does so at all levels, with all the interpersonal relationships that occur in the workplace, and makes all its members feel part of a whole which is why it gives them what is known as group identity.
If the individual is comfortable sharing that culture, they are more likely to want to continue working there and their loyalty to the company will increase. If, on the other hand, he does not feel part of these customs and values, it is most likely that he will leave the corporation as soon as he has the opportunity, if there are no other more powerful factors that keep him there.
Subculture
Anyone who has a certain amount of work experience will know that The most common thing is that within the office or establishment there is more affinity or simply more physical proximity between certain groups of employees What this facilitates is that within each of these groups the same phenomenon also occurs, giving rise to organizational subcultures.
It is normal that among colleagues on a specific project, or those who are closest for whatever reasons, stronger ties begin to be generated, customs are established, and they even use expressions or make jokes that outside of that group would be difficult to understand. understand, since external people have not experienced their origin. And it is that It is very common to use jargon and to act in a certain way, which would not be so common outside the group
Theoretical framework
One of the main authors in the field of organizational culture has been Geert Hofstede, social psychologist, with his famous IBM study Hofstede conducted a survey of no less than 116,000 employees of this company, in 64 different countries.
Thanks to this spectacular sample, he was able to collect an enormous amount of data that, after properly processing, allowed him to establish the five dimensions in which, according to him, organizational culture moves Let’s see them in more detail.
1. Individualism vs. collectivism
This variable refers to the degree to which the corporation places more importance on the individual capabilities of each employee than on overall performance as a group One of the IBM delegations where individualism was scored highest was the US.
In an individualistic company, personal achievements will be valued more while in a collectivist company, the team’s successes will be what I know will be sought above all. In this second type of organizations, much more relevance is given to the hierarchy of the organizational chart and the relationships between employees.
2. Distance according to power
It refers to the closeness or distance that is established between different employees depending on the degree of power they hold within the company That is, how much someone is different from being a boss compared to his subordinates.
3. Masculinity vs. femininity
This dimension may be controversial today, since our vision of gender roles has changed intensely in recent years, but it is very important to keep in mind that the study was carried out in 1980 and at that time it was the conception that was had and was not offensive to anyone since they were the socially accepted values ​​at the time. Once this is clarified, we continue explaining what Hofstede defined as masculine and feminine.
This author masculine understands those values ​​of competitiveness, dominance, independence and assertiveness , with an ego and reward orientation. On the contrary, for the feminine it speaks to us about equality, care for others, more fluid gender roles and an orientation towards relationships between people.
4. Uncertainty control
At this point, what Geert Hofstede is referring to is how secure or insecure employees perceive the future and what is your tolerance for this sensation and your need to control it.
Therefore, if the group scores low on the scale, it will be an indicator that they are entrepreneurial people who have no problems taking certain risks. On the contrary, if a high score is given, we are surely talking about a community that has a preference for stability, that follows the rules and that prefers not to experiment with big changes.
5. Orientation in time
In this case what is studied is If the actions carried out in the company are focused on obtaining results in the short, medium or long term It will have a lot to do with the desire to obtain a smaller reward, but soon, or to use all the efforts for a much greater success but that will take much longer. It would be a dichotomy of present orientation vs future orientation.
6. Indulgence vs. restriction
We had said that Hofstede established five dimensions, and so it was. But in later studies he decided to add a sixth and final variable. What he studies is the degree to which impulses are given free rein or attempted to be controlled
In this way, he found great differences between societies such as Australia, where there would be more leniency, compared to others such as China or Russia, in which greater restriction would be observed.
Types of organizational culture
The typology most frequently used to study this concept allows us to distinguish between strong culture and weak culture.
1. Strong culture
It is the one in which The members of the organization agree with the values ​​that their company champions, and therefore share its beliefs It would occur in all members of the group.
In these corporations, what is known as groupthink, a concept by psychologist Irving Janis, usually occurs. He refers to the fact that when there is a high degree of cohesion among colleagues, it is much more likely that there will be unanimity with the general thinking of the organization, making it difficult for different opinions to arise.
It is easier for this to happen if there is a strong group identity or if there is a charismatic leader at the helm.
2. Weak culture
It happens when This coincidence does not occur and consequently the company imposes the values ​​on its employees , who would be unconvinced about them. These organizations are characterized by strong control over all procedures.
In this case, divergent positions in organizational thinking will be more frequent, hence greater control must be exercised. There is no commitment from the person to the company, or it is very weak.
Features
Although we have already seen several, we are going to list the main functions that organizational culture performs in the company.
1. Integration and motivation
It makes each member feel part of a whole, of a family, and this will make the person consider the needs of the company as their own and It will motivate you for greater performance and achievement of objectives
It is especially useful for the incorporation of new staff members, since if the organizational culture is appropriate, they will quickly They will feel integrated as another member of the community, even if they have been in the company for a short time
2. Control
It is a form of control by the corporation over its workers, since it establishes the direction of the group’s thinking, which all of them must adopt if they want to feel like members of it. In this way they shape the individual and tell him, subtly or not, how he should behave in the workplace.
3. Identity
Not only does it provide a group feeling, but it also differentiates it from the rest of the organizations making employees feel theirs is unique and special compared to others.
4. Stability
For all this, it is a way to generate stability in the company, so that there are fewer problems that arise among workers that affect the corporation.
