Changing an Organisation's Culture: A Role of Leadership

By

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LITERATURE REVIEW (EXTENDED)1

Culture1

National Culture1

Organisational Culture2

The Leadership/Culture Relationship7

Transformational Leadership Theory8

REFERENCES12

LITERATURE REVIEW (EXTENDED)

Culture

An organisation's culture is usually not formalized, rarely listed in the mission statement, nor is it a part of the strategic plan, yet it is found in every organisation. “Culture refers to the deep structure of organisations, which is rooted in values, beliefs, and assumptions held by organisational members” (Denison, 1996, p. 624). No matter how similar an organisation may be in size and/or type, its culture can vary from one end of the spectrum to the other. Private sector organisations share similar cultures as public and non-profit sector organisations, but the way things are done and their results can be worlds apart. As an additional consideration, ethnic and national cultures can further increase the dynamics associated with organisational culture.

National Culture

Culture should be considered more than just how an organisation is perceived or how things are done. It also has implications that are associated with geography, ethnicity, morals, values, and beliefs. There are many employees within the various organisations whose origins exist outside of the United States. With that occurrence comes diversity in language, rituals, traditions, attitudes, and behaviours. Multinational companies are good examples to demonstrate the vast amount of cultural differences that exist within an organisation. Hofstede et al. (1990) conducted a study on the organisational and national culture construct. The study revealed that the values of employees varied more according to demographics of nationality, age, and education, although the values of the founders and leaders were the driving forces behind the organisational culture.

Other studies have been conducted on the impact of national culture and moral philosophies from the organisational structure. Walsh (2004) used a case study to highlight a U.S. headquartered multinational company, partially owned by the Japanese government, which employed American and Japanese employees that had very distinct differences between them. The Japanese executives perceived the American executives as reckless and uncommitted. The American executives perceived the Japanese executives as lazy. They performed the same activities, but each was identified with varying perceptions. The American culture dictated more of an individualistic behaviour, whereas the Japanese culture dictated more of a collective behaviour. Walsh (2004) concluded that organisational members would naturally establish their own systems that “incorporate aspects of corporate culture and national culture” (p. 320).

Organisational Culture

According to Sopow (2007), an organisation's culture is its deeply rooted traditions, values, beliefs and sense of self. It is the glue, per se, that bonds the organisation and creates the behaviour blueprints within the company. Whether the established culture is positive or negative can depend on historical and developmental factors, as well as leadership and employee behavioural patterns.

Leadership can define and redefine the organisation's culture by its level of consistency in implementing the rules, regulations, creeds, and other procedural aspects. Establishing a culture requires more than vision and mission statements for employees to embrace, but also a conceptual shift and a behavioural shift on the part of everyone, which necessitates active leadership at ...