ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Introducing Organisational Culture, Values and Behaviour

Introducing Organisational Culture, Values and Behaviour

Introduction

The organizational culture of an organization is determined by several factors. These factors can be internal as well as external. In order to study the organizational culture, values, and behaviour of an organization this paper will use British Airways as an example.

a) Frame Work for Analysing Organisational Culture

Organizational culture includes the organizations definition of success, routines and procedures, symbols and language, and the leadership style dominant in the industry. The organizational culture of the organization represents the definitions present in the organization, collective memories, expectations, underlying assumptions, and values of the organization.

Cameron and Quinn (2003) have created a framework for the organizational culture that they called the Competing Values Framework. According to this framework, the organizations culture depends on whether it has a predominant external or internal focus. It also includes whether the organization wishes to strive for control, stability, individuality, or flexibility. It also includes dimensions i.e. clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy. The core values of the organization also play an important part in the development of the culture of the organization (Cameron et al, 2003, p. 361-370).

The organizational culture of British Airways is very friendly due to the fact that they are trained to provide a friendly environment for passengers. Therefore, the same culture is adopted in the organization. However, since the organization is heavily unionized, the environment can get aggressive by any police that is not accepted. This shows that the predominant focus of the organization is the internal environment.

The Competing Values Framework will provide a strong bqase to analyse the culture of British Airways. With the use of this concept the profile of an organizations culture can be derived by establishing the characteristics of the dominant culture. The following points can be useful in assessing the cultural profile of the company (Cameron et al, 2006, p. 84-89):

Clan: An organization that focuses on providing quality services to its customers and caring for them, Its main focus is flexibility and internal focus and integration.

Hierarchy: An organization that focuses on the need for having stability and control while at the same time focuses on the internal environment.

Adhocracy: An organization that focuses on a high degree of individuality and flexibility and concentrates on the external positioning.

Market: An organization that focuses on a need for maintaining stability and control while focusing on external maintenance (Cameron, & Quinn, 2011, p. 99-110).

b) The Internal and External Factors That Influences an Organisation Culture

There are several internal and external factors that affect the organizations culture. The following are the internal factors that affect the culture:

Leadership

Leadership is one of the most important aspects of an organizations culture since the leader is a person who can have a major impact on the employees and thus influence the culture of the organization. When the leadership is trustworthy, the employees get more motivated to work and hence productivity increases. The influence of a single successful leader can also impact other leaders and thus the entire organization can develop its ...