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Organizational Contextual Dimension "Culture"

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What is Organizational Culture?
Organizational culture is a set of shared values, the unwritten rules which are often taken for granted, that guide the employees towards acceptable and rewarding behavior.
The organizational culture exists at two distinct levels, visible and hidden. The visible aspect of the organization is reflected in artifacts, symbols and visible behavior of employees. The hidden aspect is related to underlying values and assumptions that employees make regarding the acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.
Artifacts: These are visible components of culture, they are easy to formulate, have some physical shape, yet its perception varies from one individual to another.
1-Rituals and ceremonies: New hire trainings, …show more content…

Control/Decision: Management by nature is about control, the difference is how it enforces it. Well defined guidance, job description and authority of taking decisions are formal methods of control, while team or collective decision making is a social or cultural method of control. The functional or divisional structure encourages formal control while process or network structures promote a culture of employee empowerment.
Responsibility: The authority of decision making is closely related to issue of responsibilities. The culture of responsibility is measured by observing whether the individuals are expected to take responsibility of their decisions or there is a collective responsibility in case of team decisions.
Assumptions: Both the artifacts and the values give rise to assumptions the employees make about the organization's culture. Finally, it’s the assumptions that govern how an employee determines the right behavior and feels about his job and career, how the culture actually operates within the organizational system.
Failures: The implication of failure is the most influential assumption that every employee derives from all the artifacts, stories, myths and values. The fear of failure and how it would be perceived determines the actual empowerment felt by the employee; the stated values vs. practiced

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