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Taking a Look at Organizational Culture

Decent Essays
Organizational culture can be defined as ‘a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaption and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems’ (Schein 2010, p18). Having great organisational culture is not achievable in just one turn. Implementations of certain factors are required in order to attain an effective corporate culture. Factors that determine a company’s culture are: the vision of the organisation being understood by the staff, the decisions made by the managers and whether or not they reflect the values taught, and whether or not the perceptions, values and beliefs are being role modelled by managers on all levels. Through the discussion of how organisational cultures are established and maintained, its impact, the difference between strong and weak corporate cultures, how it affects the performance of managers as well as employees, and the process of changing an organisational culture, the importance of managers needing to have a thorough understanding of the culture, will become evident. Hofstede’s theory of dimensions, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Kotter’s theory of change, will support this.

The dimensions of corporate culture are basically the measures that make each organisation distinct from one another. Geert Hofstede’s theory consists of six
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