preview

University of Phoenix Organizational Culture

Better Essays
Open Document

Organizational culture can be defined as the system of attitudes, beliefs and values that are collectively expressed in support of organizational structure. Organizational culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that dictate the behavior of individuals within an organization. Culture determines which practices are appropriate and which are not, effectively developing standards, guidelines, and expectations for individuals within an organization. Although they work hand in hand, there is a definite distinction in the beliefs and the values that make up organizational culture. The beliefs of an organization are assumptions of the way things are, while values are an assumption about the way things should be. By that definition, …show more content…

As the stock prices were inflated, the liquidity of the company was spread very thin. Through the individual business ventures of these highly educated individuals, Enron took out loans and spread their finances thin. Additionally, there was an intense culture of competition within Enron. Skilling implemented an intense employee evaluation system (PRC 360-degree review) in which employees were judged on the profits of their projects. The bottom 10% of employees according to this evaluation were often fired or demoted. This created a state of individual paranoia at Enron in which individuals, in order to keep their jobs, were forced into using shady accounting practices and not worrying about the future considerations of a deal as long as it turned a short term profit. Because of this intense culture of internal competition, employees at Enron (even the ones who felt they were using unethical practices) were reluctant to speak up. The corporate culture made it hard for ethical objections to be heard or taken seriously. In an employee 's recollection of his experience at Enron it was noted that "saying things like 'This doesn 't make sense ' was unofficially sanctioned …I got the idea that not many people actually knew what was going on, and asking questions would further show this lack of knowledge." Furthermore, Enron 's message about their values was demonstrated through the actions

Get Access