Managing Organisational Culture

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Organisational Culture

Organisational culture refers to the ethos, values and beliefs of a business and its employees. When attempting to study the business culture, managers and leaders can use Handy’s model of culture:

Power culture

Power culture refers to a business that places importance on the authority and decision-making power of a small number of key employees.
Investment banks like Morgan Stanley have a few powerful individuals who make all important decisions.

Role culture

Role culture refers to a business which places importance on employees having clear roles within the organisation.

Task culture

Task culture refers to a business which places importance on employees being associated with tasks and projects within the organisation.
- For example, in project-based businesses, such as Yell (Yellow Pages), employees will often use their skills on one specialist task before then moving to another task or project, which is an example of a task culture.

Person culture

Person culture refers to a business that places importance on employees being valued and operating autonomously within the business.
Amazon splits its business up according to the category, for example, gardening and homeware each have their own category. The gardening manager has the freedom to run their own area and make their own decisions, which is an example of a person culture, with lots of people operating with autonomy.

Hofstede’s model of national culture states that businesses operating internationally will be affected by the cultural influences of the different countries in which they operate, and these influences are categorised:

Individualism

Individualism and collectivism state that different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have societies which value individuals whereas other countries have societies which value team members.

Power distance

Power distance states that different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have societies which value individuals based on age and experience whereas other countries have societies which value individuals based on their skill and ability.

Long term orientation

Long-term orientation states that different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have societies and governments which value short-term approaches whereas other countries have societies and governments which value long-term approaches.

Uncertainty avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance states that different countries will influence branches of a business in different ways as some countries have high adversity to uncertainty whereas other countries have much lower adversity to uncertainty.

Masculinity and femininity

Masculinity and femininity state that decision-making approaches may differ between cultures and that masculinity focusses on rewards and discipline whereas femininity focusses instead on relationships and being caring.