Organizational culture and

climate

A Presentation By:
Kunal Kumar
Neha Anand
Rashmi Sharma
Organization culture: concept
 A common perception held by organization’s
members.
 A system of shared meaning.
 Culture is the social glue that helps hold the
organisation together.
Organization culture: definition
 “Organization culture is the basic pattern of shared
assumptions, values and beliefs considered to be
the correct way of thinking about and acting on
problems and opportunities facing the
organization.”
Characteristics of organization
culture
 Innovation and risk taking
 Attention to detail
 Outcome orientation
 People orientation
 Team orientation
 Aggressiveness
 Stability

Functions of organizational culture
 Organisational culture provides a sense of identity
for members.
 Organisational culture enhances commitment to the
organisation’s mission.
 Organisational culture clarifies and reinforces
standards of behaviour.
 Defines the boundary between one organization and
others.
 Enhances the stability of the social system.

Effects of organizational culture
 Organizational performance
 Length of employment
 Person/organization fit
How employees learn organizational
culture
 Artifacts
 Values
 Assumptions
 Beliefs

Artifacts
Observable symbols and signs of an
organization’s culture. eg:., structures,
processes etc.
Values
The reasons given by an organisation for the way
things are done. Eg:strategies, goals, philosophies.

Assumptions
The beliefs that are taken for granted by the
organisational members. These are ultimate source of
values and action that include: unconscious,
perceptions, taken for-granted beliefs, thoughts,
feelings etc.

Beliefs
Represent the individual’s perception of reality.
Uniformity of culture
 Organization culture is a common perception held by
the organization’s members.
 All members cannot share this perception at the
same degree.
 This gives result to:

ü Dominant culture
ü Sub-culture
ü
ü
Dominant culture
 Set of core values shared by a majority of the
organization’s members.

Sub-culture
 Set of values shared by a minority of the
organization’s members.
 Formed as a result of problems or experiences that
are shared by members of different departments.
 Some subcultures enhance the dominant culture.
 Some directly oppose the organization’s core values
and beliefs. They are called “counter-cultures.”
Strong and weak cultures
 A culture in which the core values are intensely held
and widely shared.
 Strong managers determine a strong culture.
 Factors determining strength of a culture:

ü Sharedness: degree to which organization’s members

have same values.
ü Intensity: degree of commitment to the core values of
the organization.
 Both of these factors are determined by orientation
and rewards.



Adaptive culture
 Culture in which employees focus on the changing
needs of customers and other stakeholders, and
support initiatives to keep pace with those changes.
 External focus.
 Employees in an adaptive culture pay as much
attention to organizational processes as they do to
organizational goals.
 Strong sense of ownership.
 Proactive and quick.
creating and maintaining a culture
 HOW ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE STARTS?



Maintaining culture

 Forces that play a significant role in sustaining culture:


 Selection practices
 Concern with how well the candidates will fit into the
organization.–Provides information to candidates about
the organization.
 Actions of top management
 Senior executives help establish behavioural norms that
are adopted by the organization.
 Socialisation method.
 The process that helps new employees adapt to the
organization’s culture.

 Edgar Schein organizational
culture: Socialization
Socialization refers to process of inheriting norms, customs
& ideologies.
 It may provide the individual with the skills & habits
necessary within their own society.
 Socialization is thus ‘the means by which social & cultural

continuity are attained.



AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION:
The family

Education

Religion

Peer groups

Mass media

Other- work place, public institutions.

Process of socialization
Organizational climate
 Climate is defined as the recurring patterns of
behaviour, attitudes and feelings that characterize
life in the organization.

 The shared perception of the way things are around
here.

 Typical climates correspond to human feelings or
moods: excitement, depression, anger, fear,
optimism or anxiety




 Culture and Climate



Example


 We can compare organizational culture and

climate to personality and mood. The former is
enduring; the latter is temporary. We acquire our
basic personalities early in life, but our moods
can shift several times in one day.

 Although organizational culture endures like
personality, it is easier to change. Climate is
variable like mood and is just as important as
human feelings.


 Difference between Culture & climate
Climate Culture
 Refers to current  Refers to the historical &
situation in an tradition of the
organization. organization.
 Climate is often defined  Organizational cultures
as the recurring are generally deep and
patterns of behaviour, stable.
attitudes and feelings 
that characterize life in 
the organization.
 Culture of an
 Climate often proves
organization is not
easier to assess and that easy to change.
change