Organizational Culture

Question

Organizational Culture

Leaders have several strategies that they can use to create a culture of change in an organization. Leaders can utilize the mechanisms identified by Schein to educate current and prospective staff on the organization’s culture and how to maintain that awareness.

Review “Understanding cultural and linguistic barriers to health literacy” from this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings (it’s attached).

Evaluate the primary embedding mechanisms and the secondary articulation and reinforcement mechanisms discussed in Ch. 9, Challenges of Change on p. 229 of your textbook (it’s attached too).

Write a 850-word paper in which you will address the following:

  • Which of the five primary mechanisms can be used within your organization to refine, maintain, or change the organizations culture? 
  • Which of the five secondary mechanisms can be used to reinforce the primary embedding mechanisms? 
  • What impact does an organization’s culture have on the ability of a leader to drive change?

Provide in-text citations and references for all sources cited; format according to APA guidelines.

Answer

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared beliefs, values, and assumptions that dictate how the directors, managers, and employees within the organization act (Hogan &Coote, 2014). Every organization has a distinct and unique organizational culture that in addition to determining how they act, it also dictates how they dress and how they perform their jobs. The key, therefore, it to come up with an organizational culture that will stand the test of time and serve as a positive driving force for the company. In this paper, I will look at the five primary and five secondary mechanisms as identified by Schein and how they can be used to maintain organizational culture. I will also look at the impact that organizational culture has on the ability of a leader to drive change.

ORDER A NURSING ESSAY NOW

The five primary mechanisms by Schein, in this case, refer to how leaders can effect cultural change through their visible actions, and they include reaction to crises, attention, role modeling, allocation of rewards, and the criteria for employee selection and dismissal (Schein, 1995).  To start with, what leaders pay attention to is essential to effecting any change within the organization. Additionally, how a leader reacts to any organizational crisis will determine their state of mind and how well they can handle extreme situations. Role modeling and coaching, as well as the systems in place for awards and other monetary incentives as well, plays a significant role in influencing the culture of the organization. Last but not least, the criteria in place for promotion, recruitment, excommunication, selection, and retirement can also reinforce organizational culture.

Most, if not all, of these primary mechanisms, are useful when refining, changing or maintaining an organizational culture. The current organizational culture in my organization has been beneficial so far. As such, it is wise for the company to continue it. Some of the primary mechanisms that can be used to maintain the current organizational culture is that of reviewing the allocation of rewards. Motivation is significant in any organization performance to be top-notch. Therefore, while some may have a voluntary urge to perform well, others do it because of the incentives that are offered as well as their potential for promotion. For this reason, I believe that reviewing the current criteria to make sure it is in line with the needs of the organization will best help maintain the culture.

There are several ways in which a leader can use to effect change in the organization. Like in primary mechanisms, five secondary mechanisms can also be used by a leader to change the culture of the organization indirectly. These are the design of the systems and procedures, organizational structure, and facilities, stories and formal statements (Schein, 1995). From the list, it is clear that the actual appearance of the organization and the design of the workspaces, procedures that have been put in place as well as the hierarchical shape are critical to organizational change, culture or otherwise. In addition, stories, myths, and legends that have been passed down for generations, specific to the organization in question, reflect on the values and beliefs of the culture. 

Like all myths, legends originate from somewhere. In most cases, these are often stories that have been created by an individual member of the organization in a bit to explain why something is done in a certain way or the existence of something. The reasons for the stories, myths, and legends vary depending on need. Over time, the personnel within the organization begin to identify with them. This is a powerful and indirect way of changing, refining or maintaining organizational culture. For those looking to sustain organizational culture, this is undoubtedly the best way to go about it as the stories originate from an individual level and as such, they have credibility.

ORDER A NURSING ESSAY NOW

In essence, leaders can drive changes within the organization. This, however, becomes more challenging when it comes to organizational culture (Ledlow& Stephens, 2017). Culture is something that all the members grow into and identify with. Therefore, simply changing the current practices or belief systems of the organization is no easy fit. Organizational culture also makes it harder for the leader to effect and the company to ease into any change. In contrast, organizational culture may even make it easier for the members of the organization to accept any change that the leaders may choose to effect (Singleton & Krause, 2009). In the case of incentives, if the deal is good enough, the employees are more often than not likely to accept it.

Like organizational culture, leaders are essential to making sure everything is followed to the letter. Without leaders, accountability becomes a problem. This, in turn, causes a ripple effect whereby the value and missions of the organization lose meaning. Therefore, the first step to having a thriving organizational culture is to ensure that there are competent people in positions of leadership. Both primary and secondary mechanisms should be considered when choosing to refine, maintain or change the current culture in any organization.

References

Hogan, S. J., &Coote, L. V. (2014). Organizational culture, innovation, and performance: A test of Schein’s model. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1609-1621.

Ledlow, G. J. R., & Stephens, J. H. (2017). Leadership for health professionals. London: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Schein, E. H. (1995). The Role of the Founder in Creating Organizational Culture. Family Business Review. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 8(3), 221-238.

Singleton, K., & Krause, E. (2009). Understanding cultural and linguistic barriers to health literacy. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(3).

Still stressed from student homework?
Get quality assistance from academic writers!