Attitudes of Organizational Culture Had Been Defined

Attitudes of Organizational Culture

Culture had been defined not as the behavior of the people living in it; it is the "it" in which they live. The culture of an organization includes the language, dress codes, and habits of the operations, value systems, an ethics' code, attitude and interactions between various strata of the organization and work principles. Norms are the organized and shared ideas of what the members in the organization do and feel, and how these norms should be regulated. The basic needs are physiological, needs for security, affiliation, to feel self-esteem and for self-actualization (Harvey and Brown, 1976).

Many of these needs get infused from the individuals that work in the organization into the culture of the organization. An example of the employees of Saturn Car manufacturers, whose managers do not wear a suit and ties, to work. This eliminates the distinction between the blue collared and white collared workers (White, 1997).

Cultures in an organization do change over a period of time. "Organizations deal with change on a day-to-day basis, as do people. Change is inherent in contemporary organizations and its management is not only critical to organizational success and survival but is also at the crux of the field of organization development. " (Mukherjee and Mukherjee, 2001)

In established and bigger organizations, application of the change process is more gradual. Traditional bureaucratic, organizational structures have a large number of rules and regulations that may hinder the process of change and new policy implementation. Organizational structures, rules and regulations are generally viewed as instruments set in place to facilitate and aid task performance by all those involved in the organization (Morgan, 1997 p. 175).

The degree of agreement between the values, cultural norms, and attitudes that are required for implementation of the proposed change and the organization staff's existing attitudes, values, philosophy, and operating style also determines the success of any change that can be implemented.

A new member joining the organization can either find the culture and norms unclear, confusing and restrictive, or the culture and norms may fit the individual's own culture and norm. When the cultures do not match, the new member may try to change his personal style to suit that of the company or rebel against the established norms and cultures and become a maverick in the organization. Some individuals however strike a balance between, accepting the cultures and the norms of the organizations that they agree with and questioning those that they do not.

The ability of an organization to accept new ideas and change or modify the existing attitudes of the company helps the organization grow (Womack and Jones, 1996). Healthy and democratically run organizations encourage and allow employees to challenge the accepted norms without reprimanding them. Many organizations in today's market place encourage individuals to have their own style and attitudes as long as they are within the main acceptable codes for the overall company. An ideal example of this change in practice is the U.S. army that has recently run a strong public relations campaign: "The army of one." While an army has been and always been a "team and group effort" organization, individuality is allowed to show through the structure.