Organizational Cultures: Annotated Bibliography and Summary Annotated Bibliography

Aronson, Z. And Patanakul, P. 2012. "Managing a group of multiple projects: do culture and leader's competencies matter?" Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 3(2): pp.

Web. Retrieved from: LexisNexis Database. [Accessed on 21 May

This article focuses significantly on how team culture within an organization is a pivotal factor that contributes to a team being able to successfully complete a project. A focus is made on the role of the project manager to not only introduce a team to a project, but hone the group's culture in terms of knowledge, communication, and teamwork in order to maximize the team's effectiveness, which is a method that can be utilized in any working environment.

Heeroma, D., Melissen, F., Stierand, M. 2012. "The problem of addressing culture in workplace strategies. Facilities, 30(7-8): pp. 269-277. Web. Retrieved from:

LexisNexis Database. [Accessed on 21 May

2012].

This article discusses the problems that are associated with trying to address culture as one of the key aspects needed in all effective workplace strategies. The authors attempt to address how organizational culture within any workplace consistently shapes the way that all of the organization's projects, goals and tasks are carried out, as the tone of the office generally accounts for all of its successes.

Jaakson, K., Pille, M., Reino, A. 2012. "Is there a coherence between organizational culture and changes in corporate social responsibility in an economic downturn?"

Baltic Journal of Management, 7(2): pp. 202-216.Web. Retrieved from:

LexisNexis Database. [Accessed on 21 May

2012].

This article seeks to depict an understanding of the different types of organizational culture that exist within certain working environments especially in times of economic downturn. The article focuses on a lapse in organizational

success in Ecoprint, Ltd., a small printing house in Estonia, which was unsuccessful in dealing with the worldwide economic downturn of 2008-2009, especially in terms of organizational culture, morale and corporate social responsibility.

Kawar, T. 2012. "Cross-cultural differences in management." International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(6): pp. 105-111. Web. Retrieved from: LexisNexis

Database. [Accessed on 21 May 2012].

This article focuses on cross-cultural differences in management in order to understand differences in attitudes, behaviors, functioning, communication issues, and cultural implications that can be seen within the workplace. The article makes consistent mention of differences in cultures that influence different values in organizations around the world, thereby noting that organizational culture is distinctly varied throughout the world, rather than a business norm that is universal.

Les Tien-Shang, L. 2012. "The pivotal roles of corporate environment responsibility."

Data Systems, 112(3): pp. 466-483.Web. Retrieved from: LexisNexis Database.

[Accessed on 21 May

2012].

This article focuses on the different relationships that exist in the workplace regarding motivations to preserve standards of corporate social and environmental responsibility in the workplace in relation to organizational cultures that exist within the average business environment. A focus on corporate social responsibility within the workplace has the capacity to positively and negatively effect client relationships, and as such, has the capacity to effect the culture in-

house within an organization as well.

Part II: Summary

In understanding the role that organizational cultures play within the workforce, one can immediately garner an additional understanding of how and why the collective behaviors of organizations shape the way that work is done within that respective group. As organizational culture refers to "the general collective behavior of all human beings that make up an organization, which is formed by the organizational values, visions, norms, working language, systems, and symbols that make up an organizations beliefs and habits," it is crucial to understand the academic research being done on the topic at present to understand how this culture is changing as organizations look toward the future...

In viewing the aforementioned academic journal articles in manner that addresses the issue of organization cultures, one can see that the proposed information effectively applies to a professional life, as well as enhances one's knowledge of the concept of human capital.
In viewing the research at hand, it seems that much of the focus on the future of organizational culture, especially in the workplace, has a significant focus on teamwork, leadership, and a focus on corporate social responsibility in terms of the environment. All of the articles addressed during the research process made significant mention to the crucial role of leadership within any organization, which is necessary to keep organizational morale high, organizational goals and tasks on course, and internal culture healthy. As leadership is necessary to ensure that any group of people who remain diverse come together in favor of achieving common ground in terms of goals, mentality, and ethics.

As these standards that exist under the larger umbrella term of "organizational culture" come together to shape individuals into functioning teams, that exist in times of success and in times of uncertainty within a company. Take for example, the Baltic Journal of Management Journal article that focuses on a company's struggles during an economic recession. Despite the article's placement in Estonia, the company's struggles to maintain a sense of community within its organizational culture is a story that crosses geographical boundaries in a way that effects any individual existing in a working environment during the recession. Changes in the world economy bring about additionally significant changes to working environments within organizations around the globe, and during these times new points of focus are often brought to the forefront, such as organizational focus in recent years on corporate social responsibility.

As seen in several articles included in the research, the future of organizational success seemingly lies in a focus on environmental practices and the corporate social responsibility that organizations have to treat their clients, their work, and their standards of practice in an environmentally friendly manner. While this area of focus is seemingly not directly connected to organizational culture, the truth remains that this focus will soon become paramount for many companies' successes, and as such must become ingrained in the culture of an organization from the ground-up.

Each of the new lessons learned from the research at hand is essential for any individual coming into an organization in a professional capacity. Any individual coming into the realm of a working environment must understand that he or she is a single unit that will begin working towards the overall goals or "greater good" that a company or organization hopes to achieve. A successful company or organization has a workforce that represents an alignment to the organizational values of the company that they represent. In these companies exist a strong culture that help organizations to operate like well-oiled machines, and even in the fact of adversity or trials, these organizations have a workforce that is so synched and like-minded, that issues that would prove damaging to many companies, bring about only minor concerns in these strong cultures.

As such, in terms of a professional life, the concept of teamwork and respect for the overarching goal of an organization cannot be stressed enough. As an individual enters the realm of the workforce, it can be said in learning from readings and research that these individuals should tread carefully in order to find a working environment that he or she can fully immerse themselves in without compromising his or her own values. As an individual's personal values must match those of the organization he or she works with in order for this compatibility to prove itself profitable for both parties, great care must be taken in order to ensure a right fit or match between and individual and the organization for whom that individual works.

For these reasons, it is essential that strong organizational culture within an organization is based on the value of human capital, which is something that was realized in each of the aforementioned articles. For an organization to succeed, it must have the full cooperation of its workforce, or team members, and their respective work is to be valued in order for an organization to…