Organisational Behaviour & Management



MGNT 803 Organisational Behaviour and Management

Assessment 4

Culture and climate in organisations



1.  Introduction

Organisational culture and organisational climate is a critical element to an organisation’s anatomy. Several articles support a positive organisational climate and culture affects the business positively. These themes will be explored through the analysis of journal articles which define organisational climate and culture, illustrate the impact of organisational climate and culture on managers, and specify the relationship between organisational climate and culture with a positive output from employees. Lastly, a summary of literature will be presented as well as, practical applications for managers.

2.    Overview of culture and climate in organisations 2.1 Defining organisational climate and culture

Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) provide an in-depth analysis of organisational climate and culture and its implications, as well as, an overview of the research and practice conducted within the two elements. Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) define organisational climate as the collective understanding of policies, practices and procedures witnessed by employees and behaviours they see rewarded, supported and expected. Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) also define organisational culture as the norms and characteristics taught to new employees as the right way to act, think and feel. Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) identify subtle differences between climate and culture. Climate focuses more on the tangibles such as policies and procedures within the business which generate certain behaviours required for effectiveness, whereas culture focuses more on the intangibles that produces a more rooted and unified psychology amongst employees. Similarly, Denison (1996, p. 625) contrasts climate and culture identifying that both perspectives have the potential for a “shared, holistic, collectively” defined environment which transpires over time. Denison (1996) also concludes that the differences between climate and culture originates from their theoretical foundations rather than their practical application within businesses.

2.2 Impact of organisational climate and culture on managers

Madan, M & Jain, E 2015, ‘Impact of Organizational Culture & Climate on Management Effectiveness’, Delhi Business Review, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 47-57.

Madan and Jain (2015) in their research identify the impact organisational climate and culture have on managers and the performance of staff. The role of the manager in the organisation is to lead, motivate and inspire their team, managerial effectiveness is becoming increasingly important to gain a competitive advantage within the business world (Madan & Jain, 2015). There are two distinct sides to culture: firstly, the intangible norms, assumptions and values; and secondly, the more tangible practices of the organisation which is often a part of the organisation’s formal structure. Strong behaviour regularity is often found where such formal structures are in place, culture within a workplace determines how employees behaviour across the board (Madan & Jain, 2015). From their research, Madan and Jain (2015) found that a misalignment between the organisational climate and leadership style of the manager would become problematic and create a dissonance in workflow. Madan and Jain (2015) also determined that when climate was more closely aligned to the leadership style there is likely to be better performance. Madan and Jain (2015) concluded that organisational climate and culture influences the effectiveness of managers, particularly in the private sector.

2.3 Relationship between organisational culture with a positive output from employees

Barnes, JW, Jackson Jr, DW, Hutt, MD & Kumar, A 2006, ‘The Role of Culture Strength in Shaping Sales Force Outcomes’, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 255–270.

Barnes et al. (2006, p. 255) examined the significance of culture strength on an organisation’s outcomes such as ‘job satisfaction, organizational commitment, role stress, role conflict and role ambiguity. Barnes et al. (2006) identified that where personally held values aligned with that of the organisation’s employee, commitment to the organisation and job satisfaction increased. Characteristics of culture within an organisation can change and control its employees’ behaviours.

A solid organisational culture is comprised of two traits. The first is the ability of the organisation to affect and inspire its members to behave positively in the ways advocated by the organisation. The second is that an organisation’s employees strongly and clearly acknowledge the organisation’s values (Barnes et al. 2006).

Strong organisational culture utilises a number of cultural elements (stories, heroes, rituals, ceremonies, and the cultural network) to reinforce the shared values within the organisation. The four hypotheses studied by Barnes et al. (2006) led to similar conclusions: that a strong culture within an organisation and strong alignment of personal values with those of the organisation, enables higher levels of job satisfaction; lower levels of role ambiguity; lower levels of role conflict, and higher levels of commitment to the organisation.

2.4 Summary of literature

Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) defined and provided an analysis of organisational climate and culture and its implications, as well as, an overview of the research and practice conducted within the two elements. Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) illustrate the subtle differences between climate and culture. Climate focuses more on the more tangibles practices whereas culture focuses more on the intangibles social cues amongst employees. Similarly, Denison (1996, p.625) in contrasting climate and culture identified that both perspectives have the potential for a ‘shared, holistic, collectively’ defined environment which transpires over time. Denison (1996) concludes that the differences between climate and culture originates from their theoretical foundations rather than their practical application within businesses.

In addition, Madan and Jain (2015) identify the impact organisational climate and culture has on managers and the performance of staff. The role of managerial effectiveness is becoming a competitive advantage within the business world (Madan & Jain, 2015). There are two distinct sides to culture, the intangible norms, assumptions and values, as well as the more tangible practices of the organisation which is often a part of the organisation’s formal structure. Madan and Jain (2015) concluded in their research that organisational climate and culture influences the effectiveness of managers particularly in the private sector. Comparatively, Barnes et al. (2006) identified that where personally held values aligned with that of the organisation, employees’ commitment to the organisation and job satisfaction increased. From their study and the analysis


of four hypotheses. Barnes et al. (2006) concluded that a in combination, a stronger culture within an organisation, and strong alignment of personal values with those of the organisation, lead to higher levels of job satisfaction; lower levels of role ambiguity; lower levels of role conflict; and higher levels of commitment to the organisation.

Both Madan and Jain (2015) and Barnes et al. (2006) similarly conclude that, while there are subtle differences between organisational climate and culture, they are in fact more similar than they are different. There is a direct link between organisational climate and culture and the effectiveness of employees and managers.

3.    Practical applications for managers

From the findings within the research studied in this assignment, there are several practical applications for managers to use organisational climate and culture to become more effective. Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) proposes that for managers to use culture as a competitive advantage, they first must know and understand the current culture in place, and then aim to change and shape the culture positively in order to create a competitive edge. This process would be effective in organisations where the organisational climate and culture is having a negative effect and is not managed properly, which, in turn, leads to decreasing work efficiency and creates low satisfaction amongst the organisation’s employees. In this situation, management should focus on reshaping this climate and culture. To do this, management needs to find the causes of the negative energy, and determine what can be implemented in order to turn climate and culture around towards a positive direction.

Furthermore, it is important for managers to align their leadership style with the organisational climate and culture, as misalignment creates confusion, rumours and distracts employees. Managers in an organisation with a strong organisational climate and culture can apply certain artifacts which project the desired values and behaviours consistent with the organisation (Barnes et al. 2006). Another way managers can shape the organisational climate and culture so that it is more effective, is to reshape the structure of the organisation from a conventional vertical top down approach to a more horizontal one. In this way, employees can feel heard, valued and respected (Madan & Jain, 2015).

When managed correctly, organisational climate and culture can be a manager’s greatest asset, and can create an organic breeding ground for positive work ethic and overall satisfaction at work for employees.

4.  Reflection on learning about organisational culture and climate

My independent learning and attendance of lectures broadened my understanding of organisational climate and culture and its impact on managerial effectiveness, as well as on employee effectiveness. Through my research for this task, I gained a more in-depth knowledge about the development and impact of culture within an organisation. Based on my findings in Denison’s (1996) article, I believe that organisational climate and culture are almost interchangeable, in that they are connected and feed off each other. Additionally, an organisation cannot have a climate and culture which oppose each other. Through my research, I have learnt that organisational climate and culture has much more of an impact in the effectiveness of the organisation than I had previously anticipated, which has made me believe that management needs to have more focus on both the organisation’s climate and culture, to ensure that they are not having a negative impact.

Based on the feedback from assessment three, I have changed my primary article to the appropriate one from week ten. I also focused on my referencing to make sure I have paraphrased correctly to ensure I have not plagiarized, and I have correctly included in-text citations and full references, and that these are written in the Harvard Referencing Style.

5.  Conclusion
In conclusion, the research analysed in this paper support the view that a positive organisational climate and culture positively affects the business. Schneider, Ehrhart and Macey (2013) and Denison (1996) defined organisational climate and culture; Madan and Jain (2015) illustrated the impact of organisational climate and culture on managers; and Barnes et al. (2006) specified the relationship between organisational climate and culture with a positive output from employees. Lastly, a summary of literature was presented along with practical applications for managers.
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