Organizational Culture Paper Example

What was the impact of culture change activities?

Culture change initiatives played a significant towards the sustainability of Arts Council England by increasing proper management, reducing the duplication of artwork and other activities which increased the overall cost and more importantly streamlined the organization management. Better management in Arts Council England increased third-party confidence especially by the local authorities and other partners which improved the organization participation in different artistic activities while improving revenue for all the groups that makes up the council. Before the partnership initiative the organization was experiencing leadership breakdown which reduces the organizational efficiency and also erodes the organization trust and third-party confidentiality (Galpin, Whitttington, and Bell 2015). The problem to be dealt with in this case was Art Council's organizational culture. There was poor coordination due to rapid consolidation of conflicting cultures and styles of leadership. This is what led to process inconsistencies and accountability issues. Additionally, it caused leadership struggles among the various departments.

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The organizational style became based on competition and the emphasis on departmental outperformance became the unifying factor in the organization. At the same time, the prevailing culture became a divisive market culture in which leaders became producers, hard drivers and rivals at the same time. There was a need to restructure the organization's ethos into an inclusive one by developing an organizational structure and culture that supported cooperation and commitment. Unifying the organization by setting an encompassing body of values, goals and objectives became necessary. Arts Council England also needed to rewrite its vision, one which was shared among the various regional departments. In order to achieve this objective, the organization initiated a culture change program that involved expansive input from all staff. Coordination of this change program was achieved by establishing various teams to execute specific goals. It also transitioned into a clan culture that involved collaboration and accountability. There was also a fresh commitment in leadership to the new values that were being enacted. While the execution of the culture change took a long time, it had firm and long-lasting effects. It embedded the essence of the new culture among employees at all levels and created an organization-wide understanding of Art Council England's values. The recommended remedy was therefore appropriate. It remedied not only the misunderstanding on the organizational culture but also augmented support for the new system. There was also collaborative partnership throughout the organization, which benefitted external stakeholders and has led to positive feedback (De Dreu et al., 2017).

Right Boss, Wrong Company

What factors should have alerted Kesmer to the problems that eventually came up at Fancy Footwear?

Kesmer's new management approach was viewed by many employees negatively because it changed an organization culture without involving the employees and managers in the initial planning of the new management approach. Kesmer should have been alerted by the reluctance of her employees to volunteer for management group positions. The senior employees in Fancy Footwear who had been with the organization for many years discredited Kesmer's approach by refusing to join the new organization group's leadership positions. This indicates that Kesmer's problem was in the hasty implementation of participative management. Kesmer should stop viewing participative management as an end in itself but as a tool for achieving managerial goals. Additionally, Kesmer should recognize that participative management is not the same as delegating responsibility (Daniels 2017). She should have considered the views of the employees, especially those that had been with the company for long. Most of the employees and leaders in the organization who had enjoyed freedom in how they handled the organization activities felt that the new approach was creating a new strategy which they were not comfortable with. Some of the leaders who were experiencing little supervision in Mr. Worthy tenure had to resign because they viewed the new group leadership roles to do the bidding of the new, inexperienced manager as belittling to their status and their experience with the organization.

Could Kesmer have instituted her changes without eliciting an adverse reaction from the workers? If so, how

Kesmer should have instituted her changes slowly over time by relying on the opinions and input of her staff members. Kesmer should have defined, built a foundation, aligned the new culture with the old culture and managed the changes in culture to ensure a sustainable organizational culture change in Fancy Footwear. She should have retained some aspects of the former organizational culture as well since they form the crux of the staff's motivation. A new cultural approach and management plan is a significant shift in the organization culture and no matter how good it can cause considerable discomfort especially to the managers and the employees who are used to the old culture and management approach. In this case, Kesmer approach was abrupt and did not entirely involve the sentiments of the other managers in the organization. Therefore, to ensure the success of the new organizational culture, Kesmer should have created awareness and educated the senior managers on the importance and reason for the new management approach. Most of the resistance that was faced by Kesmer was because the top management felt threatened by the new management approach whereas the employees felt uneasy by direct supervision and high management involvement. However, familiarization of the administration with the new culture and educating the employees the importance of the new culture could have improved the management and the employee's reception of the culture (Galpin, Whitttington, and Bell 2015).

Surviving Plant World's Hard Times

How would you describe the organizational culture at Plant World?

Plant World has a clan culture which is featured by a friendly family-like environment where the organization activities are handled from a group approach and all the employees are completely engaged and supportive to their leader vision (Arditi, Nayak, and Damci 2017). Plant World's organizational culture is a clan culture played a significant role in the organization survival after the Mall project failed. This culture is characterized by long-term human resource development and strong bonds among colleagues. The working environment of the organization is, and personnel has a lot in common. There is excellent involvement between Ong and her employees and the organization is held together by loyalty. This culture may have to change, however, depending on how large the organization grows. The organization employees view the leader as their mentor, and their engagement is longterm and beyond the organization activities which is indicated by Ong high involvement in the employee's families welfare. Communication is very useful in this type of organizational culture with empowerment an team building activities like sports teams being used to further develop employees relations and bonding (Wei, Samiee, and Lee 2014).

How large can such a company get before it needs to change its culture and structure?

If offices are established in other locations, it may be difficult to maintain the "family" atmosphere of the company. Such an organization would need restructuring regarding the leadership style and the culture. As Plant World grows, Ong will need to transition to a market culture to keep up with market competition and maintain profitability. Large organizations cannot use the clan culture approach because as the number of employees grows individual relationships between the employees and the management becomes challenging to manage and could reduce the organization productivity. Large organizations require market-based culture where the organization emphasizes on getting the set activities and deadlines met. In this case, the organization will be profit based to ensure sustainability and effective management. Whereas a small organization like Plant World can enjoy the laxity of giving the employees freedom and choice in the long term, it erodes respect and reduces task completion within the organization. Therefore, a market-based culture would be more effective in ensuring the organization remains productive and the chain of command stays intact without organization decision-making processes being hindered by individual relationships with the employees (Arditi, Nayak, and Damci 2017).

References

Arditi, D., Nayak, S. and Damci, A., 2017. Effect of organizational culture on delay inconstruction. International Journal of Project Management, 35(2), pp.136-147.

Daniels, G.M., 2017. The Effects of Culture Constructs Learning, Power, Identity and Conflict on Individual and Team Performance in a Fortune 500 Company. Benedictine University.

De Dreu, C.K., Kluwer, E.S., Euwema, M.S. and Van der Vegt, G.S., 2017. Conflict and culture across time and space: Work and legacy of Evert van de Vliert. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 10(2), pp.141-152.

Galpin, T., Whitttington, J.L. and Bell, G., 2015. Is your sustainability strategy sustainable? Creating a culture of sustainability. Corporate Governance, 15(1), pp.1-17.

Wei, Y.S., Samiee, S. and Lee, R.P., 2014. The influence of organic organizational cultures, market responsiveness, and product strategy on firm performance in an emerging market. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 42(1), pp.49-70.