What is the organizational culture? Features and components

Culture is something inherent to the human being. Wherever we go, where we settle, we generate culture in one way or another, and the work environment is no exception.

This also extends to the world of business and human organizations and institutions in general, which create their own dynamics of interaction. In this article we will see what is the concept of organizational culture, the different theories that try to explain it, the different types that can be given and above all the practical uses that it has.

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What is the organizational culture? A definition

When a group of people work in the same place and therefore spend a lot of time together, it is logical that a series of customs are established, common experiences are lived and values ​​are shared determined. All of this would make up the organizational culture of that specific company.

It is possible to come across many different names, such as corporate culture, corporate or business culture

. Even administrative or institutional. But the important thing is that they all refer to the same concept.

This cultural process is generated little by little and it does so at all levels, with all the interpersonal relationships that occur in the workplace, and makes all its members feel part of a whole, so it gives them what is known as group identity.

If the individual is comfortable sharing that culture, it is more likely that he will want to continue working in that place and will increase his loyalty to the company. If, on the other hand, he does not feel part of these customs and values, it is most likely that he will abandon the corporation as soon as he gets the chance, if there are no other more powerful factors holding him back there.

Subculture

Anyone with some work experience will know that the most common is that within the office or establishment there is more affinity or simply more physical closeness between certain groups of employees. What facilitates this is that within each of these groups the same phenomenon also occurs, giving rise to organizational subcultures.

It is normal that between colleagues in a specific project, or those who are closer for whatever reasons, stronger bonds begin to be established, established uses, and even use expressions or jokes that outside of that group would be difficult to understand, since external people have not experienced the origin of the themselves. And is that it is very common to use slang and to act in a certain way, which would not be so frequent outside the group.

Theoretical framework

One of the main authors in the field of organizational culture has been Geert Hofstede, social psychologist, with his famous IBM study. Hofstede conducted a survey of no less than 116,000 employees of this company, in 64 different countries.

Thanks to this spectacular sample, he managed to collect an enormous amount of data that, after treating properly, allowed him to establish the five dimensions in which, according to him, the organizational culture moves. Let's see them in more detail.

1. Individualism versus collectivism

This variable refers to the degree to which the corporation attaches more importance to the individual capabilities of each employee than to overall performance as a group. One of the IBM delegations that scored highest in individualism was the US.

In an individualistic company, personal achievements will be valued more while in a collectivist one, the successes of the team will be what I know will be sought above all else. In this second type of organization, much more relevance is given to the hierarchy of the organization chart and the relationships between employees.

2. Distance according to power

It refers to the proximity or distance that is established between the different employees depending on the degree of power they hold within the company. That is, how much is someone different from being a boss compared to his subordinates.

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3. Masculinity versus femininity

This dimension can be controversial today, since our vision regarding gender roles has changed intensely in recent years, but it is very important to keep in mind Note that the study was carried out in 1980 and at that time it was the conception that was had and it was not offensive to anyone since they were the socially accepted values ​​in the epoch. Once this is clarified, we continue to explain what Hofstede defined as masculine and feminine.

This author understands by masculine those values ​​of competitiveness, dominance, independence and assertiveness, with an ego and reward orientation. On the contrary, for the feminine he speaks to us of equality, of caring for others, of more fluid gender roles and with an orientation to relationships between people.

4. Control of uncertainty

At this point, what Geert Hofstede is referring to is how safe or unsafe employees perceive the future, and what is your tolerance for this sensation and your need to control it.

Therefore, if the group scores low on the scale, it will be an indicator that they are enterprising people who have no problem taking certain risks. On the contrary, if a high score is given, surely we are talking about a community that has preference for stability, who follow the rules and who prefer not to experiment with big changes.

5. Orientation in time

In this case what is studied is if the actions carried out in the company are focused on obtaining short, medium or long-term results. It will have a lot to do with the desire to obtain a smaller reward, but soon, or to use all the efforts in a much greater success but that will take much more time. It would be a dichotomy of orientation to the present vs orientation to the future.

6. Indulgence versus restriction

We had said that Hofstede established five dimensions, and it did. But in later studies he decided to add a sixth and final variable. What he studies is the degree to which impulses are unleashed or attempted to control them.

In this way he found great differences between societies such as Australia, where there would be more indulgence, compared to others such as China or Russia, in which greater restriction would be observed.

Types of organizational culture

The most frequently used typology to study this concept allows us to distinguish between strong culture and weak culture.

1. Strong culture

It is the one in which the members of the organization agree with the values ​​that your company defends, and therefore share its beliefs. It would occur in all the members of the group.

In these corporations there is often what is known as groupthink, a concept of the psychologist Irving Janis. It refers to the fact that as there is a high degree of cohesion between colleagues, it is much more likely that there will be unanimity with the general thinking of the organization, making it difficult for opinions to arise different.

This is easier if you have a strong group identity or if you have a charismatic leader at the helm.

2. Weak culture

It happens when This coincidence does not occur and therefore the company makes an imposition of the values ​​on its employees, that they would be unconvinced about them. These organizations are characterized by strong control over all procedures.

In this case, divergent positions of organizational thinking will be more frequent, hence greater control must be exercised. There is no commitment of the person to the company, or it is very weak.

Features

Although we have already seen several, we are going to make a list of the main functions carried out by the organizational culture in the company.

1. Integration and motivation

It makes each member feel part of a whole, of a family, and this will make the person consider the needs of the company as their own and motivate you for higher performance and goal achievement.

It is especially useful for the incorporation of new members of the staff, since if the organizational culture is adequate, it will quickly they will feel integrated as a member of the community, even if they have only been in the company for a short time.

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2. Control

It is a form of control of the corporation over its workers, since it establishes what is the direction of thought of the group, which all of them must adopt if they want to feel like members of the group. same. Thus they mold the individual and tell him, subtly or not, how he should behave in the workplace.

3. Identity

It not only gives a group feeling, but also differentiates it from the rest of the organizations, making employees feel theirs as unique and special compared to others.

4. Stability

Therefore, it is a way to generate stability in the company, so that it is less problems incidents arise among workers that affect the corporation.

Bibliographic references:

• Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values, Beverly Hills, United States of America. Sage Publications.
• Hernández-Bernadett, J., Rodríguez-Olivas, M.A., Valdez-Rodríguez, B.E., (2019). Perception of Organizational Culture and Leadership in a Higher Education Institution. Chihuahua, Mexico. Technological Awareness.
• Robbins, S.P., (2004). Organizational behavior. Mexico City, Mexico. Pearson Education.