Organizational Culture

Abstracts

This paper comprehensively examines the interaction of an organizational culture (OC) and organizational performance (OP). To demonstrate how OC influences OP, an applicable and appropriate model named Denison Organizational Culture Model will be applied. It evaluates an organization’s culture strengths and weaknesses, and analyzes culture aspects which determine organizational performance in terms of profit, sales growth rate, market share, product quality, innovation level and degree of job satisfaction. The model indicates four major features of an organizational culture and explains OC’s significant impacts on OP. A strong OC can be described with high employee involvement, harmonious consistency, agile adaptability, and widely shared mission. With reciprocities these features, OP is influenced in different aspects and extents. The overall performance of the organization, combining those aspects together, could be improved for better effectiveness, efficiency and productivity. This model can assist managers to acquaint themselves better with OC, guide them to develop positive functions and influence of OC, which ultimately forms a common shared OC system and improve full-scale OP. Denison Organizational Culture Model was applied in the real case of a Chinese corporation, Tsingtao Brewery, assist it to establish a strong and suitable system of organizational culture, which contributes to the company’s performance improving and competitive advantages.

Keywords:

Involvement, adaptability, consistency, mission, openness, innovation, harmony, honesty

Basic Concept: Organizational Culture

Organizational culture, sometimes also referred to as corporation culture, is regarded as “the soul of an organization” by a number of managers and scholars. There are various definitions of the term “Organizational Culture”. An extensively accepted one is that it is the generally formed culture in organizations, which contains values, beliefs, traditions and other relevant aspects that reveal the organization’s specific characteristic, and shared by its members. These shared values and beliefs may form a set of clear and specific behavior norms of the organization, which can be applied in problem-solving process and standardize the performance of organization members. An organizational culture essentially constrains some vital elements. It provides the organization with clear visions, and those supporting values are consistent with organizations’’ goals and reconcile with the personal values of organizational member. In that case, high values are applied to organizations’ members in comprehensive degrees and there is wide interaction among members to some different degrees.

How a strong OC impact OP: Denison