Organizational culture in a smaller scale refers to the basic values, beliefs and the thought process of a set of people/groups within an organization. It also symbolizes the functioning and behavior of the organization itself on a broader perspective.
It is very essential to understand the culture of an organization in order for each individual and the company to have a healthy progression.
At the onset, the organizational culture can be broadly classified into a Strong Culture or a Weak Culture. Here it is important to note that strong does not signify “preferred’ and weak to be the bad option. In fact both these cultures have its share of pros and cons.
A strong organizational culture refers to an organization which has the majority of people holding the same set of core beliefs and is tightly coupled with the procedures and norms followed at an organizational level. Here people tend to align their individual goals and are usually seen following these procedures and norms stated within the organization without much qualms.
Key advantages of a strong organizational culture:
• It becomes very easy to deliver as a team.
• Team conflicts are minimal and can also increase efficiency and productivity
• People find it very easy to fit in and follow all of the organizational procedures set
• Communication becomes simple and straight forward
While this seems to be a good fit, there are some inherent disadvantages with this style
• People become resistant to change
• Improvement and innovation has very little scope, since there is no room for free thinking
• Any new member to this type of organization, having a different set of beliefs will find it very tough to fit into this world.
In today’s cross cultural trend, where we have so many people from various parts of the world with different beliefs and values, being a part of a single large organization, it becomes a huge challenge to fit them all within an organization which has its roots tied to a very strong culture.
