Organization Culture - what is it?

Organization Culture – What is it?

Management and its functions:
A good Manager is one, who gets the work done by others, instead of doing that work himself. So, he should be thorough with the art of extracting what he wants from others. This can be possible only with deep concentration, focusing to new and innovative ideas, presence of mind and above all, storing as much knowledge, one can fill up to the brim.
Managerial function –especially that of Human Resource - warrants multiple roll performance –
Judge, advocate, consultant, arbitrator, bargainer, negotiator, mediator, financial analyst/planner, go-getter, navigator and alerter on simmering troubles to the management on the one hand
And on the other - psychiatrist, mentor, drill-master, disciplinarian, guide, trainer, orator, writer, teacher, guardian and parent to employees.
Different Objectives of Organizations:
Vital for any organization, to come into existence, are 3 Ms – Man, Machine and Money. The last two can be acquired or generated, but the first one is to be cultivated and managed, towards fulfillment of the organizational objectives. The objective or motive of the organizations can be classified as follows:
1) Commercial - to make profit
2) Social service – to serve the humanity at large.
Again, the above classifications may be enlarged widely, but suffice it to say, any organization is a combination of human beings, with flesh, blood and brain.



Organizational culture:
The culture of the organization stems out of its objective mainly, and spreads over its members’ brain strength. It should be understood clearly, that the organizational culture is nothing but the culture of the society, its majority members belong. An American organization can only have American culture, as viewed and perceived by other nations of the world. It can never be a British, African or Asian culture.
But, there are fundamental elements of any culture – politeness, kindness, ethics, peaceful co-existence and respect to elders – in any society universally. So, the organizational culture cannot obviate any of the above qualities, under any circumstances. Within this frame work, the unique culture of the organization is to be nurtured and expressed, to achieve the ultimate goals of the organization.
The power of youth: How to tap it?
Invariably, any organization is built upon the younger generation, to start with, and even age-old organizations are necessitated to inculcate the youth in their stream, to sustain the activities. Thinking of the youth, teamed as an organization, the following potentialities are there for the management to tap from –
a) bubbling energy – use it to the extent possible towards organizational goals
b) rush of blood - for quickly finishing immediate tasks
c) urge to try anything at least once – useful for experimenting new vistas
d) speed – divert it in the right direction of achieving team work
e) aggression – channel it to win competition
f) inexperience – mould it with substance for future use
While doing so, care should be taken to bear in mind, the following basics –
1) they are transacting with fellow human beings of distinct entity
2) nobody bears it, when the self-respect is punctured
3) show willingness to be attentive, both by body language and facial expressions, when hearing them out
4) never forget, to find out the plusses for praising publicly and when pulling out for short-comings, do so privately
5) the last thing the youth wants to hear is advice – avoid them
6) instead, the same effect can be brought forth in subtle and sugar-coated words
7) never compare the person with anybody or anything, when talking
The Art of bringing theory into practice:
Educational institutions world-wide, are sending out millions of graduates every year. But only a fraction, come up the ladder and shine. Equal opportunity is given to every student and not all of them utilize it fully – like the rain showers equally, but only the cultivable land gets benefited most. Lack of application of the wisdom imparted to them in day-to-day life, is the cause.
The curriculum is so designed, to show the student the way to go, wherever he wants. It is for the student to have the knowledge as the walking stick and walk steadily towards his destination. For example, at the time of learning to ride a bicycle, so many instructions are given – sit straight, get the handle bar in grip, look forward, balance your weight equally etc. Once learnt and practiced (with bruises and scratches of course), all sorts of postures and balancing are adopted freely and the riding goes smoothly, with no more failing. How? Think over it. A cook can elaborate the recipe with minute details and assure you a delicious dish. But, when cooking with your own hands, you will feel the pinch, irrespective of meticulously following the guidelines. After all these sweating, you feel elated when others praise your outcome and forget every difficulty you underwent. Right?
Likewise, putting forth your knowledge and wisdom into whatever you do on day-to-day life, improvising your own methods based on the principles you were taught to try relentlessly, till you accomplish success would surely lift you towards perfection. Doing a job is one thing, but doing it excellently is something else. There is vast difference between the two. That is how some are called experts, while others are not. It is not important what job you do, but how efficiently and effectively you do it matters much. No job on this earth is mean, so far as you do it with devotion, applying your mind whole-heartedly. A job well done gives you immense pleasure and self satisfaction, immeasurable in any currency.
Conclusion:
Summing up, whatever organization you are in, as part of management, you must --
a) Understand, absorb and adopt the objective of the organization, in your
vision and deeds.
b) Observe keenly around you, for augmenting your knowledge of the organizational
culture
c) Drive everything and everybody, towards achieving the goals set by the
organization untiringly and
d) Tap the power of youth, in the right way in all your endeavors, towards fulfillment
of the commitments undertaken, without deviating from the organizational culture.

By so doing you will be rendering justice to the trust and confidence placed by the management on you.