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Foundations Of Senior Management | | |
  Structure & Culture
 Structure
Not only the organisational chart, but the
mechanics of interaction such as
meetings, budgetary cycles and formal
procedures.
Culture
Deal & Kennedy (1982) - the way things get
done around here.
In one sense the structure does embody an
organisations culture in its broadest sense.
However, organizational culture usually
refers to the less tangible aspects of an
organizations way of doing things and in
particular the shared cognitive,
interpersonal and value orientations of its
members. (Shared 'mental programming')
In the 1980s, the idea that the culture of
an organization was important became
widely accepted and influential. The
ideas basic premise is that a strong
organizational culture means that
everyone knows how things are done and
so there is little or no need for any tight
structuring of activities, that is via
detailed formal plans and procedures.
A tight or strong organizational culture
means that loose or more implicit
structuring is possible. Conversely if
culture control is weak and if the
organization is going to survive in
economic terms then activities (sub-tasks) are more likely to be tightly
structured.
Because culture is not just the way we
do things but also a shared interpretation
of events and shared expectation of
behaviour , it is frequently maintained
that a strong organizational culture
significantly increases the potential for
the flexibility and fast responses that are
considered necessary in a rapidly
changing environment.
Culture can be very important - but it is
certainly not simple. A lot seems to
depend on what you are trying to do
(task), how you accomplish it
(technology), how you align your
organization with its market (strategy
and environment) and on what scale you
are trying to do it.
Please send your comments to webmaster@churcher.com. This document was updated 17/11/98. 
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