Organisation Culture - Week 4

Organisation culture is what gives a business its own identity. There are visible aspects of organisation culture and hidden aspects of organisation culture within a business. The visible aspects are the things that customers and other people see for example the uniform worn by staff at HSBC Bank plc. This presents a smart image of the organisation and staff can be easily identified as customers walk into HSBC branches. The other visible aspects are things like the language used by employees when they deal with clients and the professional way staff behave. The hidden aspects of organisation culture are the things that customers and other people do not see and only the employees know about such as being disciplined for not speaking with respect to customers and the standards the company expects from its staff to behave in a professional way so that the reputation of the company is not affected. From work experience at HSBC Bank, these were some of the things that I experienced. The high standards set by HSBC are the shared values expected from employees.

Charles Handy’s model suggested 4 main types of corporate culture:

The Power Culture



This is power that is influenced by a central figure within an organisation. This type of culture is usually found in small organisations such as family run businesses. In this type of culture power and decision making is controlled by few people which others have to implement. It is hard for people outside the “family network” to influence events. Power Culture relies on trust and personal communication.

The Role Culture



This type of culture is usually found in organisations like government departments, local authorities and public utilities etc. It is like a Greek Temple with the apex of the pyramid being where decisions are made. The pillars of the temple are the functional units of the business which have to implement the decisions that are made in the apex. This type of culture is run by a paper system of job descriptions, procedures and rules with the job description being more important than the skills and abilities of people. This culture is also known as being bureaucratic.

The Task Culture



This type of culture is usually found in team based projects and organisations involved in research and development. Because these type of organisations are changing quickly they have to create temporary task teams to meet future needs. This team culture is based on expertise and up to date information. In these organisations the task is the important thing and not the individual.

A Person Culture



This type of culture is found in law firms and chartered surveyors/architect firms. In these organisations there is no hierarchy and individuals together determine the path the organisation should take.

Problems of trying to classify culture into one of the four types described by Charles Handy

It is difficult to classify culture into just one type for an organisation. For example HSBC Bank use role culture with major decisions being made at the top of the organisation and employees have job descriptions and are told what to do. The organisation may also have task culture where people are involved in team based projects. There are usually different cultures within an organisation and not just one type.

Company that demonstrates a strong culture

I believe that HSBC Bank Plc demonstrates a strong role culture. This company works hard to be successful not just in the UK but globally. The current recession has meant some banks have been helped by the government, whereas HSBC has not asked for help. This is because HSBC has been built into a global brand through high standards and shared values expected from employees.

http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/

Conclusion

From this research, I found that businesses develop by using different cultures. Culture gives an organisation its own identity e.g. “who we are”, “what we stand for”, “and how should we behave”. Culture is the “glue” that holds an organisation together.

Reference list:

Charles Handy [online]. Available from: http://www.businessballs.com/charleshandy.htm [Accessed 17 February 2010].

Organisational culture [online]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture [Accessed 17 February 2010].

Culture - Handy [online]. Available from: http://www.lindsay-sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_overview/05_culture_handy.htm [Accessed 19 February 2010].

BPR and Organisational Culture [online]. Available from: http://www.managingchange.com/bpr/bprcult/3culture.htm [Accessed 20 February 2010].