Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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bureaucracy (Salaman, 2000). Therefore employees function with few
rules, policies and procedures (Kane-Urrabazo, 2006), although this means
that employees need to share the same vision and values as those in
charge of the organisation.
The greatest strength of this culture is its ability to react quickly to
changes, but a large drawback is that their success depends largely upon
the abilities of the person or people at the centre of the organisation
recognising the need for change. Therefore, should those at the top of the
hierarchy (or the centre of the web) not recognise the need for change
quickly, or the change implemented is inappropriate, it could cause
problems for the whole of the organisation. Additionally, size within the
organisation can be a problem when one of the strands of the web breaks
(Brown, 1998). As such organisations with a power culture are threatened
by the increasing size of the firm and the death or departure of central
figures (Salaman, 2000). This could mean that the organisation is spread
over too large an area for recovery and organisational effectiveness and
efficiency could be greatly affected. However, these organisations are
usually tough and abrasive and more interested in the ends than the
means used to get there. Employees who are confident about the use of
power and unconcerned about taking risks to find the end results will
often thrive, but failure to recruit appropriate personnel may lead to
lowered morale and high levels of middle management turnover.
Therefore it is seen that there is no place for the individual if they do not
‘fit’ the organisation.
1a.2) The Role Culture
Handy depicts the role culture as a Greek temple, the
personification of a classic bureaucracy which acquires its strength
through functions, specialities, rules and procedures. These speciality
functions can be thought of as a number of pillars which are co-ordinated
and controlled by a small number of senior executives, e.g. represented
by the roof above the pillars (Brown, 1998). Handy described this culture