HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE - Fichier PDF

314 ❚ Organizational behaviourgood culture is consistent in its components and shared amongst organizationalmembers, and it makes the organization unique, thus differentiating it from otherorganizations’.However, a high-performance culture means little more than any culture that willproduce a high level of business performance. The attributes of cultures vary tremendouslyby context. The qualities of a high-performance culture for an establishedretail chain, a growing service business and a consumer products company that islosing market share may be very different. Further, in addition to context differences,all cultures evolve over time. Cultures that are ‘good’ in one set of circumstances orperiod of time may be dysfunctional in different circumstances or different times.Because culture is developed and manifests itself in different ways in differentorganizations, it is not possible to say that one culture is better than another, only thatit is dissimilar in certain ways. There is no such thing as an ideal culture, only anappropriate culture. This means that there can be no universal prescription formanaging culture, although there are certain approaches that can be helpful, asdescribed in the next section.SUPPORTING AND CHANGING CULTURESWhile it may not be possible to define an ideal structure or to prescribe how it can bedeveloped, it can at least be stated with confidence that embedded cultures exertconsiderable influence on organizational behaviour and therefore performance. Ifthere is an appropriate and effective culture it would be desirable to take steps tosupport or reinforce it. If the culture is inappropriate, attempts should be made todetermine what needs to be changed and to develop and implement plans forchange.Culture analysisIn either case, the first step is to analyse the existing culture. This can be done throughquestionnaires, surveys and discussions in focus groups or workshops. It is oftenhelpful to involve people in analysing the outcome of surveys, getting them toproduce a diagnosis of the cultural issues facing the organization and participate inthe development and implementation of plans and programmes to deal with anyissues. This could form part of an organizational development programme asdescribed in Chapter 24. Groups can analyse the culture through the use of measurementinstruments. Extra dimensions can be established by the use of group exercisessuch as ‘rules of the club’ (participants brainstorm the ‘rules’ or norms that govern