Management in Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Management in Organisations - Essay Example Culture can be explained as the values, norms, beliefs and behaviours manifested by the employees and the management (Schein 1993). Subculture on the other hand refers to groups within an organisation with similar ideas and ways of doing things. A strong organisational culture has considerable benefits to the organisation although it can be a liability since it hinders flexibility in adapting to changes. Organisation culture and subcultures play an important role in organisations and they work best when they are maintained and at the same time aligned according to the changes in the dynamic business environment. Subcultures allow the organisations to respond appropriately to the situation at hand without destroying internal consistency (Schein 1993). They provide flexibility that a rigid culture may inhibit. It is interesting to note that organisations with an effective overall culture prevent the emergence of subcultures. Recent studies have shown that subcultures detract from sturd y organisational cultures. This leads to the conclusion that subcultures possess specific aspects that can enhance the entire organisation culture. Subcultures differ in the levels at which they interrupt the arching culture in an organisation. They often result in response to varying demands and act as outlets for the staff to express opposition and presence of conflicts arising during unstable periods. They also offer a system of changing the less fundamental values in an organisation. They are important with respect to affecting key values since they illustrate the difficulties encountered in trying to transform organisational culture. There are different perspectives and theories of culture in various disciplines that have been applied in organisational studies (Bradley and Pridmore 2006). These theories are mainly based on sociology and anthropology and they have contributed to the development of theories in the education field as well. Sociology takes a functionalist perspecti ve that interprets culture as something an organisation owns. On the other hand, anthropology takes an intreprevist perspective and describes culture as a symbol for organisations (views organisations as being cultures). In spite of the varying perspectives of organisational culture, common grounds exist on various areas. The most common organisation culture theory is that by Edgar Schein (1988). Edgar H. Schein’s Model of Organisational Culture This is the most commonly used theory in organisational culture. It takes a functionalist perspective in describing culture. According to this approach, culture is explained as a model of basic assumptions formulated and developed by a group of people as it discovers how to cope with its problems. These problems occur in integration and external adaptation that has proven its effectiveness and is taught to any newcomers in the organisation as the best way to act, perceive and feel in relation to their work and other happenings (Jones, Cline and Ryan 2007). According to this perspective, cultural examination is important when handling aspects in organisation that are found to be delicate, embarrassing, intractable or frustrating. The truth is that if the leaders are not well versed with the cultures in which they operate, then culture steps in to manage them as explained by Miller (2008). This theory also states that members in an organisation may fit in subcultures. In Schein’