Organizational culture appears in how the organization's personality and vision are expressed. Strategies to develop this culture succeed, and the organization acquires a healthy work environment and smoother employee orientation, which increases innovation and productivity.
In this paper, I will discuss two research papers, one of which is a relatively recent dialogue for the scientist (Edgar Schein), on the occasion of the fifth edition of the book Organizational Culture and its Changes, three decades after the first edition (Darling, 2017), the second paper relies a lot on what was stated in this latest edition of the book in addition to research on organizational culture (Groysberg, Lee, Price & Cheng, 2018). Finally, I will apply this to the organization concerned with the study, Bechtel Corporation.
Modern Standards in Organizational Culture
In 2017, when a question asked scientist (Edgar Schein) about what the organizational culture should be in the current era and what has changed from the previous one? he answered that leaders now deal not only with the abstract organizational culture of the company itself but this culture is intertwined with a mixture of more complex cultures, as national, career and personal cultures. It has identified several criteria that leaders should follow (Darling, 2017); these criteria are:
Keeping Pace with Change:
He said that if the leader discovers that his/her organization's products are no longer working in the current market as they were in the past, the leader must keep pace with the change even if he/she is forced to change the company's organizational culture, which has been rooted in over the years (Darling, 2017).
Thinking Independence:
According to Schein, the savior leader should have the autonomy to walk away from the old culture of the board of directors. The board of directors may be averse to change, as (Carly Fiorina) did when she managed HP (Hewlett-Packard), and she changed its organizational culture to take it to the desired success (John, 2021).
Freedom from Restrictions:
Building a new strategy to change the organizational culture requires liberation from the constraints of any old organizational culture that is no longer valid, so the new plan can be implemented (Darling, 2017).
Strategies to Create a New Organizational Culture
Annotated Bibliography: The leaders' guide to corporate culture (Groysberg, Lee, Price & Cheng, 2018).
This ideal research paper analyzed the organizational cultures of 230 global companies and the leadership styles of 1300 international managers. It relied on the theories of great scholars in organizational culture, most notably (Edgar Schein). The paper concluded that a new organizational culture can be achieved through several steps, the first of which is to explain the ambitious plan to the members of the organization; this is by analyzing the old strategies and explaining why the old organizational culture did not match the market conditions and the expected production and what are the appropriate alternatives.
Then comes the second step by choosing the leaders of change or what (Edgar Schein) calls "the climate of practice," and they are the leaders who are compatible with the current strategies and create a vital climate for the success of these strategies. The third step is to emphasize the importance of change by conducting organizational conversations through presentations, listening tours, and practical group discussions. The last step is to promote change through organizational redesign by adjusting the degree of centralization and the number of hierarchical levels in the organizational structure. To train old leaders who do not favor change, individuals who obstruct change can be asked to leave.
The application on Bechtel Corporation
According to (Denton, 2016), the company went through many revolutions in its organizational culture according to the events and variables over 124 years; before the Great Depression in 1929, the organization was self-reliant without external partnerships, but due to its inability to pay the bonding insurance of the Hoover Dam project in 1931, which amounted to 2 million dollars, Bechtel was forced to change this culture and join other companies that were competitors in the market. When the company's business extended outside the United States, the organizational culture began to take shape according to the environment in which it operates, such as its projects in Europe and the Arabian Gulf.
Conclusion
Investing in organizational culture has a significant impact on an organization's prosperity. The new culture motivates employees and increases their innovation. Employees feel supported and able to perform better through a flexible organizational culture that changes according to modernity's requirements (John, 2021).
References
Darling, J. (2017). Aligning strategy, culture, and leadership. People & Strategy, 40(2), 64-67. Retrieved from EBSCO Multi-search in the TUW Library.
Denton, S. (2016). The Profiteers: Bechtel and the Men Who Built the World. Simon and Schuster.
Groysberg, B., Lee, J., Price, J., & Cheng, J., Y. (2018). The leaders' guide to corporate culture. Harvard Business Review, 96(1), 44-52. Retrieved from EBSCO Multi-search in the Touro Library.
John, D. L. (2021). Company culture is everyone's responsibility. Harvard Business Digital Articles, 1-8. Retrieved from EBSCO Multi-search in the TUW Library.