Definition of organisational culture

Organisational culture is defined as the way in which members of an organisation relate to

each other, their work and the outside world in organisation to other organisations.
Organisational culture consists of individuals originating from various backgrounds, with
different educational qualifications and interests but unite to combine their skills to form an
organisation. According to Ravasi and Schults (2006) organisational culture are a set of
shared assumptions and beliefs that will guide organisations in a range of situations but
identifying and specifying appropriate behaviour.
Culture is important within an organisational setting because essentially this will have an
influence on the individuals behaviour furthermore will affect the way individuals interact
with each other in the work place.

Types of organisational culture

There are various types of culture. The ones Ive chosen to discuss are power culture, role
culture and task culture.
If a business employs a power culture, managers will place an emphasis of remaining in
control. Decisions are made by one individual or a number of members are consulted and
then reach a decision. Due to the nature, power cultures are more likely to be found in smaller
organisations rather than large organisations as such firms would require more than a small
number of individuals who are permitted to make decisions. In addition, decisions can be
made very quickly as there is very little consultation but on the other hand this could function
as a limitation as little or no consultation will mean that firms are not able to use the expertise
and knowledge of their workforce to their advantage and this could see a fall in staff
motivation possibly resulting in a high staff turnover.
If an organisation abides by the role culture individuals will be assigned a specific job or role
which is specified in the job description setting out the tasks they are responsible for. The
benefit of a role culture is that large organisations are able to distribute tasks among their
employees and are able to cover important tasks without overcrossing each other. A role
culture is useful for specialist roles such as sales, marketing and project management and the
firm would seek to increase productivity levels as each person has expertise in this field of
work. Such a culture may not be best suited for organisations with small number of
employees who are all expected to take on various roles.

If an organisation follows a task culture it means the organisation value the importance of
forming teams to complete tasks to the required standards, especially if the objective has a
number of steps. For instance, teams may be created prior to a project and these teams will be
set specific tasks and objectives to work towards to within a set timescale and budget. The
major strength of a task culture is that staff motivation levels are very likely to be high as
employees will feel valued as theyve been the opportunity to make decisions within their
team and their final results will reflect their efforts.

Why is culture important within organisations?

Establishing a culture within an organisation is very important as this will determine how
employees interact and communicate at their place of work. Organisational culture also helps
to maintain the motivational levels of employee thus producing high quality work as theyd
feel a high sense of accomplishment for being a member of an organisation they respect. In
addition, this could mean employees are more likely to remain loyal to the organisation.
Another benefit of having a good culture is that it promotes competition among workers as
employees will work to their best ability in order to receive appreciation and recognition from
management and perhaps gain a promotion as a result of their hard work, and this is also
likely to increase the quality of their work.

Creating and sustaining a positive culture?

People Matter
There are various methods of creating a positive culture. Firstly, sourcing the right candidates
for the workplace is critical in creating a positive working environment. Some companies
recognize the importance and spend a considerable amount of time on attracting and
developing individuals who they believe to have the right values and attitude. Companies
such as Google pride themselves in creating such a positive atmosphere; for instance, Google
provides employees with complimentary lunches. Google sees their lengthy but healthy
waiting time for lunch as a strategy which has been designed to encourage innovation amidst
workers. (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/perks-for-employees-and-howgoogle-changed-the-way-we-work-while-waiting-in-line-8830243.html - accessed on the 9th
of September 2015) Dan Cobley who is the leading managing director admitted at a
conference in London that the queue for lunch at the company are kept long on purpose
because it is quite obvious that individuals will socialize and talk whist in the queue, giving

them an opportunity to raise ideas and turn these ideas into projects. This shows that Google
values employees and their ideas as this forms the organization.
Another way in creating a sustaining a positive culture is through the exchange of positive
message regularly and this can change and shape an organization very quickly. The results of
an experiment taken place in 2010 which had two separate groups and one of the groups were
a shown a little monologue about compassionate behavior and compared it to the other group
who didnt hear anything at all. The results showed that a little clip was able to change the
workplace behavior indicating that leaders are able to have a positive impact on
organizational behavior.
A major way of sustaining a positive culture is by implementing an employee feedback system which
enables workers to provide feedback regarding various factors. The management is then made aware
of the feedback, takes into consideration and responds

Definition of business structure:

Every single organization will have a management structure which determines relationships
with functions, setting out positions, responsibilities and permission to authorize defined
tasks and Ill begin to explain these in further detail.
An organsiational structure serves to allocate responsibilities the charts found within an
organization will determine what actions each member is expected to carry out. Allocation of
responsibility is essential for coordination as it minimizes the risk of wastage of resources
which could have been avoided. There is sufficient evidence which suggests that there may
be confusion and insufficient motivation and as a result of not enough clarity regarding their
role. . (Organisational Behaviour by Mirza S. Saiyadain)
Another purpose of an organsiational structure is that it establishes relationships, in simpler
words it helps identify who should report to whom. In order for coordination to be useful a
supervisor will need to monitor individuals to make sure they are doing exactly what they
have been assigned to do. (Organisational Behaviour by Mirza S. Saiyadain)
Finally, once positions and roles have been established and allocated the supervisor will gain
the authority to punish individuals for insufficient work or for completing a task and failing
to reach the required standard. A supervisor can also reward individuals who have excelled
expectation and both of these can motivate employees to ensure they are meeting the goals
and expectations set by the organisation. (Organisational Behaviour by Mirza S. Saiyadain)

There are two main organisational structures and these are: Tall and Flat structures and each
of these carry different views and perceptions from individuals. Some people see a tall
structure much more effective than a flat structure. Each of these has their strengths and
limitations. Firstly, a tall structure has a closer control of subordinates and provides a clear
line of responsibility and steps of promotion. However a flat structure has been said to have a
better control as it takes a personal interest in the development of employees.
(Organisational Behaviour by Maha Narain Mishra) As a tall structure has too many levels,
communicating ideas or complaints may be a time consuming process which may affect the
progress of decision making. If the workers are fully aware of their responsibilities and roles,
then perhaps the tall structure isnt the most suitable however when employees do not behave
appropriately unless they have been warned, then the tall structure would be most effective.
(Organisational Behaviour by Maha Narain Mishra) The flat structure is an efficient tool in
motivating individuals and is most effective when workers are active and productive.

John Lewis Culture

John Lewis prides themselves in creating an admired brand in the UK for almost 100 years.
John Lewis have stated on their website (http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/about/ourprinciples.html - accessed on the 9th of September 2015) that their ultimate purpose is the
happiness of all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a
successful business. And from this we can infer that John Lewis recognises the importance of
job satisfaction and keeping their employees happy and proud to be part of such a great
business. In addition, John Lewis employees are also referred to as partners meaning that
the members share the responsibility of ownership, knowledge in the decisions and this will
help maintain or create loyalty as members will feel closely involved. The partnership has
also claimed to aim to deal honestly with its customers and secure their loyalty and trust by
providing outstanding choice, value and service.
(http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/about/our-principles.html - accessed on the 9th of
September 2015) According to Jo Geraghty (2014) 84 percent of John Lewis retail partners
had recommended John Lewis as a great place to work and 86 percent of customers feel
appreciated whenever they visit a John Lewis outlet.

Structure of John Lewis

John Lewis appears to employ a hierarchical structure. The Partnership Council, the
Partnership Board and the Chairman entrusts tasks and responsibilities to Partners
Counsellor, Managing Director (Waitrose), Managing Director of John Lewis, Finance
Director, Managing Director Partnership Services, Director of Personnel. And then the
Waitrose Management Board, John Lewis Management Board and Partnership Services
Management Board report to the above.
Culture of Bank of Scotland
Bank of Scotland has expressed three values that they have identified as essential to the
organisation which they must abide to. Firstly, Bank of Scotland aims to put customers first to
gain trust thus creating positive long-lasting relationships with customers. By combining
efforts Bank of Scotland aims to create a positive impact for customers, colleagues and as
well as communities. So from this, we can assume that Bank of Scotland values providing a
high service by listening to the needs of customers so they can construct an organisation
which benefits the customers and communities the most.
However commissioning some research, a merger between three banks had taken place and
this involved Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds banking group which led to major
collapse losing the trust of many customers.

Structure of Bank of Scotland.