OEM 201 :EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP--THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA.

Q. Suggest  how  you    would   attempt   to  explain  the  concept  of  organizational  culture.What   factors   might   influence   the  development  of  culture.

AN Organizational culture is the behavior of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors. Culture includes the organization's vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs  and  norms. 

What  is  Organizational  Culture ?

The values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization.

Organizational culture includes an organization's expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values that hold it together, and is expressed in its self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. It is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid. Also called corporate culture, it's shown in
(1) the ways the organization conducts its business, treats its employees, customers, and the wider community,
(2) the extent to which freedom is allowed in decision making, developing new ideas, and personal expression,
(3) how power and information flow through its hierarchy, and
(4) how committed employees are towards collective objectives.

It affects the organization's productivity and performance, and provides guidelines on customer care and service, product quality and safety, attendance and punctuality, and concern for the environment. It also extends to production-methods, marketing and advertising practices, and to new product creation. Organizational culture is unique for every organization and one of the hardest things to change.

Gerry Johnson (1988) described a cultural web, identifying a number of elements that can be used to describe or influence organizational culture:

• The paradigm: What the organization is about, what it does, its mission, its values.
• Control systems: The processes in place to monitor what is going on. Role cultures would have vast rulebooks. There would be more reliance on individualism in a power culture.
• Organizational structures: Reporting lines, hierarchies, and the way that work flows through the business.
• Power structures: Who makes the decisions, how widely spread is power, and on what is power based?
• Symbols: These include organizational logos and designs, but also extend to symbols of power such as parking spaces and executive washrooms.
• Rituals and routines: Management meetings, board reports and so on may become more habitual than necessary.
• Stories and myths: build up about people and events, and convey a message about what is valued within the organization.
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Organizational culture is shaped by multiple factors, including the following:

• External environment
• Industry
• Size and nature of the organization’s workforce
• Technologies the organization uses
• The organization’s history and ownership

Stanley G. Harris (1994) argues that five categories of in-organization schemata are necessary for organizational culture:

1.     Self-in-organization schemata: a person's concept of oneself within the context of the organization, including her/his personality, roles, and behavior.

2.     Person-in-organization schemata: a person's memories, impressions, and expectations of other individuals within the organization.

3.     Organization schemata: a subset of person schemata, a person's generalized perspective on others as a whole in the organization.

4.     Object/concept-in-organization schemata: knowledge an individual has of organization aspects other than of other persons.

5.     Event-in-organization schemata: a person's knowledge of social events within an organization

Charles Handy (1976), popularized Roger Harrison (1972) with linking organizational structure to organizational culture. The described four types of culture are:^[19]

1.     Power culture: concentrates power among a small group or a central figure and its control is radiating from its center like a web. Power cultures need only a few rules and little bureaucracy but swift in decisions can ensue.

2.     Role culture: authorities are delegated as such within a highly defined structure. These organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies, where power derives from the personal position and rarely from an expert power. Control is made by procedures (which are highly valued), strict roles descriptions and authority definitions. These organizations have consistent systems and are very predictable. This culture is often represented by a "Roman Building" having pillars. These pillars represent the functional departments.

3.     Task culture: teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power is derived from the team with the expertise to execute against a task. This culture uses a small team approach, where people are highly skilled and specialized in their own area of expertise. Additionally, these cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines seen in a matrix structure.

4.     Person culture: formed where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. It can become difficult for such organizations to continue to operate, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue organizational goals. However some professional partnerships operate well as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm.

Research suggests that numerous outcomes have been associated either directly or indirectly with organizational culture. A healthy and robust organizational culture may provide various benefits, including the following:

• Competitive edge derived from innovation and customer service
• Consistent, efficient employee performance
• Team cohesiveness
• High employee morale
• Strong company alignment towards goal achievement

·         The Role of Organizational Culture in the School Improvement

A school is a complex organization. It is not just a building with people inside. To improve schools it is necessary to consider the effects of improvement on all the parts of the organization. Each part is dependent upon the other parts and all parts react to changes in any other part. In addition, as Sarason (1990) notes, a school is part of a larger "system," and there are boundaries of varying strength and permeability, although fuzzy ones at best, between these parts. " Trying to change any part of the system requires knowledge and understanding of how parts are interrelated". It is essential to recognize that large-scale organizational improvement does not occur in a vacuum or sterile environment. It occurs in human systems, organizations, which already have beliefs, assumptions, expectations, norms, and values, both idiosyncratic to individual members of those organizations and shared. As this article attempts to explore, these shared cultural traits and individual perceptions of it can greatly affect, and be affected by, the school improvement process.