Management by culture is another way of exercising control in Essay

Management by culture is another way of exercising control in organizations. Critically discuss this statement with reference to issues of power and resistance - Essay Example This study will also focus on the issues of power and resistance as they pertain to management by culture. Journal articles, online research, and textbook readings are used to help define organizational culture, power and resistance within organizational culture, and exercising control using organizational culture. Examples from the real time functioning organizations will be used to provide insight into how management by culture can be successfully used to meet mission goals. Organizations develop a culture all their own whether or not the organizational leadership wants it. But, organizational leadership can help develop a culture among workers that works to the organization's advantage. Management by culture does just that. Management can incorporate symbols, stories, heroes, slogans, or ceremonies to create an environment that encourages positive operations within the organization. The organization identifies what it considers positive attributes, abilities, or behaviours that need to be rewarded within the organization. The ultimate goal of management by culture is to accomplish the mission of the organization. Management by culture reduces friction between management and staff by directly addressing resistance within the organization. Organizational culture or corporate culture is defined as "The values, customs, rituals, attitudes, and norms shared by members of an organization, which have to be learnt and accepted by new members of the organization."1 Organizational culture can be further subdivided into integrative culture, differentiated culture, and fragmentation culture. It is important to note that an organization's culture can have positive attributes and negative attributes. Obviously, an organization will want to support the positive culture that develops and discourage any negative culture that develops. Integrative culture includes an agreement on what should be adopted and what should not. Integration provides "unity, predictability, and clarity to work assignments".2 Differentiated culture consists of subcultures that may develop that do not share the common goals and objectives of the organization. This encourages inconsistencies in the organization that are not wanted by management. Fragmentation culture consists of multiple definitions of organizational values and assumptions within the organization. This happens when an organization grows too quickly, has a very diverse work force, or enters the global marketplace. 3. Building a Positive Corporate Culture/ Management by Culture The challenge of any organization is to create, and nurture, a positive corporate culture that includes all that work for, or lead, the organization. Management at this level works to reward desired behaviours among its employees. Positive reinforcement of desired behaviours lowers the incidences of power struggles and resistance. In short, people like to be recognized and rewarded rather than punished or fired. Management by culture requires the organization to put into place set standards and practices. The organization will be better able to recognize high performance with set standards and practices. The task environment and internal environment need to be clearly identified. The cultural environment needs to be clearly ide