Task 1
Compare and contrast different organisational structures and culture of the following 3 organizations

1) http://arcedairy.com

2) www.dairyqueen.com.ph

3) www.ue.edu.ph

1. Company Information

i) Background of Company ii) Industry situation iii) Missions Statement iv) Primary Business Activities

a) Why they are important and b) How they are accomplished

2. Organizational Structure of Company

i) Diagram

3. Value Chain & Critical Processes

i) Chart

4.0 People Management

i) Why people want to work here or looking for other opportunities.

Task 2
Human behavior and values are not self-generating; they are by-products of culture. TRUE or FALSE Why?

Task 3

• Explain how the relationship between an organisation’s structure and culture can impact on the performance of the business.

I think many human behaviors are self-generating. If they weren't then there wouldn't be variations in social norms. Many people's values seem to run independant from their stereotypical social norms. There are just as many "Moral" athiest as there are moral religious people in how they treat others. There's also an equal number of immoral or amoral individuals spanning all cultures and races.

If values were completely external, then all would conform. The way individuals react to social norms is an intrinsic, therefore, self generating.

I believe they are intrinsic to some extent but are mostly by products of culture and their immediate environment. People tend to reproduce what they see and hear around. That is society expects parents to educate their children at home, schools to provide pastoral care and moral education complementary to academic subjects and the media/ tv/ cinema/ internet to be censored or categorised because their contents do impact on human behaviours and values.

A few examples about basic human behaviours:

1. Speech is human behaviour. The language people use (english, french, german, mandarin etc) as well as the way they are talked (clean or with swear words). And you will agree that no one is born with his/ her preferred language. Rather, the language one speaks and the way to speak will be determined by what language is spoken aroung that person.

2. Religion: Praying, choosing a religion or choosing to be atheist is also determined largely by what was taught to that person. Even changing ones religion is determined by exposure to that new religion.

3. Dressing code is also a derivative of culture. No one can deny that people from different parts of the world dress differently. People do change the way they dress but only when they discover and get used to see other dressing styles, especially after travelling, migrating or watching tv.

4. Eating habits are no exception to the rule. Different parts of the world are known for their special dish. Also, some people eat with their hands, some with a spoon, other with fork and knife depending on their culture.

Similarly, other behaviours are also by-products of culture: A child whi lives in a family where gambling is normal will react differently from someone who comes from a family where gambling is prohibited or taboo when its about gambling. People who lives in a region where there are often conflicts, war and violence may be more agressive towards others (or on more defensive side).

The list above is non-exhaustive. You may think of an infinite number of examples of human behaviour and you will always see that they more a by-product of their culture and immediate environment.

In Deed Human Behaviors And Values Are Not Self Imposed Or Made By The Person, But Rather The Culture And Society As A Whole. If You Look At a Group Of
People From Different Cultures You Will Know That They Will Behave In Different Ways And That Their Values Are Ways Different From Everyone Else. For Example,
Someone From Japan Has Entirely Different Behaviors And Values Than Someone From North America. People in Japan Have High Values and Are Extremely Well
Behaved and Respectful. They Are Mindful Of Those Around Them And Value Helping Each Other And Working As A Group. Meanwhile, a Person from North America
Might Have Slightly Different Behavior Patterns, They Might Not Be As Polite As the Japanese Person and Might Come Out To Others as Rude and Impolite.
A North American Person Places More Value on Individualistic Accomplishments than Those Accomplished In a Group through Team Work. Those Are Just Some Aspects
On Which People from Two Different Cultures Differ. The More Cultures There Are, the More Those Behavior Patterns and Values Will Differ, To the Point Of
Clashing With Each Other.
It is important to keep in mind that people were not born with such values. A baby regardless of the country or culture that it is born in to is born with a blank slate. This means that the baby has no preconceived ideas or behaviors about anything or anyone. As the baby grows and matures in to an adult those behaviors are engrained in to his or her personality by the people around their life, their culture and life style in general. Such aspects are unavoidable and every single one of us is subject to them. Regardless of where we are from, we all have our own behavior patterns and values that are homed and shaped by our culture and society.

Human behavior is self-generating. However there are consequences for going against the normal cultural behaviors. Most people want to fit in. They don't want to be arrested and they want friends. People also learn from watching other people. They usually behave a lot like the people they grew up with.

Think about at all the cultures that expect people to wear clothes in public. Most of those cultures have nudists. They behave like they want to behave but set limits because they don't want to get arrested. If human behavior was the byproduct of their culture there would not be people going against their culture's rules of behavior.

The culture is made up of a lot of individual people. Normal behavior can be redefined if enough people decide to behave differently. The rules can be changed.

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Relationship between Organizational Structure and Culture
Since the organizational structure determines how the roles and responsibilities are allocated and how they will be monitored as well as the flow of communication between different levels and sectors, it is entirely dependent on the organizations goals and how it wants to reach them. In centralized structures all the decision making power is retained at the top level of management and all the other departments are closely monitored and controlled, While in the decentralized structure decision making power is delegated to the lower levels as well to an extent to increase the speed of implementation as well as increase job satisfaction among other things.
Organizational structure can be categorized into two different dimensions, vertical and horizontal. The vertical organizational structures have many different levels of authority with individuals in management or supervisory positions having a small or narrow span of control (span of control being the number of subordinates working under an individual) compared to the horizontal structure. A narrow span of control is easier to handle and communicate with. It also requires less management skill then to control a larger number of people like in a wide span of control. Horizontal organizations structures tend to have a wider span of control i.e. many subordinates under one manager or supervisor. Horizontal structures tend to have better communications and are generally cost effective for an organization due to not needing many managers.
Types of Organizational Structure
Companies tend to organize themselves in different ways according to their needs. "Appropriate organizational structure depends upon the unique strategy of the business, its unique customer base, its unique sense of products and services and its management of these considerations as they are dispersed throughout the enterprise" (Fontaine, 2007).
Some of the major structures are as follows,
Functional Structures
These are most probably the most common type of organizational structure implemented by companies worldwide. Its popularity is due to it being simple yet effective. In this structure an organizations divides its self into different department (for example, Research and Development, Customer Sales, Human Resource Management, et cetera). People with similar skills are grouped together in their respective departments.
Divisional Structures
Divisional structures differ from functional structures because it does not belive in grouping people with similar skills into different departments, rather it distributes them across the organization to where ever they might be needed. For example in the divisional structure if a retail outlet has branches in different cities then every city will have a separate customer sales department rather than have a single department for the whole company.
Matrix Structures
This is somewhat of an amalgam of both Functional and Divisional Structures. It is made up of teams of personnel from different sectors of the organization brought together for a specific project. These teams are usually not permanent but are project specific. This is a highly effective type of structure in most cases. They are usually led by Project Managers who report directly to the head of the organization.
An important point to be noted here is that some companies, especially very large companies usually employ different types of structures in different departments rather than a single structure throughout.
Organizational Culture
Organizational Culture can be defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization."(Hill and Jones, 2001)
Culture of an organization is not always easy to explain but it can felt or sensed much more distinctly. Simply put, it is the personality of the company.
Hierarchy
This type of culture is well defined and stable. It is quite a formal culture which emphasizes on control and authority to keep the organization running smoothly. This type of culture offers security and stability.
Market
This type of culture is similar to Hierarchy Culture in the sense that it also focuses somewhat on security and stability but it is driven results. It is a very competitive environment to work in and there is very high focus on production.
Clan
The focus of this type of organizational culture is the employees of the organization. It is a very friendly environment to work in. Loyalty is emphasized and employees are asked to express themselves more openly. There is also a lot of importance given to teamwork.
Adhocracy
This type of culture emphasizes thinking outside the box. Employees are given a bit of latitude to experiment and to think differently. Creativity is encouraged and appreciated. The atmosphere is dynamic and roles are not always defined. It is quite different from the rest of the organizational cultures.
Like organizational structures, it is not necessary that one type of culture will be prevalent throughout an organization. Some companies tend to implement different cultures in different sectors. "Pure Control (Hierarchy), Compete (Market), Collaborate (Clan) or Create (Adhocracy) are extremely rare." (Tharp, 2009)
Relationship Between Organizational Structure And Culture And Its Effect On The Business
To reach their goals effectively organizations always need to have a formal structure. This is important to distribute tasks into different groups to ensure that no two people are working on the same project or task so that we get the most output for our input. Because organizations cannot be run without people, this tends to create different informal structures or environments in the organization which leads to different attitudes, perceptions, behaviors and traits with lots different types of aptitudes. So when employees are supposed to work together on a task in the constraints of a formal structure to reach a certain objective there are certain ways to speak and interact, which in effect forms an organizational culture, where it may be created knowingly or unknowingly by the employees. Organizational culture in some way defines the organizational structure of an organization but the structure also partially defines the culture of an organization.
It can also be said that the structure is a framework for the culture to be implemented, while the culture dictates how the company should be structured. So, no matter how big a company, if its culture starts to disintegrate, it is only a matter of time till the structure also follows.
Business performance in a Functional Organization structure can be severely affected by the time it takes for the flow of communication through the different levels of the hierarchy making the organization very slow to adhere to the new technology, the political situations, the economy, cultural changes or social factors and legal issues. It generally has a narrow span of control which may cause restrictrictions in individual expression and power which causes job dissatisfaction and de-motivation. The level of motivation employees possess will affect their output affecting business performance. Employees might not understand the bigger scenario and the significance of their individual work. Employees may have a bad perception towards work or because everything is so clearly defined and communication is limited, this could result in an indiffrent nature and attitude even greater affecting employee relations, affecting motivation, resulting in low business performance.
On the other hand a Divisional Organizational structure has greater flexibility because of low levels of management. This fast attribute to change makes it competitive, able to adjust to customers wants and needs very fast, giving it better performance. Better communication encourages individual through initiative and power to make decisions giving the feeling of self-freedom, causing highly motivated employees, which affects business in a very good way. This is also dependent upon the individual personalities and networking within the organization. If people don’t work with each other or have a tendency to percept what others say or do differently it could affect employee relations and output affecting business performance. This is why employees need to be selected who will fit the organizational culture so that there will be excellent work relationships.
Matrix being the newer organizational structure, it is a bit different from the old thinking of the typical boss; it also redefines the idea of hierarchy or individuals use of organizational power to make decisions but that of expertise power of employees. The task culture is reflected in the matrix organization and there is at times no clear leader within each team. These shifts give rise to employees’ high job satisfaction because of individual participation and the group identity thus affecting business performance, simply because motivated employees work better.

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Organizational structure and performance share a relationship in which the former can dictate or at least affect productivity. Different structures might be more appropriate for businesses based on the size of an entity or the industry in which a company operates. Employees often become a product of the organizational structure practiced at a business and begin to behave and operate in a manner that reflects and ideally supports the framework implemented by employers.
Understaffed companies might require that individuals wear many hats, that is, perform multiple tasks that are associated and nonassociated with a job title. It may be in order that a business continues to operate as though it were fully staffed even though it is not. This is not the case in a company that has a functional organizational structure.
A functional environment is one where individual employees are given specific tasks under the umbrella of a division with a broader organizational purpose. These individuals are expected to perform in line with defined parameters. While there may always be a plausibility for crossover between divisions as projects emerge and individuals miss work, the roles and job functions remain segregated and defined. The link between organizational structure and performance here is that employees are likely to become increasingly proficient at their work because of the clarity and repetition assigned to tasks. Also, individuals may have little recourse if productivity is lagging because the goals are clear as implemented by the employer.

A small company is more prone to adopt a flat organizational structure. This is in part due to practicality as this type of environment is shaped by a somewhat limited staff. Employees often work under the direct leadership of the owner or operator of the company in contrast to being managed by departmental or middle-management executives. In this setting, organizational structure and performance are linked because employees are aware that upper management is cognizant of individual performance. This could affect productivity in a positive way and inspire participation among coworkers.
In a matrix organizational structure, there is less formality to the roles attached to job titles. Companies that create this environment are likely to promote teamwork and the blending of different office divisions for a purpose. Organizational structure and performance are linked in this setting as employees are encouraged or rewarded for demonstrating an entrepreneurial spirit and creativity as they work with one another to complete a certain goal. Conflict could arise in team environments if employees resist different management styles of individuals from outside departments.

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The Relationship Between Organizational Culture, Performance Efficiency & Multicultural Organization

by Andrea Reyes Ramirez, PhD, Demand Media
[pic]
Organizational culture can encourage knowledge-sharing.

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One of the most critical assets of an organization used to be machinery, but in the 21st century, it is knowledge. This knowledge can refer to creativity, ideas, expertise or experience. Employees are often the owners of this knowledge. Organizational culture can promote or hinder knowledge sharing. Multicultural organizations often face challenges in creating organizational cultures where employees feel safe to share knowledge. Organizational culture within a multicultural organization is critical to performance efficiency.

Reaching Performance Efficiency

Effective organizations care about their performance level and the consistency of that performance. The optimal goal is for customers to get the same quality of customer service or product with each experience with the organization, regardless of location. Quality performance yields repeat customers, and consistency produces loyal clientele. A threat to performance efficiency can include communication breakdowns due to cultural misunderstandings. For example, if an employee uses indirect communication with a coworker that only hears direct communication, the message may not be received.

Multicultural Organizations

Multicultural organizations can refer to organizations where employees are from different cultural backgrounds, where organizations serve clients from different cultures, or a combination of both. Cultural rules can drive behavior and expectations of those within the multicultural organization or the customers they serve. It is important for respect to be shown toward cultural rules. Cultures can differ on issues like communicating directly or indirectly, identity being defined by individuality or connection to a group and the comfort level with hierarchy.

Related Reading: What Is the Relationship Between Organizational Functions & Organizational Structure?

Multicultural Impact on Organizational Culture

Leaders have a major impact on creating a safe environment for ideas to be shared. An effective organizational culture should empower employees to share their knowledge and problem-solving ideas. Multicultural organizations need to be particularly aware of the cultural rules that could lead to hindrances in sharing ideas, problems and solutions if they are broken. For example, an organization with an open door policy for management might seem like an uncomfortable environment for an employee whose culture prefers indirect communication and distance between managers and employees.

Organizational Culture's Impact on Performance Efficiency

Clear and open communication makes for an effective organizational culture. Multicultural organizations need to recognize and respect cultural rules. If cultural rules are broken, it can delay and hinder the knowledge sharing needed for performance efficiency. Being able to share the problems that prevent optimal performance and the consistency to achieve that performance can be hindered by ignoring cultural cues. By understanding and respecting cultural rules, effective leaders can create an environment where knowledge is shared freely.

References (4)

Resources (2)

About the Author

Andrea Reyes Ramirez has been writing about cultural issues since 2010, with work published in the "Emerging Leadership Journeys" academic journal. Ramirez earned a B.B.A. in management and an M.B.A. in conflict resolution from Dallas Baptist University. She is holds a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from Regent University.

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