It should be noted that organizational culture is a concept that encompasses both formal and informal rules existing in the company that is accepted by all participants in the work process. Also, this domain includes value systems, norms of behavior that characterize the interaction of employees with the management and with each other, as well as communication with partners, clients, and all key stakeholders. At present, the purposeful construction of a strong organizational culture is an essential aspect of the company’s development strategy as it affects the work of employees and the productivity of the company in general (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). It is crucial to emphasize that the mismatch of communication systems and the goals of participants in this process can lead to serious problems in the company’s work. In this regard, the establishment of a strong organizational culture is a priority in the development of any organization. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the positive and negative influence of organizational culture on the work environment and employees.
Comparison
Importantly, organizational culture can influence the work environment both positively and negatively. Researchers claim that the type of culture aimed at supporting understanding tends to hinder the development of companies. For instance, if all workers share similar values, which imply that differences in people and their perceptions should always be accepted, this comprehension can hinder constructive disagreement or discussion. That is to say, some employees might feel uncomfortable raising a topic of concern, which might prevent the company from a crucial alteration in proceedings (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). Meanwhile, organizations that encourage communication and constructive dialogue have the potential for establishing a productive work environment. Thus, it can be assumed that organizational culture influences communication within the company either positively or negatively. In the first case, the workforce feels comfortable discussing the contradicting views while in the second case, they are reluctant to raise opposing opinions to avoid the impression that these differences are flaws.
Impact on Employees
From the company’s employees, a strong corporate culture that encourages communication and interaction stimulates the workforce to contribute more to solving work-related tasks. Moreover, it allows workers to achieve goals more consciously. Nevertheless, a weak corporate culture influences the morale of employees and makes them passive participants in the processes. Toyota used to be an example of passive organizational culture since its employees were reluctant to bring to the leadership’s’ notice the production defects that occurred rather constantly, which affected the work of the entire company. After these negative manifestations, the management has reorganized the culture so that all employees would share the values promoted by the enterprise (Schein, 2016). Therefore, it can be stated that poor culture is destructive since employees are not ready to take responsibility and share decisions with management because they do not support the values of the company and keep their interests as a priority.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that for the effective operation of the company, it is necessary that corporate culture encourages employees to share the values of the organization and stimulates them to put corporate interests before their own. This suggests that workers should communicate effectively with both management and with each other, and the leadership should employ conflict and diversity management so that the dialogue is constructive. In general, organizational culture is an effective tool for implementing business ideas; therefore, underestimating its importance can become destructive for the company.
References
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.
Schein, E. (2016). Organizational culture and leadership. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.