Review the expected effects on organizational culture of workforce diversity, quality management, a global environment, and an increasing emphasis on ethical behavior. Discuss the ways in which those effects could change the cultures of modern organizations.

Organizational culture

Organizational culture is a complex and deep aspect of organizations that can strongly affect organization members. It includes the values, norms, rites, rituals, ceremonies, heroes, and scoundrels in the organization’s history. An organization’s culture defines the content of what a new employee needs to learn to become an accepted organization member.

Key aspects of organizational culture include value sharing and a structuring of experiences in an organization. Different sets of values can coexist among different groups of people throughout an organization. Although values differ among groups, members can share a common set of values. Not all people in an organization will fully agree about the dominant values and norms.

If you have traveled abroad, you have already experienced what it is like to enter a new, different, and “foreign” culture. The architecture you saw was different from that at home. The food was not what you commonly ate. The language might have been different, possibly causing you some difficulty in communication. People in the new culture behaved differently toward each other. You probably felt some anxiety about learning your way around the new culture so you would not stand out as a foreigner.

Organizational cultures are similar to cultures of different countries. Your entry into a new organizational culture is like entering the culture of another country.