Organizational Culture

Organizational or corporate culture is the system of shared actions, values, and beliefs that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members.¹ In the business setting, this system is often referred to as the corporate culture. Each organization has its own unique culture. Just as no two individual personalities are the same, no two organizational cultures are identical. Yet, there are some common cultural elements that yield stability and meaning for organizations. Management scholars and consultants believe that some cultural elements can have a major impact on the performance of organizations and the quality of work life experienced by their members.² In this chapter we will examine the functions of organizational culture and various levels of cultural analysis to understand the powerful force of organizational culture.