Culture is the Essence of Successful Organization

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The dictionary definition of culture is that it is the total of the ideas, customs, beliefs, knowledge, art that are shared by members of a group. In relation to that organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. This system of shared meaning is a set of key characteristics that the organization values. The primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the organization are known as core values. There is a tendency that most of the successful organizations are those organizations whose employees are strictly adhered to the organization’s core values. Without culture, an organization will not stay long.

In this era of globalization, management has to be aware of any possible threat that might threaten the established culture. Hence, management has to ensure the presence of spiritual culture in the organization culture. Organizations that promote a spiritual culture recognize that people have both a mind and a spirit. In view of this, spiritually-based organizations encourage employees to express their moods and feelings. That expression is in line with the basic idea that people seek meaning and purpose in their work.

Learning the culture of the organization is a must to all employees. This is mandatory even though it is not formalized to all new employees during their orientation week. One of the ways on how employees learn culture is through the medium of language. Language can serve to unite members through adapting well with the acronyms and jargon used by all the employees in the organization. There are unique terms developed to describe facilities or equipments relate to the organization business. They are what we call acronyms and jargon.

Organizational cultures often reflect national cultures. As an example, when we talk about any Japanese firm, we tend to assume the employees’ culture is similar to the general culture of Japanese people. Straight away we say that the employees are hardworking, punctual, gung-ho and so on. This stereotyping proves a theory that usually the national culture is the foundation of any organization culture.

In order to adapt with the culture of organization, employees have to go through the three stages of socialization. These phases of socialization are through which employees become indoctrinated into an organization’s culture. The first stage is called pre arrival stage. The pre arrival stage recognizes that each individual arrives with a set of values, attitudes, and expectations. He or she is yet to find out whether his or her values, beliefs and expectations are coherent with the organization culture. The second stage is known as the encounter stage. Upon entry into the organization, the new member confronts the possible dichotomy between her expectations and reality. And finally, in the third stage, the new member must work out any problems discovered during the encounter stage. This may mean going through changes. Hence, this is called the metamorphosis stage.

In summary, it is important to note that culture plays a very significant role in establishing and maintaining the standard performance of an organization. Efforts should be made on ensuring that all the employees understand and accept the culture that will uplift their job performance. With one common culture, everybody is gearing towards achieving the same goal – the prolong success of the organization.


Jakaria Dasan
School of Business and Economics
Universiti Malaysia Sabah

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