Every organisation has a unique personality, just like individuals.

This unique personality of an

organisation is the culture. Organisational culture is either built and maintained by founders to grow
their organisation in a particular direction or develops over time from the interactions of people working
in the organisation. Organisational culture is essential for developing the traits necessary for success.

Culture affects how people experience an organization—that is, what it’s like for a customer to buy from
a company or a supplier to work with it.

The term corporate culture emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was used by managers,
sociologists, and organizational theorists in the 1980s.

 What Is Organisational Culture?

Organisational culture is a system of values, shared beliefs, practices and attitudes that govern every
employee's action. It is a company's personality and the collection of traits that define a company's
foundational values. Every organisation has a unique culture.

According to Jaques, "the culture of the factory is its customary and traditional way of thinking and
doing of things, which is shared to a greater or lesser degree by all its members, and which new
members must learn, and at least partially accept, in order to be accepted into service in the firm".

Hofstede defined organizational culture as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes
the members of one organization from another."[

Organizational culture influences the ways in which people interact, the context within which knowledge
is created, the resistance they will have towards certain changes, and ultimately the way they share (or
the way they do not share) knowledge.

Organizational culture is generally understood as all of a company’s beliefs, values and attitudes, and
how these influence the behaviour of its employees.
  Why Is Organisational Culture Important?
It is the culture that governs a healthy working environment and motivates you to perform to your best
potential. Here are a few significant reasons why organisational culture is important :

 Ensures effective onboarding: Companies with strong culture give preference to effective
onboarding for training new employees. From workplace training and orientation to
performance management, onboarding helps new employees excel at work. It also helps
employees understand the company's core values.

 Creates a healthy team environment: Communicating the core values helps organise the
workflows and motivates team members to work together.

 Recognises top performers: Everyone loves working in a healthy environment. Employees leave
companies where they feel their talent does not receive recognition and their efforts go
unappreciated.

 Increases productivity: Culture governs a company's structure and brings together team
members with similar skill sets. When such people work together, they are more likely to
overcome the difficulties of complex projects. This increases workplace productivity and
performance.

 Decreases attrition: When culture aligns with core values and mission statements, employees
are less likely to resign. Employees who feel valued, recognised and respected will put in their
best efforts.
  Characteristics Of Organisational Culture
Every company has its own set of characteristics associated with its culture. While some may prefer
teamwork and trust, others may prefer the psychological safety of individuals above everything. Here
are a few characteristics of organisational culture

Trust and integrity

A culture of trust and integrity impacts corporate administration quality, creates a good work
environment and fosters an environment where team members find it easy to express their viewpoints.

Teamwork

It comprises communication, collaboration and respect between team members. When everyone in the
team works in cohesion and supports each other, it creates a positive work environment.

Precision

A culture that gives importance to precision expects the employees to complete work with accuracy.

Innovation

Creating a culture of innovation means providing a work environment where employees have some
autonomy to think and come up with new ways of solving a given problem.

Performance

The foundation of a performance culture is self-discipline and it means creating a work environment
where every employee engages with the business.
  Types Of Organisational Cultures
The culture decides how employees behave among themselves and with people outside of the
company. As every organisation is unique, so are the cultures. Here are a few types of cultures:

1. Clan culture

This culture is people-focussed because the company feels like a family. The family-like culture ensures a
friendly and collaborative work environment. In such a culture, an organisation values employees and
gives topmost priority to communication. This type of culture emphasises that employees play an
essential role in making business decisions.

Helping each other with work, playing games outside office hours, going for team lunch and celebrating
everyone's memories are a few attributes that define a clan culture.

Start-ups and small companies exhibit a clan culture.

2. Adhocracy culture

This culture finds its roots in innovation and represents a risk-taking culture. Such a culture creates an
innovative, creative and dynamic environment where employees can take chances and experiment with
new ideas.

Organisations exhibiting an adhocracy culture are always working hard to launch new products and
expand their business. For employees, this culture keeps them motivated to outperform and come up
with breakthrough innovations. Technology companies often exhibit an adhocracy culture because they
develop new products regularly.

3. Market culture

This culture is market-driven and prioritises profitability. Organisations that exhibit a market culture
focus on achievement, competition and getting the job done. These organisations use competition to
motivate both leaders and employees.

In a market culture, employees work to achieve a defined goal. Larger corporations that are already
industry leaders in their market exhibit market culture.

4. Hierarchy culture

The workplace adheres to all rules and regulations of a corporate structure. Leaders expect employees
to follow all procedures and formal rules. Such organisations give importance to uniformity and
efficiency in everything they do. Hierarchy cultures have a fixed and set way of doing things that makes
organisations risk-averse and stable.

Hierarchy culture is excellent for organisations where safety is a prime concern. Such organisations
hesitate to take risks. These include government organisations, healthcare and aviation companies.
  CONCLUSION
While there is widespread agreement that organizational cultures transformations do exist and that they
are a key driver in shaping organizational behaviors, pinpointing an exact definition of the concept is a
difficult undertaking.

An absolute definition would allow not only for a more rigorous study of organizational culture, but also
increase our understanding of how it influences other organizational outcomes such as productivity,
employee engagement, and commitment. One thing is undoubtedly known about culture: It is
constantly being created, changed, and splintered to ensure the success of its parent organization.