Explanation
Culture however is represented by the shared values that hold together the other organisational systems; thus Harrison provided a de nition as ‘organisational ideologies’.
Harrison used a questionnaire method to produce four distinct types:
• Power cultures, based on one or a few powerful central individuals who motivate by a combination of patronage and fear, and make little use of written rules (this is likely to be the dominant type of culture in small, family-managed businesses).
• Role cultures, which are impersonal and rely on formalised rules and procedures to guide decision-making in a standardised, bureaucratic way (e.g. civil service and traditional, mechanistic mass-production organisations).
• Task or achievement cultures, which are typi ed by teamwork, exibility and commitment to achieving objectives, rather than emphasis on a formal hierarchy of authority (perhaps typical of some advertising agencies and so ware development organisations, and the desired culture in large organisations seeking total quality management).
• People or support cultures, of two types. e rst type is a constellation of stars, based on technical expertise of individual employees – architects’ and solicitors’ practices, IT and management consultants. e organisation is what these few people possess as skills. Other types of organisation exist for the bene t of the members rather than external stakeholders, and are based on friendship, belonging and consensus (e.g. some social clubs, informal aspects of many organisations).
Clearly these need to match the external environment if at all possible.
Peters and Waterman (1982) e cultural excellence school
ese former McKinsey consultants suggest that culture, as a form of control, is critical for corporate success. eir research into high-performing American corporations revealed that corporations with a clearly articulated tight culture were able to develop simple, decentralised, exible and innovative forms of organisation based on trust and participation. ese simpli ed forms of organisation reduced the number of managerial levels and central sta through the avoidance of bureaucracy and, by avoiding complicated matrix structures, lived in line with man’s limitations.
e eight key characteristics of excellent organisations are as follows:
1. Bias for action
To facilitate decision-making and problem-solving they avoid self-perpetuating bureaucratic committees. Instead they promote a ‘ready- re-aim’ ethos through temporary ad hoc mechanisms.