Introduction
The culture of an organization defines the expected and proper way of behaving within an organization. It comprises of shared beliefs and values which are developed and implemented by leaders. The values and beliefs are then passed down to employees and reinforced using different strategies. These values and beliefs shape and determine how employees perceive, behave, and understand things within an organization. Since organizations and industries have significant differences, there is not a single uniform organizational culture that can be applied to all organizations. A strong and solid organizational culture is a shared factor by almost all successful organizations. They all have an agreement at the top about cultural priorities. The values do not focus on specific people but on an organization as a whole in order to achieve its goals. In this paper, a key strategy that can be implemented to restore a dysfunctional culture in an organization is discussed and new insights into the issue of organizational culture presented.
Strategy
Dysfunction in organizations is caused by numerous factors, among them misunderstanding of an organization’s mission, ineffective and misunderstood strategy, lack of collaboration, and failure to avail the resources needed. If the mission of an organization is not understood, it is mainly because leaders/management lacks a clear vision related to the purpose of an organization. Furthermore, an organization can fail in its mission if the mission is not sufficiently communicated to employees. For an organizational culture to improve the general performance of a company, it must offer a strategic competitive advantage. In addition, the organization’s beliefs as well values have to be extensively shared among employees in the organization and strongly upheld.
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Solid and firm organizational cultures provide benefits that include improved trust and collaboration and reduced disagreements. Furthermore, efficiency in decision making is enhanced. One of the key strategies that can restore functionality in organizations characterized by distrust and competitive conduct is promoting collaboration. Collaboration refers to working together and, in the case of this assignment, in an intellectual way. The collaboration incorporates resources, duties, and information sharing ( Kozlowski, 2017 ). Collaborative practices cause mutual participation and trust; hence can be effective in addressing a lack of trust and competition among employees. The focus of the collaboration is an achievement for a group and not specific individuals.
Values play a key part in organizational culture. Managers determine and influence the culture of an organization through the types of values promoted throughout an organization ( Kozlowski, 2017 ). In addition, the values of the culture of an organization have a strong impact on how the management executes its functions. Therefore, by adopting collaboration as an important value for the dysfunctional organization, the management can influence the company’s culture and restore it to functionality. Collaboration can be effective in addressing distrust and competitive behavior compared to cooperation, teamwork, and coordination. Coordination may not address distrust and competition effectively because information and resources are shared in a way that allows each person to fulfill his/her part towards a common objective. Therefore, individuals do not work together as groups because each person has his/her own responsibilities as an individual.
Cooperation, although essential, does not create a collaborative group effort. Individuals share information and resources to support goals among themselves. They do have a common goal. Although teamwork involves people working together to achieve a common goal, its focus is on individual effort for each team member to achieve a particular goal. Different from the described strategies, collaboration allows and enables people to work collaboratively to realize a goal collectively. In collaboration, individuals perceive one another as equals to generate ideas or decide collectively to realize a goal. The strategy can help deal with distrust because collaboration is founded on trust and respect principles. The aspect of collaboration is seen in the Bible when King Solomon was building the Temple. He brought thousands of skilled men who worked together to achieve the King’s goal, which was to establish a Temple for God (Merida, 2015).
In 1 Kings Chapter six, the specifics of the Temple that was being constructed during the reign of Solomon are provided. The fact that there were many details to be implemented when building the Temple indicates that very high levels of collaboration were required. Although the Temple was not huge, it was designed suing amazing and expert skills as well as expensive materials (Merida, 2015). According to (Merida, 2015), Temple construction comprised of the interior and exterior parts and furnishings. Different men took part in different areas during the construction based on their skills. Their skills were complementary. All the workers worked collaboratively to construct a beautiful and glorious house of worship. Construction of the Temple by Solomon shows how collaborative efforts can produce a quality and excellent end product.
Implementation
For collaboration to thrive, the culture of an organization has to be conducive. If the culture of an organization is authoritarian, for example, collaboration may not be effectively implemented. A culture that supports collaboration should nature a leadership process that is open that allows free flow of information, appreciates individuals who have different viewpoints instead of making them silent, and has a flexible structure ( Hong, Zhao & Stanley, 2018 ). Therefore, in implementing collaboration, the management should ensure that communication channels allow free information flow and enhance flexibility instead of hierarchy. Furthermore, the core values should be made clear, and rewards should be given for collaborative efforts instead of individual effort. Instead of making decisions at the top of the organization’s hierarchy, decision making should be made possible at the lowest levels. A collaborative manager has to lessen control.
Collaboration does not happen in organizational structures that are control inclined and promotes the traditional top to down hierarchical structure ( Hong, Zhao & Stanley, 2018 ). Therefore, managers have to create an opportunity for employees to think together and value the opinions of one another for trust to be restored. By involving employees, a deeper understanding of different issues and organizational goals is developed. In addition, commitment to executing decisions increases. Inviting and bringing onboard employees to take part in the decision-making process generates strong buy-ins and develops future management and leadership abilities. Moreover, the levels of trust towards one another and the management is enhanced. Creating an opportunity for participation does not necessarily imply that a decision has to be made in a group setting. Rather, it means that individuals can have a feeling that their opinions and ideas are accorded consideration, and they are aware of the rationale used in arriving at a decision. Employees in such culture support decisions and perform better because trust and respect are the outcomes of effective communication and dialogue.
Collaboration can also be implemented by forming groups and teams. One of the main reason as to why managers depend on groups and teams is that more is accomplished when individuals work together than when on their own (Jones & George, 2019). Individuals working in groups generate more, and the quality of output is high than when each person works separately and their efforts combined later on. In order to ensure effectiveness in groups, the management should ensure that members possess complementary skills and abilities that fit within the scope of the work being done. Expertise diversity ensures responsiveness to the needs of clients. In addition, innovation is promoted.
New Thoughts
Management in successful organizations lives their organizational cultures daily and makes the initiative to communicate the culture to both the current and future employees (Jones & George, 2019). They ensure clarity about their organizations’ values and demonstrate how the values define their companies/organizations and guide how things are done. On the contrary, a culture that is not effective can destroy an organization or company together with the leadership. Employees who are not engaged, increased turnover, ineffective and poor relations with clients, and reduced revenue are some of the examples of the negative effects of a wrong organizational culture. One of the main factors that ensure success in any organization is if or not employees are able to work together collaboratively. In increased competition, it is critical to promote creativity to enhance productivity and good relationships between employees ( Salehipour & Ah mand, 2018 ). When employees work in groups or teams, they are more efficient and swift than when they attend to tasks on their own as individuals. Collaboration helps employees developed an increased sense of responsibility, which is essential in improving motivation.
Conclusion
An organizational culture that promotes internal distrust and competition can negatively affect an organization. Such an organization becomes dysfunctional and is most likely to fall if appropriate action is not taken. Culture comprises the beliefs and values held. Collaboration can be an effective strategy against internal distrust and competition. When people work together, trust levels between them increase, and achievement is seen in terms of a group or team. Different skills are brought together, and if the groups are run efficiently, the end results are much better than when individuals work on their own. Most successful organizations apply collaboration as part of their cultures.
References
George, J. M., & Jones, G. R. (2018). Essentials of contemporary management . McGraw-Hill Education.
Hong, J. F., Zhao, X., & Stanley Snell, R. (2018). Collaborative-based HRM practices and open innovation: A conceptual review. The International Journal of Human Resource Management , 30 (1), 31-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2018.1511616
Kozlowski, S. W. (2017). Enhancing the effectiveness of workgroups and teams: A reflection. Perspectives on Psychological Science , 13 (2), 205-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617697078
Merida, T. (2015). Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 kings . B&H Publishing Group.
Salehipour, A., & Ahmand, A. (2018). The impact of organizational culture and performance work system on employees’ performance. International Business Research , 11 (6), 199. https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v11n6p199
