Organizational culture is more general compared to written policies of standard operating procedures. It encompasses all the aspects of an organization. It constitutes the underlying beliefs, values, assumptions as well as the modes of interaction that lead up to the unique psychological and unique environment that is experienced in an organization (Körner, Wirtz, Bengel, & Göritz, 2015). Each organization has expectations that are shaped by its vision, mission and other organizational philosophies. Written policy and standard operating procedures are derived from the industry practices. Therefore, organizational culture and written policy are different.
Discussion
An organizational culture is used to guide the behavior of its members. In many instances, it is expressed in terms of member interaction, self-image, as well as the inner workings of the organization in relation to the outside world and the future expectations (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). An organizations culture is developed over time and it is based on the shared beliefs, attitude and unwritten and written rules. It is thus more encompassing compared to written policies and standard operating procedures. When simply stated, organizational culture refers to how things are done in a particular organization. Once an organizational culture has been established, it guides employee behavior. It defines appropriate behavior for different situations.
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Written policy is used to represent a set of guideline, principles, or rules that have been designed by an organization for the purposes of achieving its long-term goals. The policies are published in a booklet or stored in other ways that are easily accessible. Policies are important because they construct a framework that is followed in the accomplishment of tasks. The policies act as standards that are supposed to be accomplished by members (O'Neill, Beauvais & Scholl, 2016). They are mainly developed out of best practice. Policies may also set out steps of accomplishing tasks in an organization. Standard operating procedures are more detailed compared to a practice. For example, while a policy may spell out that every member working for an organization has a right to health and safety; standard operating procedures specifically outline the steps that need to be implemented to achieve a healthy and safe environment. Therefore, a procedure will provide that every member of an organization has to put on safety boots and a helmet while in the company premises. In many instances, standard operating procedures are outline for purposes of compliance with the industry requirements. They also help in improving communication and creating uniformity in the levels of performance.
Therefore, organizational culture and written policy or standard operating procedures significantly differ. Organizational culture is a wide concept that entails how a company performs all its operations. It captures employee behavior, philosophies, experiences, and relations within an organization. The culture that is practiced in one organization may be different from another culture in another organization although those firms are in the same industry and engage in similar business practices (Körner, Wirtz, Bengel, & Göritz, 2015). It is mainly dependent on leadership. For example, football clubs are motivated by similar goals and thus have almost the same operating procedures. They are guided by the written policies developed by the governing bodies. However, each club adopts a unique culture that they believe facilitates the achievement of the common goal. A football club can become successful as a result of defensive football while another excels as a result of possession football. In addition, there are football clubs that have a culture of developing young talents while there others that have a culture of going for established professional footballers. The staff members in the clubs have to adhere by the club’s culture to avoid creating conflict.
Organizational culture arises from the daily interactions of an organization’s employees, philosophies, beliefs, and values. It constitutes things that people get into habit of doing as a result of their experiences. Therefore, culture of an organization is not something that is written down. On the other hand, written policy and standard procedures of operation are things that are spelt out in writing. All the employees of an organization are expected to follow them whether they agree to them or not because they are drawn from regulations that guide the operations of an industry (O'Neill, Beauvais & Scholl, 2016). Alternative, organizational culture is something that comes automatically through member experiences. There are no guidelines that have to be followed in order to achieve it. Other members of an organization judge a person on the basis of whether their behavior adheres to the culture or not. However, one cannot be punished for going against a culture because it is not spelt out in the company policies or standard procedures of operation.
Differences in organizational culture and written policy or standard procedures of operation can create conflict that has the potential to disrupt the functioning of an organization. The written policy and standard procedures spell out how function of the organization should be conducted based on the regulations that guide the industry. However, organizational culture is established out of practices that are considered effective for a particular organization (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). It develops out of experience as opposed to strict observance of the law. For example, the written policies of an organization may require employees to work for eight hours in a day, starting from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm with a one hour lunch break. However, the leadership of the organization may decide to have the employees report to work at 9.00 am. The practice arises to prevent the many cases of lateness that were experienced in the organization due to traffic jam. The one hour allowance is created for them to avoid the traffic. The practice is adopted by the organization and over time it becomes a culture of the organization.
Another leader may join the organization from another firm and disregard the developed organizational culture in favor of implementing the standard procedures of operation. Although the leader will be acting with regards to the regulations of the organization, he/she will find resistance from the employees due to an already established culture (Willis et al. 2016). Most workers are likely to be late for work leading to disciplinary measures that reduce the commitment and morale of the workers towards work. The workers may disrupt the functioning of the organization by going on a go slow for the previous practice to be restored. Leaders and managers should thus strive to understand the culture of an organization and the underlying reasons before making changes.
Conclusion
Organizational culture should never be confused for written policy or standard procedures of operation. It arises from beliefs, values, experiences, and expectations of an organization. It encompasses the written policies and standard procedures of operation. The written policies are aimed at outlining the standard procedures while organizational culture implements practices based on the environment of the organization. When leaders change cultures that have been in place for a very long time abruptly, they will get resistance from the employees even when they are implementing a practice that is within the standards of operation. It is important for leadership and management to study the culture of an organization and implement changes over time for them to become acceptable. The employees need to be informed why the changes are necessary and how they will contribute to the achievement of organizational objectives.
References
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress . Routledge.
Körner, M., Wirtz, M. A., Bengel, J., & Göritz, A. S. (2015). Relationship of organizational culture, teamwork and job satisfaction in interprofessional teams. BMC health services research , 15 (1), 243.
O'Neill, J. W., Beauvais, L. L., & Scholl, R. W. (2016). The use of organizational culture and structure to guide strategic behavior: an information processing perspective. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management , 2 (2), 816.
Willis, C. D., Saul, J., Bevan, H., Scheirer, M. A., Best, A., Greenhalgh, T., & Bitz, J. (2016). Sustaining organizational culture change in health systems. Journal of health organization and management , 30 (1), 2-30.
