Ïðåïîäàâàòåëü êàôåäðû «Ìåíåäæìåíò è ìàðêåòèíã» Íóðìàãàìáåòîâà À.Ì

 Ìàãèñòðàíò 1-ãî êóðñà ïî ñïåöèàëüíîñòè ìåíåäæìåíò  Ìàäèÿðîâà Ð.Ð

 

        Êàçàõñêèé Íàöèîíàëüíûé Óíèâåðñèòåò èì.àëü-Ôàðàáè, Êàçàõñòàí

 

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN MANAGEMENT AND ITS ROLE IN MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES


                                                                                

From an open system perspective, each aspect of organizational culture in management can be seen as an important environmental condition affecting the system and its subsystem. Increased competition, globalization, mergers, acquisitions, alliances, and various workforce departments in Kazakhstan have created a greater need for organizational culture. Thus, it has become an important pattern for the organization's development.

Building a culture common to every member of the team is becoming more and more important in reaching the aim, especially when it comes to make a profit. Having the common goal and interests doesn’t make the participants a holistic team. Here arises the importance of building the culture [2; Ñ.139].

Basically, organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs of organization members and their behaviors. Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization. Culture is one of those terms that are difficult to express distinctly, but everyone knows it when they sense it. For example, the culture of a large, for-profit corporation is quite different than that of a hospital which is quite different that of a university. You can tell the culture of an organization by looking at the arrangement of furniture, what they brag about, what members wear, etc. similar to what you can use to get a feeling about someone's personality.       

Corporate culture can be looked at as a system. Inputs include feedback from, e.g., society, professions, laws, stories, heroes, values on competition or service, etc. The process is based on our assumptions, values and norms, e.g., our values on money, time, facilities, space and people. Outputs or effects of our culture are, e.g., organizational behaviors, technologies, strategies, image, products, services, appearance, etc.

Different types of culture give an organization a specific form in which all the participants act according to the particular culture. For example in Kazakhstan, it is considered that there is the fear of the head or chief. Apparently, this is the legacy of totalitarianism while we were under the Russian Colony. At that time every member of the organization had to do only the things that he was supposed to do. And nowadays this tendency is still on. In most of the companies there is a strong authority which doesn’t allow the employees feel free. It even makes them feel afraid of the top management. On the other hand, these days we have so much multinational companies and organizations that the legacy left by totalitarianism has to be removed or replaced. Because the more the employees from another countries, the more the different cultures. Organizational culture with a system of authority is no longer needed. In Kazakhstan, we have a lot of American companies which faced a cultural shock when first entered our market. Because the most important thing for Americans is freedom of speech and they are mostly tended to have informal relationships with no matter whom the manager or the boss is. When they saw that Kazakhs paid a lot of attention to the relatives and they even hire them for the company without even a certain kind of education they were amazed. Apparently, this is our mentality which is also an important factor.

So in the beginning it was a really challenge to have a common business. Both sides had to eliminate some cultural behaviors and even try to change their mentalities. It was almost impossible, but they did it. They built a new organization where everyone accepted the rules and norms.

The importance of organizational culture and how it contributes to organizational effectiveness and achievement is well established. It is seen by understanding the functions of organizational culture:

-         Culture provides a sense of identity for members, enhances commitment to the organization’s mission, clarifies and reinforces standards of behavior.

-         Creates the barriers from unwanted external influences, a sense of belonging to the company, proud of her, and unites people in their daily activities;

-         Contributes to the maintenance of rules and norms of conduct, both among themselves and with the outside world, which reduces the potential conflict and guarantees the stable operation

-         Facilitates adaptation of people to each other and to the organization as a whole through participation in festivals and explore the general rules of conduct

-         Adjusts the direction of the company in accordance with established;

-         Crates incentives and an image of the organization in the eyes of others at the expense of the individual elements of culture [1;Ñ.15-16].

In order to build an effective organizational culture and help employers and employees embrace workplace courtesy, the most essential thing is respect. All features and pillars of building the corporate culture are related with the terms cultural awareness and respect. We have to respect rights and responsibilities, equality, standards, perceptions, efforts, communication, beliefs, attitudes, values, norms and so on. All these terms are covered by culture. Because it is culture that provides each person with identity and sense of who he/she and where he/she is from, what is his/her perception, religion, point of view. Every person perceives and acts according to his culture and no one has rights to blame him. Learning a little about what you need to respect is an obligation if you're a member of a multinational team. Without reciprocal respect, we cannot achieve multiculturalism. If we stop at tolerance, we achieve only diversity.

Organizational culture, based on those aspects and functions that were stated above, will serve as a shelter for the multinational team. It will build a unique culture, which is appropriate for the specific team and which is different from others. It is the culture that will make each member feel that each of them is a part of the “whole organism” called a multinational team. Giving a sense of identity, organizational culture will direct the whole team towards the goals that were set before.

 

Literature:

 

1.     Sackmann Sonja A. Cultural knowledge in organization, Sage Publication, California, 2012

2.     P.Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski, Cultural Intelligence, Harvard Business Review, October 2012