Creating Culture

1. Importance of differentiating between the “big C” and the “little c” in an organization, and the responsibility of leaders on both cultures.

Learning to differentiate between the bug culture and the little culture in an organization is crucial since both cultures play an indispensable role in maintaining high performance within an organization and predicting organizational growth (Hansen-Turton & Mortell, 2014). The “big C” is a collective culture that incorporates organizational vision, mission, values, and growth strategies while the “little c” comprises the day-to-day culture that is responsible for guaranteeing organizatuoinal success, whether in a department, a unit, or a team. A leader should remain aware of these cultures since their beliefs on the two shapes how they are maintained.

1. Factors that contribute to unrest and upheaval within an organization’s culture and role of leaders.

Unrest and upheaval resulting from organizational culture may range from gender inequality to resource availability, nature of organization, and external parties, among others. The leader has the mandate to create a culture that is fair and mutually acceptable by all parties (Hannah & Jennings, 2011). Taking such an action allows employees to remain happy working in that organization, which also results in high performance and customer satisfaction.

• How culture is shaped by organization’s characteristics, commitment, and consistency.

Organizational culture is shaped by various attributes ranging from organizational characteristics to its consistency. These attributes reflect an organization’s “big C,” including values, beliefs, and skills, among others (Helfand et al., 2016). The organization’s characteristics are help to mold employees’ commitment since they help them to understand the importance of success (Hansen-Turton & Mortell, 2014).

1. Elements of Human Services organizational culture and the reason why leaders should be aware of them.

In human services, organizational culture is made of two key elements: cultural elements and strategic elements. The cultural elements refer to commitment, consistency, and competency, while the strategic elements include customer, consumers, company, and competition (Hansen-Turton & Mortell, 2014). Organizational leadership should become familiarized with these elements for various reasons. The organizational leaders should match the appropriate cultural elements to the right actions, interventions and structures that achieve its goals and bolsters continuous improvement.

1. Relationship between culture and strategy to change and how the leader fits in their correlation.

Johnson et al. (2016) indicate that strategy and change have a strong correlation. First, strategy is significantly defined by an organization’s “big C,” including purpose, vision, and goals. Organizational leaders have the role of assessing how the internal and external organizational environments are changing, and developing appropriate strategies for the organization to thrive.

References

Hannah, S. T. & Jennings, P. L. (2011). Leader ethos and big-C character. Organizational Dynamics, 42, 8-16. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usarmyresearch/267

Hansen-Turton, T. & Mortell, M. (2014). Making Strategy Count in the Health and Human Services Sector: Lessons Learned From 20 Organizations and Chief Strategy Officers. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Helfand, M., Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2016). The four-C model of creativity: culture and context. In Glăveanu V. (ed) Palgrave handbook of creativity and culture research. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Groth, M., Wang, K. and Ng, J.L. (2016). Time to change: a review of organizational culture change in health care organizations. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 3(3), 265-288. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOEPP-06-2016-0040