What is Culture?
"Culture" is a word that is often used without a clear definition. Confusion around the word is understandable because even the people familiar with the topic tend to have some disagreement on what exactly it means.
Culture is often seen as an intangible and nebulous concept, but it is one of the most important factors in determining organisational success. Culture can be described as the shared values and behaviours that exist within a group of people, and it plays a huge role in shaping how an organisation functions.
We often talk about Organisational Culture and National Culture, but the reality is that in business even these two cannot be completely separated as there is a lot of overlap between them. National Culture is one of the key elements to keep in mind when you want to define your Organisational Culture, and National Culture is crucial for managing diverse organisations and operating across borders.
Organisational Culture
"How we relate to each other, their work and the outside world"
In simple terms organisational culture is how we behave to fit in, or work practices. This usually aligns with the underlying belief system of the organisation, the type of work they do and the environment in which the work gets done. All organisations have a culture, but not every culture helps to implement and drive the organisation's strategy.
National Culture
“The collective programming of the human mind by which one group differs from another group.”
The describes the collective value system of a nation or group, an aggregate of each individual's value systems that exist within the group. Each nation's unique cultural settings shapes our views toward life's dilemmas, such as acceptance of power between people, dealing with uncertainty, group vs individual identity and competitiveness.
In order to properly manage intercultural relationships within organisations, it is important to be able to distinguish between Organisational Culture
For management purposes perhaps most notably, National Culture is largely determined by historical factors, whereas Organisational Culture can be shaped by the leadership team to reflect the organisation's values and goals.
Approaches to managing culture in order to be effective. Promoting diversity and cultural awareness is great, but it has little effect if organisational practices - what actually happens in every day life of the company - don't do anything to address them.
Culture is one of the few unique elements in any company, and when we talk about leveraging Your Culture Factor, we talk about making sure that it sets you apart from your competition in all the right ways.
The Culture Factor can refer to your organisation's culture as a whole, but it can also mean that you fully leverage the emotional diversity of your workforce. But whichever facet of The Culture Factor you focus on, the important thing is that we can make sure your culture works for you, and not against you. That your culture gives you a competitive edge, rather than prevent you from reaching your goals.
If you want to learn more about The Culture Factor and how to make sure your culture is working for you, contact The Culture Factor Group (previously known as Hofstede Insights Oy) today. We offer expert advice on all things related to culture and can help you create a corporate culture that will give you the edge over your competition.