Hunter & Associates started as a small three-person firm. It has evolved to a 58-person company, managing over 100 projects for multiple clients. The managing team recognizes that the company needs to develop a "sense of itself," and so focuses on defining the organizational culture.Identify and discuss the four functions of organizational culture. Use an example of a real organization to illustrate each of these functions.
What will be an ideal response?
An organization's culture fulfills four important functions (see Figure 14.3): (1) organizational identity, (2) collective commitment, (3) social system stability, and (4) sense-making device.
Function 1: culture provides employees with an organizational identity.
Function 2: culture facilitates collective commitment.
Function 3: culture promotes social system stability. Social system stability reflects the extent to which the work environment is perceived as positive and reinforcing, and the extent to which conflict and change are effectively managed.
Function 4: culture shapes behaviors by helping members make sense of their surroundings. This function of culture helps employees understand why the organization does what it does and how it intends to accomplish its long-term goals.
Students should give an example of a real organization to illustrate each of the four functions.
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