InnovoQuest    Information :: Why Corporate Culture?

Corporate Culture holds the organisation together acting as a force for cohesion. Long term performance and sustainability requires an adaptive culture in the firm, one that will allow and enhance innovation. An organisation wishing to nurture an adaptive workforce, one which is creative and innovative, needs to create an environment which eliminates, as far as possible, cautious and protective attitudes amongst its staff. Implicit is that culture is an asset in all organisations. If culture is an asset, then a large number of functions can be attributed to the corporate culture. Hampden-Turner (1990) suggests that: “the culture of an organisation defines appropriate behaviour, bonds and motivates individuals and asserts solutions where there is ambiguity. It governs the way a company processes information, its internal relations and values.”

A corporate culture influences a number of organisational functions directly related to the members of the group. These functions include; conflict reduction, co-ordination and control, reduction of uncertainty, motivation and competitive advantage. There has been a tendency to emphasize the positive implications of culture. However not all corporate cultures are necessarily functional; the numbers of poorly performing and failing organisations would indicate that in these cases the corporate culture could be said to be dysfunctional.

Each firm highlighted organisational culture as the key factor to their success. A number of researchers identify the powerful effect that corporate culture has on performance and hence the long term viability of an organisation. Corporate culture also has visible effects on individuals in that it can affect employee morale, commitment, physical and emotional health and hence productivity.