Survey Types Organisational Culture Survey
Organisational Culture Survey
The importance of Organisational Culture cannot be underestimated. Virtually every leading organisation you can name, small or large, has developed a distinctive organisational culture that is clearly identifiable by its employees. Most organisational scholars and observers now recognise that organisational culture has a powerful effect on the performance and long-term effectiveness of organisations. Organisational Culture allows Leaders to ensure that disparate parts of an organisation are being steered in the right direction and operating in accordance with the organisational Vision, Mission and Values. It is intrinsically linked to the ability to achieve strategic objectives and deliver on brand promise and attributes. Organisational Culture is also the primary source of resistance to change within an organisation. As respected Organisational Culture theorist Edgar Schein points out, "Leaders should be conscious of culture, otherwise it will manage them". As Louis Gerstner, ex CEO of IBM states "Culture is not just one aspect of the game - it is the game".
So what exactly is Organisational Culture? Organisational Culture refers to the unconscious, shared beliefs and assumptions that work groups (be they teams, departments, branches or entire organisations) form over time in regard to “the way things are done” within the work group. In other words, the behaviour and thinking that is considered appropriate (culturally acceptable) within that work group when working towards desired objectives. An organisation's culture is reflected by what is valued, the dominant leadership styles, the language and symbols, the procedures and routines, and the definitions of success that make the organisation unique. While subunits such as functional departments, hierarchical levels or locations may reflect their own unique cultures, all employees within an organisation hare a history of belonging to that organisation and as such, there will normally be at least a few beliefs or assumptions common to the system as a whole.
Quantum’s Approach: Organisational Culture Survey
Organisational culture is extremely broad and inclusive in scope. Consequently, it is impossible to include every relevant factor in diagnosing and assessing organisational culture. To determine the most important dimensions on which to focus, it is therefore important to use an underlying framework that can narrow and focus the search for key cultural dimensions.
Quantum utilises an adaptation of the "Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument" (OCAI) developed by Cameron and Quinn to diagnose the current and preferred cultures within our client organisations. Although there are a variety of ways to assess organisational culture, this instrument has been found to be useful and accurate in diagnosing important aspects of an organisation's underlying culture. It has been used in more than 1000 organisations, and it has been found to predict organisational performance.
The OCAI determines an organisation's current organisational culture as well as the preferred organisational culture that employees think should be developed to match future demands of the external environment and the opportunities to be faced by the company.
The OCAI is known as a "Competing Values Framework". This is because, unlike other cultural diagnostic instruments, the OCAI acknowledges the trade-off that occurs between values in day to day organisational life. The unique rating scale of the OCAI forces respondents to indicate the relevant importance of each cultural dimension, rather than having the capacity to select every cultural dimension as being highly descriptive of their work area. This is a severe limitation of cultural diagnostic instruments which employ a typical 1-5 (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) rating scale.
A major problem in many organisations facing the need to investigate or address their cultures is that no language exists, no key elements or dimensions have been identified and no common perspectives are available to help the conversation even get started. The simplicity and easily interpretable nature of the Competing Values Framework ensures it provides a good basis to commence these discussions.
Core Dimensions & Sample Cultural Profile: Organisational Culture Survey
Features: Organisational Culture Survey
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