Organizational symbols and culture reveal and communicate the attitudes, beliefs, and norms of what is acceptable behavior, what is valued, and, in general, how things are accomplished and work within the organization. Effective leaders and managers understand the importance of organizational culture and how it can lead to achieving goals. After thorough assessment, the organizational culture should be changed in terms of attitudes and beliefs that impede the organization from achieving its mission and strengthened or blended with new attitudes to build a more effective culture.
For this Assignment, you examine the culture of a selected organization and determine its strengths and weaknesses. Consider whether the following applies to the organization when doing your analysis:
Symbols-graphics, myths, vision, values, heroes, heroines, stories, fairy tales, ritual, ceremony, metaphor, humor, play, any other aspects that you found in your reading not listed here
Culture-induction as a member, diversity (or not), lead by command (or not), a specialized language unique to the organization, a particular metaphor in action (e.g., theater or as a temple), norms, attitudes and beliefs, or any other aspects that you found in your reading that are not listed here
Without using the name of the organization where you work or have worked (or, if none is available to you, use a company in the news or draw from a case study), answer the following.
Describe the culture of the organization and how the symbols convey the culture.
Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the organization from a cultural perspective.
Explain what could be changed with the culture of the organization, pertaining to the weaknesses you identified and suggest ways of accomplishing the change. If the culture is one you would like sustained, what needs to be in place to assure its perpetuation even when top managers change?