Types of organizational culture


As organizational culture is considered as one of the most prominent invisible components of an organization (Goic, 2012), several theories help leaders to understand what sort of cultures they need to focus on developing to support their visions.

Among many critical dimensions which have been identified by many scholars related to effective organizations, and with the use of "competitive values framework", Cameron and Quinn came up with four different organizational cultures based on two dimensions (Tharp, 2004). These two dimensions are, organizational focus and versatility (Tharp, 2005) and the four culture types (Figure 1) are clan, hierarchy, adhocracy and market (John, 2014).


Figure 1 - The four culture types

Source – Cameron and Quinn (2006)


Clan culture

Also known as cooperative cultures (Berrio, 2003), according to Gibson et al (2003), this type of culture keeps the organization together with loyalty and honesty. Clan culture is also known as a family-like culture where team spirit is highly evidenced (Berrio, 2003). Togetherness is highly celebrated within such cultures and a flexible management system can be seen where employees and customers are considered to be their priority (Erdem, 2007)

One of the best examples of this type of culture is Virgin Atlantic as Richard Branson says. Being a mentor and a role model, Richard Branson together with the members has created a fun and friendly working culture at the beginning itself which has driven the company success (Business Today, 2015). Rather than following strict rules, Virgin has driven its operations by passion which has created a people-friendly culture with a higher level of teamwork (Branson, 2017).

Hierarchy Culture

Also known as control culture, usually reflects bureaucracy because it focuses on rules, policies, procedures and orders (Erdem, 2007). Therefore more formalization can be seen and it is much more centralized compared to clan cultures which are high efficiency-oriented (John, 2014). Such cultures value stability against dynamic environments which is achieved through well-defined structures and roles in decision making (Tharp, 2005). Usually, government agencies adapt to these cultures in order to have a formal control system and to make delegation of responsibilities and duties easier (Tharp, 2004). 

Adhocracy culture

Creativity and innovation is the central focus in such cultures where opportunities are celebrated (Baker, 2002). People in such organizations are empowered to take risks, initiate and make decisions where it indicates entrepreneurial values as well (Tharp, 2005). Even though it is much similar to clan cultures it focuses more on differentiation (John, 2014).

One of the most suitable examples for this type of culture is Coca-Cola as it empowers employees to be more innovative and creative through a range of strategies. It focuses on a growth culture where it empowers employees to take part in innovation campaigns regardless of the designation or the role in the company (Coca-Cola, 2019).

Market culture

Though this type of culture reflects some of the characteristics of control culture/hierarchy culture, the focus is more on external relationships as such organizations want to stay competitive in the long run (John, 2014). The major objectives are profits, market share, stability and growth which are measurable. Unlike clan culture, leaders in market cultural organizations drive people to do more for their reputation (Fekete, 2001).   

Amazon can be taken as an example for this as its employees are empowered to come up with ideas and succeed through trying hard. Failing is considered as a stage of doing better and the culture always focus on staying competitive in the customers' minds (Amazon, 2020).

  

 

Amazon. (2020). Our Workplace. [Online] Available at: https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace

Baker, K. (2002). Organizational Culture. [Online] Available at: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.439.8759&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Berrio, A. A. (2003). An Organizational Culture Assessment Using the Competing Values Framework:

A Profile of Ohio State University Extension. Journal of Extension, 41(2),

Branson, R. (2017). Adventure, as a culture. [Online]. Available at: https://www.virgin.com/branson-family/richard-branson-blog/adventure-culture

Business Today. (2015). Creating the right culture is the key to success. February Issue.

Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2006). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Coca-Cola. (2019). Building Growth Culture at Coke. [Online] Available: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/growth-culture-at-coke-empowers-employees

Erdem, R. (2007). The relationships between types of organizational culture and organizational commitment: A study on hospitals at the city center of Elazig). 2(2) pp63-79 

Fekete, S., Keith, L. (2001), Companies are People, Too: Discover, Develop, and Grow Your company’s Personality. New York: Wiley.

Goić, S. (2012). Organizational structure, organizational dynamics, and organizational culture: research from Croatian enterprises. Management Knowledge and Learning. International Conference. 19-21

John, O. (2014). organizational culture Types and performance in Nigerian Universities. European Journal of Business and Management. 6 [Online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263659219_organizational_culture_Types_and_performance_in_Nigerian_Universities/citation/download

Tharp, B M. (2004). Four Organizational Culture Types. [Online] Available at: http://urmiladasi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Four_Organizational_Culture_Types.pdf

Tharp, B. (2005) “Four organizational culture types” Organizational Culture White Paper Haworth

 

Comments

  1. Malithra YoshanDecember 5, 2020 at 4:52 AM

    The importance of academic understanding of types of culture is not that the types exist in any pure form in organizations. It is possible for organizations to display several cultural types. Rather, it is that such typologies help in our understanding of predominant cultures and thinking as to what re-balancing is needed if culture is to be shifted to support new practices and values (O’Donnell & Boyle, 2008).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sohan MilindaDecember 5, 2020 at 8:12 PM

    While agreeing with you and wish to mention that according to Furnham and Gunter (1993) list, amongst others, the following areas of agreement on the concept:
    ● It is difficult to define (often a pointless exercise).
    ● It is multi-dimensional, with many different components at different levels.
    ● It is not particularly dynamic, and ever changing (being relatively stable over short periods of time).
    ● It takes time to establish and therefore time to change a corporate culture.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kanishka SugathadasaDecember 6, 2020 at 8:48 PM

    A number of instruments exist for assessing organizational culture. This is not easy because culture is concerned with both subjective beliefs and unconscious assumptions (which might be difficult to measure), and with observed phenomena such as behavioral norms and artefacts (Armstrong, M 2017).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thilini DiwanjalyDecember 7, 2020 at 12:11 AM

    Organizational culture instruments have been vary according to its typological
    approach, power of theoretical and conceptual provenance, scope of dimensions and exploring the
    deeper manifestation of culture (Scott et al., 2003)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Asanka VithanaDecember 8, 2020 at 9:40 AM

    Furthermore, Lamond (2003) found culture is one of the most influential forces in an organization and critical to organizational effectiveness. While both leadership and organizational culture are important for organizational success and there is a large body of literature concerning each

    ReplyDelete

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