Culture and Organizations

Synonyms

Organizational climate; Organizational environment

Definition

Organizational culture refers to the climate of an organization including rituals, behavior, unspoken norms, spoken norms, inherent values, what is and is not acceptable, communication modes, and behavior.

Introduction

The definition of organizational culture may include a wide assortment of variables. In its simplest terms, organizational culture refers simply to “the way things are done around here.” Organizational culture may include the values, language, principles, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, attitudes, customs, written and unwritten rules, and behaviors, in any entity that are considered acceptable and appropriate. These factors work together to create a social and psychological climate wherein the organization operates day to day. Because of the complexity of the psychosocial and environmental factors contributing to organizational culture, organizational cultures are unique to the organizations in...