High Performance Cultures

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by its members and that distinguishes one organization from another. Every organization has a culture. Depending on its strength, it can have a significant influence on the attitudes and behaviors of its members. Here are a few definitions for organizational culture:

Organizational culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situations (Ravasi & Schultz, 2006).

"A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems"(Schein, 2004).

Required Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture
Rosenthal, J. & Masarech, M. A. (2003). High performance cultures: How values can drive business results. Journal of Organizational Excellence, 22, 3-18.

Based on the Rosenthal and Masarech (2003) article, write a critique in which you will relate to the points below:

- Explain in your own words what is the meaning of focusing on performance and/or focusing on culture, and how focusing on either one can be translated into organizations' acts (or in other words, what organizations that focus on performance or culture actually do).
- Describe the organization in which you are currently employed (or were employed in the past) and decide in which of the four quadrants that are represented in Exhibit 3 your organization resides. Explain what makes you think so.
- Exhibit 4 presents 5 steps for shaping a high performance culture. Use these steps to explain how your organization (the one you described earlier) can improve its success by adopting each of these steps. If your organization already adopts such steps please explain how it does so.