Organizational culture in service sector
Irena Gorenak
About the book
In every organization various modes of behaviour of the employees, their various activities, interpersonal relationships and customs can be observed. In some organizations the employees are all on first-namebasis, still in others they address themselves formally. In some organizations the employees use academic titles and surnames; still in others they call themselves by names, only. In some organizations each employee has its own office, whereas in others they are all use one office, which may be separated by improvised walls.
In some organizations the employees celebrate personal holidays together, whereas in others they do not. In some organizations they pose each other obstacles and obstruct each other’s work, but in others no such misconduct can be detected. Differences may also be observed within one single organization. Differences are even greater and more noticeable in cases of organizations from other environments, neighbouring countries or even from other continents. In the business world the differences are present, they should be recognized, and the existing diversity should be tolerated; however, this is not enough; diversity should also be understood and made use of to the benefit of everybody.
Significant behaviour of the group of people within an organization, or at its work, in a country or a state is described by the term of culture, which can simply be defined as: “This is the way we operate, act, aim at. This is the way we work …”. It is a question of the mode of behaviour of people within an organization, among themselves and towards others, of their customs and habits, and of all the characteristics of behaviour in an organization in a wider sense.
Culture is an organizational factor, directly linked to all the other elements of the organization, its environment and every individual. Every activity, change or behaviour is reflected also on the culture and vice versa, every change of culture triggers the changes in every other area of organization. For this reason it is important to manage the culture, as this is beneficial for the organization as a whole and every individual, in particular.