Question

What exactly is culture, what is organizational culture? How do the two differ, correspond, or conflict? How does organizational culture impact innovation and how does leadership impact culture, or is it the other way around?

Answer 1

Answer: Culture is set of common beliefs, values, customs and social behaviors that people from same groups like religion, nation and so on share commonly with each other. Culture is a person specific word and refers to the cultural traits that a person develops while interaction with community and society. The organizational culture on the other hand is the culture that develops inside an organization and is based on the values that the organization follows. Most often the personal values of the employees differ from that of organization values. Hence individual culture of a person may differ from the organizational culture. But as the employees work inside the organization both these cultures exist together. If the organizational culture promotes freedom and creativity then it supports innovation. When the organizations allow the people to be creative and free to take their own decisions, they become innovative. Similarly the support from leadership shapes the culture. When the leadership promotes certain values like integrity, they promote its inclusion in the culture of the organization. The leadership helps in imbibing the organizational value in the employees and thereby the enable the development of culture inside the organizations. The support of leadership is crucial for the development of the organizational culture.