Organizational Culture

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

The active shaping of organizational culture is a central element of change management. When change processes are pending in an organization – whether because partial aspects are being reorganized or because major cuts are imminent – the existing organizational culture influences all steps of the change. The introduction of innovations, be it in the context of digitalization or changes in the organizational and operational structure, have a massive impact on familiar processes and cooperation. The existing organizational culture can promote or hinder the desired changes. It is therefore helpful to understand what influence the specific culture has on these changes and how the employees* position themselves in relation to the change against this background. In this way, blind spots can be illuminated and levers and set screws can be found for a constructive handling of the change. The workforce feels taken along. If the implicit and unconscious aspects of the organisational culture are made explicit and open to discussion in a dialogue process, the probability increases that employees feel involved and actively follow the process of change.

“Shaping the organizational culture” is a management task.

Culture concept | Organizational culture describes the common explicit and implicit assumptions regarding the interaction as well as the do’s and don’ts that shape the behavior and especially the interaction of the various actors and groups of actors in an organization. In times of change, these assumptions also influence the view of the desired change and can promote or inhibit it.