Organizational Culture and Leadership

This essay discusses the impact of organizational culture on leadership and how to maintain an inclusive and multicultural organization. It also highlights the essential elements of a strong culture and how leaders can ensure a diverse and inclusive environment. The essay includes a personal reflection on multiculturalism in an organization. References are provided for further reading.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
Topic: Organizational Culture and Leadership
Introduction
Organizational culture can be described as one of those factors which tend to have a very
strong impact on the manner in which the organization functions at large. This is because the
culture of an organization is passed down to it from its core founders and members which then
runs in the veins of the firm at large (Lewis & Tatli, 2015). The primary aim of the essay is to
highlight the manner in which leadership helps in maintaining an inclusive and multicultural
organization along with discussing the essential elements of a strong culture. The latter part of
the essay will also critically reflect on my experience of the given topic.
Discussion
Meaning of organizational culture
Organizational culture can be defined as a unique personality which is possessed by the
organization. Although the culture of an organization is not a visible component, it is powerful
enough to have a strong impact on the overall functioning of the organization and the ways in
which the different members in the organization tend to behave. According to Kulik (2014), the
organizational culture can be rightfully described as a system of shared values, beliefs and
assumptions which tend to have an overall impact on the performance of the different employees
and reflects on the way in which they dress, act and tend to perform their jobs (Marshall & Oliva,
2017). It must be noted that the culture of an organization is unique and relative to different
types of culture. The Apple Company, Ford organization, L’Oréal and AIG are some of the
firms which are believed to have a strong organizational culture.
Elements of a strong corporate culture
Each organization has a set of elements which tends to contribute towards a strong
organizational culture. The following section of the essay will discuss certain elements which are
essential to the development of a strong culture in a firm.
The first element is a well-defined mission. One of the most important elements of a
strong organizational culture is a clear mission along with a clear purpose. When any
organization has a clearly defined mission and vision, along with the face that all the

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organizational members are aware of it, it reflects the presence of a strong organizational culture
(Myles et al., 2017). Hence, all the companies must ensure that they have the presence of a valid
mission statement which guides the organization.
The second crucial element is strong communication. Another important component
which must be present in the organization for a good culture is a strong communication base.
This means that all the employees must feel free to contact one another and the senior level
management, middle level management as well as the lower level management must freely
communicate amongst themselves and contribute towards solving the different organizational
problems as faced by the firm (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017). In this manner, the conflict between the
different members can be avoided and the communication as present in the organization can be
kept as transparent in nature and the dissemination of information becomes comparatively easy.
The third element is the respect. In order to foster a relatively strong organizational
culture, the different employees must respect one another. It needs to be noted that respect does
not just come from the lower level employees towards the higher level employees but from the
top to the bottom as well. According to Shamir and Eilam-Shamir (2018), when the different
employees feel respect towards one another they will then, contribute in a better manner towards
the organization performance and prevent higher turnover rates along with regular outbursts.
The fourth element is the Performance. Although this is always not the case in an
organization, one of the essential elements of a strong culture is the ability to produce a superior
performance (Harvey & Allard, 2015). When the culture is strong, it generally comes from the
fact that the different members who are present in the organization are happy and work hard
towards goal achievement. As the overall environment of the business is quite positive in nature
then, the culture is strong and efficient by default.
The last important element is commitment to learning. A rigid organization often lacks
the capacity to perform well and be successfully able to develop or foster a nurturing culture
(Northouse, 2018). Hence, if the organization is a flexible one with all the employees
volunteering willingly to newer ideas, learning activities and the development of the firm, then
the organizational culture of the firm becomes stronger than before and a strong culture can be
developed.

3ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
The manner in which Leadership can ensure a multicultural and inclusive culture
Leadership can be defined as the efforts which are essentially taken by the different
managers in the organization in order to guide the different members of the firm. It is important
to note that only a good leader can ensure that the organization has a multicultural as well as
inclusive culture (Janssens & Zanoni, 2014). Hence, a leader must take the following measures
to ensure successful accomplishment of these goals.
The first step which a good leader can take to ensure an inclusive culture is recognizing
the shift which takes place and how the organizations have been incorporating diversity and
inclusion. It must be understood by the leader, that in the present scenario, the diversity scenario
is not as simple as gender and race. It needs to be understood that Diversity in the workplace
includes components like Sexual orientation, religious affiliation, Generation, ethnicity,
disability as well as thinking style (Moore, 2016). Once the leader will be able to understand this
only then will he be able to ensure that the culture fostered is inclusive and diverse. In this
domain, the leaders at the Ford Company have been very successful in supplying diversity and
has witnessed positive results.
The next step which needs to be taken by a leader is to use his charisma and authority in
order to build an inclusive environment. These efforts can help the organization in improving its
earnings (Saxena, 2014). An environment should be formed in a manner such that the different
voices as well as opinions are heard and the focus is shifted from a single group of workers. In
this manner, when the different members as present in the organization will be able to draw upon
their unique experiences they will be able to achieve business goals in a better manner (Cole &
Salimath, 2013). The organization Johnson and Johnson has taken various collective steps in
order to ensure that they are successfully able to combine the diverse efforts in order to make the
organization successful. Hence, through efforts, the creation of an inclusive environment is a
must.
The next way in which a leader can ensure that a multicultural and inclusive environment
is created is by ensuring that various practices and measures are made use of to do the same. The
promotion of inclusion in the workplace is a constant effort and hence, there needs to be multiple
initiatives taken to ensure that the firm is successful in the long run. One of the most effective
measures is the feedback which gives the firm a clear measure as to how the organization is

4ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
performing (Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2014). Secondly. The use of measures like ROI and
employee responses can also be used. The German company Bayer makes use of eLearning
modules as a measure to train employees regarding the awareness of diversity and reminds them
of the company’s values. Another methods comprise of Employee resource groups, multicultural
talent management and Strategic partnership development.
Along with this it is important for the different leaders that they model diversity and
inclusion. When the senior management will themselves become a part of the diversity which is
required to take place in an organization then the rest of the firm is bound to follow the given
procedure (Antonakis & Day, 2017). In order to ensure that they are successfully able to do so,
the different organizational members will be required to ensure that they follow an open culture
which seeks diversity, creates inclusion and drives accountability for it. If the employees are
given a power to speak against the diversity then they will be successfully able to form an
inclusive work environment (Riccucci, 2018).
The leader possess unlimited power and hence, it can be stated to be his duty to ensure
that the organization which is being managed by him is successfully able to form an environment
which fosters diversity and is comfortable for all. Hence, this section stated down the different
mannerisms in which the leaders can assist in fostering a good culture.
Reflection
During the second year of my university, I was working in a private organization
whereby I was involved in looking after the accounts of the business. As it was a private firm,
there were different members employed for different departments of the business and it could be
stated that each of these members belonged to a culturally diverse backgrounds. Hence, as
multiculturalism fostered, I observed that there existed the formation of various groups in an
organization based on a particular religion and that the members who belonged to an alternate
religion with respect to that group were then cornered. According to me, this was the influence of
the management in the organization. The management of the organization could be described as
a reserved person who was only supportive of his own religion and cultural similarity. Hence, he
avoided hiring employees belonging to any other religion in the firm but due to his son`s views
who could be described as an open minded individual, certain diverse employees were
employed. However, as the father used to manage the business and remain in the office for long

5ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
period of time, his behavior ailed to influence multiculturalism in an organization and due to this
the turnover rate of the culturally diverse members was very high and thereby the behavior of the
members towards these members was hostile (Sabharwal, 2014). From this incidence, I can
reflect that the management and leaders possess a large power to have an impact on the different
organizational members and to develop the multicultural environment. In this case, it can be seen
that as the leader of the organization was unable to have a positive impact on the overall firm
which resulted in the different members also ill-treating the employees. Had the leader portrayed
a model diversity and inclusion, the members would have followed the lead and made the firm
successful in having a strong organizational culture.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given essay it can be understood that the culture of an organization
plays a greater role in enabling the performance of the employees. The essay examined the
concept of an organizational culture and discussed the important elements of a good
organizational culture. The second half of the essay stated the ways in which leadership can
contribute towards the creation of a good culture which is diverse as well as inclusive in nature.
Lastly, the reflection part stated down my personal experience on multiculturalism in an
organization and how the leader failed to imbibe it positively.

6ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP
References
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perspective. Journal of business ethics, 116(1), 151-161.
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